โ Scribed by Jeffrey Sonnenfeld
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
ociety-like the organizations in it-is usually changed by the actions of bold individuals with the courage of their convictions. And those individuals tend ' to take on larger-than-life proportions. That's why, in this age of empowered work teams, you never find monuments in the town square to the fond memory of a committee.
But the quahies that help accomplished people achieve great things can also cause them to stumble. People in positions of power, &om obscure academic committees to high elective office, can succumb to a major flaw of both individuals and organizations-arrogance. Or they can cut themselves off from others, close their ears to criticism, lose their sense of purpose or perspective. The good news is, these maladies are usually curable. The first step-and in large measure the solution-is simply to be aware of the problem.
Perhaps the most common-and the most dangerous-fdure is the tendency of leaders at all levels to overlook opportunities for feedback. Chief executives are particularly vulnerable; they spend as much as 60 percent of their time in externally oriented roles-with investors, shareholder groups, dissident groups, customers, lenders, regulators. They try hard to read audiences and sell their point of view, but they rarely get usable, constructive feedback fiom those that observe them. Likewise, in dealing with their board of directors, CEOs often try to manage (and minimize) the board's role, just as the board tries to manage the CEO. That creates an adversarial relationship, with neither side learning very much. Instead, CEOs need to take advantage of the two most important board functions: providing linkages (to financial institutions, the community, stakeholder groups, key customer accounts) and offering expert guidance and honest advice.
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**One daring to-do list and a crash course in flirtation turn a Type A overachiever's world upside down.** When her flailing department lands on the university's chopping block, Professor Naya Turner's friends convince her to shed her frumpy cardigan for an evening on the town. For one night her
## Abstract Confidence is the bridge connecting expectations and performance, investment and results.