Leadership teams today are constantly changing. In the past, leadership has been seen through sustainability of presence, long-term relationships, and constant one-sided decision making. Today, the environment insists on more. People in leadership teams need to move forward, meet the requirements of the environment, and respond to them in a way that not only ensures continuity but also upgrades the basic vision of the company for growth and success. So many businesses call themselves “high performing” and “fast-paced,” and leaders often come into a company just to be replaced in a period because they get exhausted and incapable of fulfilling the next expectation of them and their work.
But this is not a text about what exhaust leaders. It is more about those who enter companies in leadership roles and uncountably ruin what the company has achieved so far. These people often come to prove themselves, and while getting that approval, they do more harm than good.
Does this sound familiar?
Do you find yourself grappling with such individuals in your organization?
Have you pondered over how to transform them from disruptors to contributors?
If you ask yourself such questions, you are not alone. According to Garner’s published research from 2023, after the 2020 pandemic, some 37 percent of companies suffered from such behavior. This research covered twelve thousand companies over a two-year period, and the results collected were similar regardless of the country.
People today don’t have patience for how a leader should learn to act in a company. They act without caring what their behavior may cause. Well, not alone. Some thirty percent of the companies hiring new leaders report the same questions as issues they have to deal with. Often, newly hired people come supported by the trust that they will change, and a credit of trust is much higher than the credit given to people who have been in the company longer. What happens often is that those leaders, not feeling threatened by failure, start building their agenda without understanding the culture and established norms, and excusing their failures with the childish phrase “ I didn’t know that.” While this causes discrepancies, the people operating the business agenda quietly allow this behavior by not doing anything to direct those new leaders onto the path that the company follows. And often, the new leaders ruthlessly build their agenda without following the established cultural norms, ruining what was already created and sustained over time. And now, maybe the next question will be, how to recognize the behavior of the new leader who joined the company, but with their action destroys more than they create.
Communication style
The easiest way to see if someone is doing what they feel, instead of what will work in your culture, is by their verbal expression set. People who don’t listen to others and “revolutionize” the culture speak with “I” statements. You will often hear “Me” or “I” from them before everything else. They focus on showing their weight and value, instead of how their knowledge and expertise serve the greater good of the team and the company. Focused on themselves, these new leaders often look immature and selfish. They demonstrate cultural incompetence and, at the same time, implement new models of behavior that violate the cultural norms and the established way of communication. Trying to escalate their presence, these new leaders often create discrepancies in the communication that lead to some isolation for the team and gossip about them as a leader.
Behavior that “wins” others
Being focused on “I,” the new leader may search for authorities they can rely on and ignore those they see as insignificant for their personal growth. This may mean that they show how much they value the opinion of the senior leader in the company and furiously defend their thesis, even if they know that this thesis is incorrect. This type of behavior may be suitable for the superior ego, but on the other hand, it creates insecurity and destroys trust in the team and the value of the new leader. In some cases, discrepancies may be hidden from the mass squad, but in others, they may be visible and distracting. And “winning” others by showing “I” behavior often creates the opposite effect than the one expected. These leaders use phrases like “My team and I”, “I led the team project, with my team”, “I was on the frontline for this success”, etc. This behavior shows a deeper deficit, which we will list next.
Emotional immaturity
We have one person around us who behaves differently from the norms and expectations established in the team. Often, these people are colorful because they look eccentric, emotionally boosted, and somehow unstable in their expressions and behaviors. If a new leader becomes part of the team, they may demonstrate emotionally unstable behavior differently. People are fully prepared for a leadership role. Even if they know everything on paper, the lack of experience in such a role plays its role; nothing can kill the team like a person who behaves below their role level, especially if this person holds a leadership role responsible for results and others. Emotionally immature people are easily spotted by their demonstrated behavior. Their reaction looks childish when they have to be severe, unstable, and remain calm and balanced. With that, immature leaders often react as guilty children, who search for approval and support, or as aggressive hooligans who don’t care about situations and people around them, focusing on the win-lose approach. It is typical for them to change emotional states often by showing what looks like vulnerability in one moment, to rush to aggressive and war-like behavior in the following situation.
Hiding development areas and playing the winner
Seen them all, heard them all. When joining a new team, a leader often tries to prove their value quickly. They look confident, act sharply, and explain all mistakes with the person holding the role before their arrival. With the intent to position themselves fast and establish credibility, the new leader often creates the opposite – a discrepancy between their behavior and the expectations of the culture and the organization. Some of them realize and do this intentionally, while others, new leaders, move forward “driven ” by the internal force to help the business as fast as possible. In both cases, the result is hidden development areas that need attention and discrepancies caused by the inconsistent and fragmented feedback that creates more inconvenience than a favorable outcome. It is why the other members of the leadership team and the organization as a team need to turn to that new leader, joining and find the mechanism to support their integration by maximizing the strengths of the person and the professional in the leadership role and helping them deliver by supporting their development in the areas they need to work.
Show rejection to history.
Driven by the willingness to establish themselves, new team leaders often reject what was already set as processes and steps to implement their “new and innovative” approach, which can further move the agenda forward. But what they often miss are the details of history. The higher the self-confidence level is, the greater the mistakes new leaders make. They overlook this iteration because of the insecurity of whether the organization will accept or reject them. That makes the new leader react aggressively to what is “old and archaic” and focus on changing it by implementing quick fixes that “boost performance and change the status quo”. What an ego-driven part of the character this is. And how many discrepancies it can create, even an experienced behavioral observer can’t say. Instead, the company should work to show the new person that everyone respects what has already been done and established. Despite expectations for change, the culture needs a careful action agenda concerning history and a step-by-step approach for balanced instead of rapid change.
IN CONCLUSION:
Don’t get it wrong, adding a new person to a leadership team is the best thing. Especially if the leadership team is consistent and with no changes from inside over a long time. New people often bring fresh perspectives and disruptive thinking that shakes the status quo and “opens eyes” for elements, things, and details that may be overlooked for an extended period. But at the same time, adding a person who is way too different from the culture, values, and behaviors that a company is setting, supporting, and developing, may turn the hype from the new hire into a recipe for disaster. While new and not knowing much about the deep layers of company culture, values and internally set agendas, the new hire may become a toxic disruptor that fights with the whole company and position themselves for short time from the role of the fresher to the role of the poisonous disruptor that harms instead of supporting company growth, development and wins. Loooking at the details in behavior and “correcting” them with the right approach on time ensures that no matter the shock of the new, the hire will bring their full potential, energy and vision of success into the environment, ensuring that this new member of the leadership team goes the right path and contributes to the company well-growth successfully.
The Human place - a path from you to yourself 