Mindset : The New Psychology of Success pdfdrive com

CEOs and the Big Ego
How  did  CEO  and  gargantuan  ego  become  synonymous?  If  it’s  the  more  self-
effacing growth-minded people who are the true shepherds of industry, why are
so  many  companies  out  looking  for  larger-than-life  leaders—even  when  these
leaders may in the end be more committed to themselves than to the company?
Blame  Iacocca.  According  to  James  Surowiecki,  writing  in  Slate,  Iacocca’s
rise  to  prominence  was  a  turning  point  for  American  business.  Before  him,  the
days of tycoons and moguls seemed long past. In the public’s mind, CEO meant
“a  buttoned-down  organization  man,  well-treated  and  well-paid,  but  essentially
bland and characterless.” With Iacocca, all of that changed. Business journalists

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began  dubbing  executives  “the  next  J.  P.  Morgan”  or  “the  next  Henry  Ford.”
And fixed-mindset executives started vying for those labels.
Surowiecki even traces the recent corporate scandals to this change, for as the
trend continued, CEOs became superheroes. But the people who preen their egos
and look for the next self-image boost are not the same people who foster long-
term corporate health.
Maybe  Iacocca  is  just  a  charismatic  guy  who,  like  rock  and  roll,  is  being
blamed  for  the  demise  of  civilization.  Is  that  fair?  Let’s  look  at  him  more
closely.  And  let’s  look  at  some  other  fixed-mindset  CEOs:  Albert  Dunlap  of
Scott  Paper  and  Sunbeam;  Jerry  Levin  and  Steve  Case  of  AOL  Time  Warner;
and Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling of Enron.
You’ll see they all start with the belief that some people are superior; they all
have  the  need  to  prove  and  display  their  superiority;  they  all  use  their
subordinates  to  feed  this  need,  rather  than  fostering  the  development  of  their
workers; and they all end by sacrificing their companies to this need. The fixed
mindset  helps  us  understand  where  gargantuan  egos  come  from,  how  they
operate, and why they become self-defeating.
FIXED-MINDSET LEADERS IN ACTION