Leadership & The Hubris Syndrome

Leadership & The Hubris Syndrome 

By Mark Wager

A common question I am asked is: what is the most important leadership quality? My answer is always the same. There are many qualities a leader requires, but without any doubt whatsoever, the most important quality is humility. In fact, I have never met a successful leader who isn’t humble. I have met some leaders who are not humble and who believe they are successful when, in reality, they are nowhere near as good as they like to believe they are. In this article, I want to explain why you need to look for humility in candidates you are considering for leadership roles, as well as seeking humility in yourself.

Leaders need to be confident, but without humility, confidence can become arrogance.

When someone has been selected for a leadership role, people naturally start treating that person differently. It’s within our nature to look up to people in more senior positions and, because of this power imbalance, communication changes. You don’t say the same things to a leader that you would to someone on your own level. A perfect example is when someone makes a mistake. People feel comfortable highlighting a peer’s error to ensure it isn’t repeated. However, if their boss makes a mistake, it’s much more difficult to raise the issue. People don’t want to be seen as disrespectful, nor do they want to get into trouble. So they tend to remain quiet. Yet without feedback, leaders will not only make mistakes but continue to repeat those same mistakes. A lack of humility blinds the leader to their failings, and as a result, they risk never fulfilling their potential.

The purpose of leadership is to put the needs of the team ahead of personal interests. However, without humility, leaders fail to see what the team really needs and start making decisions that positively impact themselves. This leads to undesirable qualities such as taking credit for other people’s work, ignoring others’ suggestions, showing favouritism to those who agree with them, and being unable to respectfully deal with complaints. Without humility, the leader’s ego remains unchecked, allowing arrogance to take over. The more extreme cases of this are known in psychology as “Hubris Syndrome.”

Lord David Owen, the former British Foreign Secretary, and psychiatrist Jonathan Davidson conducted research on the detrimental effect that an inflated ego can have on leaders who have been in powerful roles for an extended period. They found that leaders without humility tended to share similar behaviours. Of the fourteen behaviours they identified, here are the most common ones:

The tell-tale signs of an arrogant leader:

1. The leader starts to see the workplace primarily as an arena in which to exercise power and seek glory. They focus on themselves rather than the team.

2. They have a tendency to make decisions whose primary aim is to cast themselves in a positive light, making themselves look good.

3. They become very image-focused, worrying about what people say about them and how other leaders view them, even taking credit for other people’s good work.

4. They start talking as if they are the organisation rather than a part of it.

5. They ignore and even show contempt for any criticism or comments that don’t support their opinions, labelling those who disagree with them as negative, not team players, and even poor at their jobs.

6. They believe in goals or objectives which are viewed by others as completely unrealistic.

7. They associate, praise, and reward team members based on agreement rather than ability, effectively surrounding themselves with “yes men.”

8. They start micro-managing because they believe no one else can do the job better than they can.

9. They tend to ignore policies or procedures when things go wrong.

The study labelled leaders who demonstrated the above behaviours as suffering from Hubris Syndrome, where their excessive pride and lack of humility prevented them from becoming effective leaders.

The saddest part of all this is that leaders who lack humility are often unable to identify themselves as having a problem. Instead, they tend to place the blame for any failings on other people. For example, if they upset someone, they believe it’s because that person is too sensitive rather than recognising their own actions. If someone doesn’t follow instructions, the arrogant leader doesn’t see it as a failure of communication but as the individual not being good enough. This inability to view themselves through any critical lens means that, without humility, their career stalls, unable to progress beyond a level of mediocrity.

The best leaders are those who find something greater than themselves to believe in and share this vision with a team they are willing to commit to. Leadership is about service, empowering everyone within the team, making them feel special, and being there for them when needed. Ultimately, all of this requires one simple quality: humility.

“Pride is concerned with who is right. Humility is concerned with what is right.” - Ezra Taft Benson, former United States Secretary of Agriculture.

Are you a manager struggling with poor-performing staff, team motivation, or effective delegation? As an experienced leadership Coach with over 30 thirty years managerial experience Mark Wager specialises in helping managers like you tackle these challenges head-on. Imagine transforming your team’s performance, boosting morale, and mastering delegation, so you’re not shouldering all the work. With tailored strategies and personalised support, Mark will empower you to lead with confidence and ease. Work together to unlock your full potential and create a thriving, productive workplace. Reach out today and take the first step towards exceptional leadership. Contact Mark for a free 30 minute strategy session