There comes a moment when a role ceases to be a responsibility and becomes an extension of the ego. The owner no longer sees the company as a system that must be better than they are. The director fails to develop people who might one day replace them. The manager does not seek opinions that might correct a decision; they want confirmation that they were right from the start.
Everything slowly begins to revolve around a single center: My opinion. My decision. My result. My people. My company.
At first glance, this management style may seem decisive. Decisions are made quickly, authority is clear, and everyone knows who has the final say. The cost, however, isn’t immediately apparent. People very quickly learn what the top person wants to hear. Bad news starts to get delayed. Ideas are tailored to their tastes. Mistakes are covered up as long as they can be hidden. In meetings, people no longer speak their minds; they say only what they deem safe.
Capable people sense this shift early. Some leave. Some stay but stop giving their all. Others learn to advance by staying close enough to the person at the top and far enough from anyone who might get in their way.
The company stops choosing the best decisions and starts choosing the ones that least threaten someone’s sense of importance.
The problem with such organizations isn’t merely that one person wields a lot of power; in certain circumstances, that might even be necessary. The trouble begins when the entire system starts protecting that person’s self-image. When people care more about their leader’s reaction than about the result. When a bad decision must not be called bad. When dissent becomes more dangerous than a mistake. When capable people learn to downplay themselves so that the leader remains the greatest.
The company slowly ceases to be an organization and begins to resemble a mirror of the person who runs it.
That’s why perhaps the most dangerous moment for a company isn’t when its leader starts talking too much about himself. A far more dangerous moment is when the entire organization learns to think, speak, and remain silent in a way that won’t upset him.
From the manuscript of the book “You Do Not Run a Company. You Run Consequences.”
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