Leadership Anxiety……”The Love for Hobbits and Fear of Hulk”
Yesterday, I was having a heated argument with my CEO about a candidate whom we were considering for a leadership role. I was trying to convince him, that the poor guy is not suitable for this position. The gentleman does not have the required level of maturity, exposure and he is a bit junior for this role …….hiring him is like “putting a small guy in a big Office” (certainly no reference to any political statement).
To my surprise my “Boss” was adamant to hire him for this role….His whole fallible argument was based on this premise that he is flexible and adaptable, though he is a bit junior for this role but he can be train and develop……….. After arguing for some minutes and i felt that he has already made up his mind and there is no point discussing this any further….and his frustrating tone and face expression telling me that i am crossing my limit and deviating from my basic role …..which is to make and run a payroll on time as a “Good HR professional”……..
I reluctantly accepted his point of view and closed this discussion by saying ” OK Boss as u wish” . ( Yes…..I need this Job…..)
While walking back to my Office I was thinking, as to why he was hiring a junior candidate for a bigger role? then, I looked toward the office floor and realized that he is consistent in his approach….He has hired “minions” in almost all the critical leadership roles………but why?
I then realized that its a classic case of “Leadership Anxiety” or we can say insecurity. Sometimes, we as a leader become so insecure that we tend to hire average or below average employees in our teams…so that we look good and our positions are not threatened….and if mistakenly we find someone who is “strong” we never hire him or even if somehow he/she gets hired we hatted him and make his/her life miserable………I called this tendency “Love for Hobbits and Fear of Hulk”.
This is a trap !!
The leaders who fall in to this trap, compromise the stability and growth of their very organisation which they are leading…..the fatal dilemma with this strategy is that it destroy leadership at every level and creates a culture that accepts and promotes mediocrity……..
As a student of management, I strongly believe that Leadership is all about building capacity at every level to translate the vision in to the reality!!
Have confidence and hire superstars in your team and they’ll make you look brilliant….Remember, the key to success is having the right team.
So hire “Hulks” in your teams and don’t be afraid of them…….
ZML 
Leadership Anxiety......"The Love for Hobbits and Fear of Hulk"
Yesterday, I was having a heated argument with my CEO about a candidate whom we were considering for a leadership role. I was trying to convince him, that the poor guy is not suitable for this position. The gentleman does not have the required level of maturity, exposure and he is a bit junior for this role …….hiring him is like “putting a small guy in a big Office” (certainly no reference to any political statement).
To my surprise my “Boss” was adamant to hire him for this role….His whole fallible argument was based on this premise that he is flexible and adaptable, though he is a bit junior for this role but he can be train and develop……….. After arguing for some minutes and i felt that he has already made up his mind and there is no point discussing this any further….and his frustrating tone and face expression telling me that i am crossing my limit and deviating from my basic role …..which is to make and run a payroll on time as a “Good HR professional”……..
I reluctantly accepted his point of view and closed this discussion by saying ” OK Boss as u wish” . ( Yes…..I need this Job…..)
While walking back to my Office I was thinking, as to why he was hiring a junior candidate for a bigger role? then, I looked toward the office floor and realized that he is consistent in his approach….He has hired “minions” in almost all the critical leadership roles………but why?
I then realized that its a classic case of “Leadership Anxiety” or we can say insecurity. Sometimes, we as a leader become so insecure that we tend to hire average or below average employees in our teams…so that we look good and our positions are not threatened….and if mistakenly we find someone who is “strong” we never hire him or even if somehow he/she gets hired we hatted him and make his/her life miserable………I called this tendency “Love for Hobbits and Fear of Hulk”.
This is a trap !!
The leaders who fall in to this trap, compromise the stability and growth of their very organisation which they are leading…..the fatal dilemma with this strategy is that it destroy leadership at every level and creates a culture that accepts and promotes mediocrity……..
As a student of management, I strongly believe that Leadership is all about building capacity at every level to translate the vision in to the reality!!
Have confidence and hire superstars in your team and they’ll make you look brilliant….Remember, the key to success is having the right team.
So hire “Hulks” in your teams and don’t be afraid of them…….
ZML
