When I mentioned to some of my colleagues here at the Business School, that I?d be writing a piece on how to become an UNsuccessful manager, they looked at me as if I had gone mad. Hold your horses, if you?re thinking the same ? there might be some precious lessons for all of us in what follows.

During recent years, we?ve witnessed a flurry of publications in the management area on how to become successful as a leader, how to run organisations successfully, how to negotiate successfully, and so on. Think of books by Stephen Covey, Jim Collins, Ram Charan, and so on. Very few authors have focused on the negative ? why is it that high-powered executives such as Dennis Kozlowski of Tyco, Jean-Marie Messier of Vivendi, and Jill Barad of Mattel, have failed spectacularly after rising to the very top of the corporate ladder? One of those who did, Sidney Finkelstein, Professor at Darmouth College, has just published his research findings on why leaders fail. Here is a summary.

• Leaders fail because they believe their company can dominate its business environment, shape the future of its markets and set the pace within them. They exude self-confidence and believe in their personal pre-eminence. They perceive their subordinates as instruments to be used, materials to be moulded or audiences for their own performances. They believe that their customers are lucky to have someone like them attending to their needs ? instead of the other way around. In short, they vastly overestimate the extent to which they and their companies dominate their environment. And that, as we know, is a prescription for spectacular failure.

• Leaders fail because they identify so much with their companies that there is no clear boundary between their personal and corporation?s interests. They identify so much with and are so committed to their company that they treat it as an extension of themselves. They start developing a ?private empire? mentality ? ruling their company as if it was their personal property and they had the right to do anything they want with it. They take big risks with their shareholders? money and invariably, end up using corporate funds for personal reasons. Their reasoning is, ?I have made so much money for this company that I can afford to spend some on myself.?

• Leaders fail because they think they have all the answers. Consequently, they have no room for uncertainty and hesitation ? even when uncertainty or hesitation is appropriate. They wish to settle an issue so quickly that they make a point of taking snap decisions and, in so doing, often fail to grasp all the ramifications and implications.

• Leaders fail because they ruthlessly eliminate those who aren?t 100% behind them. Subordinates who do not support their leader?s vision or hesitate when doing so, are given no alternatives: they must leave. By removing dissenting voices, these leaders cut themselves off from their best chance of seeing and correcting problems as they arise. Essentially, they are refusing to learn.

• Leaders fail because they underestimate obstacles. They become so enamoured with their vision, that they overlook or underestimate the difficulties in actually getting there. They are also most reluctant to pull back from their chosen course of action. Why? Because, psychologically, they have this huge need to be right in every decision they make ? admitting that this may not be the case is tantamount to personal failure.

• Leaders fail because they stubbornly rely on what has worked for them in the past. They insist on reverting to what they firmly believe to be ?tried-and-true? methods. Instead of considering a range of options or innovations, they cling tenaciously to what has worked for them in the past, the one strategy they are most known for, the thing that has made them special.

• Leaders fail because they are consummate spokespersons, obsessed with company image. They spend much time in the public eye, giving speeches, being interviewed, appearing on television. Much as a result, their management efforts become shallow and ineffective. They leave the mundane aspects of their business affairs to others, having little time left for operational details. When disaster strikes, it is often too late.

Do you know something? Every reason for failure listed above is precisely the sort of behaviour that we admire in and look for when we appoint leaders ? ambition, aggression, commitment to the organisation, self-confidence, decisiveness, perseverance, public relations, and so on! Makes you think, doesn?t it?

Dr Eric Charoux

[email protected]