Where are all the Innovative – Cuddly leaders?

The temptation of consultants and others is to reform leaders based on our personal perspectives; what good leadership means to us personally. This can mean the projection of our personality type on the leader.

Let’s review the basic personality types. Maccoby and Scudder (2010) have offered the following description of the evolution of the theory of personality as developed by Sigmund Freud and Erich Fromm:

Sigmund Freud first used his model to help explain psychopathology, but he also employed it to describe three normal personality types he called:

1.  Erotic – a caring personality with a strong value of loving and caring relationship. Fromm’s work refers to the non-productive version of this type as the Receptive Orientation.

2.    Narcissistic – independent and not open to intimidation; characterized by an ego with a large amount of aggressiveness at its disposal, which also manifests itself in a readiness for activity. Fromm’s work refers to the non-productive version of this type as the Exploitative Orientation.

3. Obsessive – ideals of hard work and conscientiousness; characterized by a demanding super-ego, strong commands programmed in childhood. Fromm’s work refers to the non-productive version of this type as the Hoarding Orientation.

Erich Fromm described the non-productive orientations and their related productive characteristics in an effort to move people toward increased productivity. He accepted and modified Freud’s types and added a fourth type to Freud's trio; the marketing personality. Just as the obsessive personality is the bureaucratic prototype; the marketing personality fits the typical Interactive Social Character.

4. Marketing – the ego-ideal is radar-like, orienting behavior to what is "appropriate" according to group values and pressures; to avoid looking bad.

Dr. Michael Maccoby has described the four basic types of personality developed by Freud and Fromm as the Caring, Visionary, Exacting and Adaptive. These terms are very much in line with the original work from Freud and Fromm.

Many books on leadership are written from the perspective of the leader being caring. When the author develops this scenario of the “caring boss,” they may be projecting on to the leader those traits they value. Circumstances and context often define the need for other strengths in our leaders. Maccoby observed that many of the leaders he encountered were far from cuddly; in fact some, at times, could be downright mean. This dissonance in what authors found desirable versus the reality caused Maccoby to reflect on his past and present work with leaders (the following is taken from Narcissistic Leaders ---Who succeeds and who fails.):

“The emergence of a new kind of leader caused me to reexamine all of my theories about leaders and personality. I went back to the psychoanalytic teachings of Sigmund Freud and the psychoanalyst and social philosopher Erich Fromm (1900– 1980) and sifted through thirty years of experience inside corporations, working with CEOs both as a consultant and psychoanalyst.

I rethought my understanding of historical figures and literature. What emerged surprised me. The psychological portrait of today’s business leaders that takes into account their personality traits, describing how they achieve innovations, engage followers, and react to the euphoria of success as well as the stress of setbacks, most closely fits the normal personality type that Freud called narcissistic: “People belonging to this type impress others as being ‘personalities’; they are especially suited to act as a support for others, to take on the role of leaders and to give a fresh stimulus to cultural development or to damage the established state of affairs.” In other words, these are the type of people who are most likely to say that they want to change the world.

I’m using the term “narcissism” to describe some of the most important business leaders in the world; but how could a word that’s become synonymous with all sorts of self-centered behavior—a sense of overall superiority and entitlement, a lack of empathy or understanding of others, the need for constant attention and admiration, and overall arrogance— apply to them? These days, in both the psychiatric field and in colloquial conversation, “narcissism” has become a term for egoism, egocentricity, or just plain bad manners. But I believe the concept of narcissism has been widely misunderstood ever since Freud coined it after Ovid’s pathologically self -involved creature from Greek mythology. I want to bring about a radical new definition of the term and the way we think about leadership, and show you how your understanding of productive narcissism can help you.

The type of person who impresses us as a personality, who disrupts the status quo and brings about change. Narcissists have very little or no psychic demands that they have to do the right thing. Freed from these internal constraints, they are forced to answer, for themselves, what is right, to decide what they value, what, in effect, gives them a sense of meaning. They create their own vision, a sense of purpose that not only engages them but also inspires others to follow them.”

Maccoby also identified the strengths and weaknesses of the Productive Narcissist:

STRENGTHS OF THE PRODUCTIVE NARCISSIST

•        Visioning to change the world and create meaning

•        Independent thinking/ risk taking

•        Passion

•        Charisma

•        Voracious learning

•        Perseverance

•        Alertness to threats

•        Sense of humor

WEAKNESSES OF THE PRODUCTIVE NARCISSIST

•        Extreme sensitivity to criticism

•        Not listening

•        Paranoia

•        Extreme competitiveness

•        Anger and put-downs

•        Exaggeration

•        Lack of self-knowledge

•        Isolation

•        Grandiosity

When the weaknesses manifest themselves in the leader, these weaknesses are then targeted to be “fixed” by authors, consultants and others.  Unfortunately, these weaknesses come with the strengths. The leader, if aware, can learn to mitigate these weaknesses, but from time to time, given the circumstances, they may rear their ugly head.

We have focused on the Productive Narcissist (Visionary) leader. However, the other basic types of personality all have strengths and weaknesses. For more on the other types and more importantly, how to have a productive relationship with your Productive Narcissistic Boss, we highly recommend reading Maccoby’s book; Narcissistic Leaders ---Who succeeds and who fails.

References:

Maccoby, Michael (2012-04-25). Narcissistic Leaders: WhoSucceeds and Who Fails; Harvard Business Review Press (May 19, 2007)

Maccoby, Michael and Tim Scudder, Becoming A Leader We Need with Strategic Intelligence (2010).   Note graphic and narrative are taken from p. 92 of this workbook.