Leadership: dealing with overload and potential meltdown

Published: 2011-07-04   There are 2 comments ... please add yours below

“By far the most difficult skill for me to learn as CEO was the ability to manage my own psychology.” So says Ben Horowitz, general partner at Andreessen Horowitz in his recent blog post. He argues that many CEOs “take things too personally.” They see all mistakes as theirs and “terrorize the team” to get them fixed. Other CEOs “do not take things personally enough.” Like Pollyanna, they believe “it’s not so bad.” Then nothing gets fixed and employees become frustrated. Which would colleagues say is your tendency? Have any of them suggested the following four remedies that Ben offers us?

1. Make some friends: In the end, the tough decisions are yours but in the meantime, find some people to talk with, who’ve sat in the hot seat themselves. Ben highlights the value of people, who can share their failures as well as successes. Failure (or near failure) is a tough teacher. That’s certainly been my experience – the things my clients find most useful are the personal stuff-ups I can speak of with feeling!
2. Get it out of your head and onto paper: Ben evidences a strategic decision where the act of writing “separated me from my own psychology.” While not exactly parallel, drafting my weekly leadership Potshot clarifies my thinking on a particular issue. Similarly, I recently wrote an email summarising my conclusions from a document a friend shared with me. He was grateful for the summary – but so was I as it sharpened my understanding around some issues I was facing.
3. Focus on the road not the wall: As Ben says, this is the advice given to novice racing drivers. Focus on where you need to go – not on what you need to avoid! I would add that, even as you navigate the corner, also glance for split seconds at the road well beyond the corner. I was chairman of a company where the hardworking CEO (like a first-time driver) focused far too close in and wobbled dangerously. She was great on the short-term stuff but continually lost sight of the direction – particularly risky in a tough business environment.
4. Don’t punk out and don’t quit: As Ben says “Great CEOs face the pain.” True but sometimes it’s more than just staying the distance. I was very tempted to walk from one CEO role but then realised that a solution was available if I listened to what others were advising. The pain in this case was admitting I was wrong. When it’s the more normal pain of endurance, my inner benchmark for stamina has always been that my father survived a near-death experience in war. So, if he could do that then surely I can get through this much more minor stuff!

Many decisions (generally as well as for CEOs) lack simple or certain answers. When diagnosed with cancer some years back, the thing that frightened me most was the uncertainty: the number of treatment options and the varying opinions from different practitioners. In the end, it was my decision and mine alone. The data was anything but conclusive. As Ben says “If you don’t like choosing between horrible and cataclysmic, don’t become CEO” … to which I’d add “of either a company – or your own life!”

Dr. Timothy Pascoe AM
PhD (Cambridge), MBA (Harvard), BE & BEc (Adelaide)
Creator, V|E|C|T|O|R Leadership^®