There are many ways a leader can lose the ability to lead. What follows is, in my thoughts, one of the most common.
We are all decision makers. We base our decisions on the information available to us. All other things being equal, the more accurate the information available to us prior to making a decision the better the decision we will make.
We all know, if we are honest and objective with ourselves, that we all make good decisions and bad decisions. None of us are omniscient. None of us are flawless in our decision-making abilities. We all are, or should be, works in progress and learning how to make better decisions as we move forward in this life.
Leaders, or those who would think of themselves as leaders, are decision makers as well. The trust that people place in their leaders over time is largely a product of their trust in their leaders’ decision making. A leader who tends to make good decisions is valued over a leader that tends to make bad decisions.
Unfortunately, there is a natural tendency in all of us also to value those who bring us positive feedback about our decisions and not to value those who bring us negative feedback. Negative feedback tends to call into question our decision-making abilities, whereas positive feedback does not.
This unfortunate tendency is even stronger in those who are leaders or who would call themselves leaders, particularly insecure leaders or leaders who doubt their own abilities. To call into question any of a leader’s decisions is seen as calling into question that leader’s status as a leader. Too many leaders, therefore, cannot countenance others calling any of their decisions into question.
Of course, most people recognize this tendency in their leaders, especially those leaders who react most negatively to people calling any of their decisions into question. The result is that over time those closest to those leaders simply stop providing negative feedback. Inevitably those leaders who negatively react to negative feedback from those closest to them only receive positive feedback, or no feedback at all.
This is why the mark of a bad leader is that they are surrounded by, or surround themselves by, yes-men, flatterers and sycophants. Yes-men, flatterers and sycophants are the enemies of, never the friend of, true leaders.
As was said at the beginning, all other things being equal, the more accurate the information available to us prior to making a decision the better the decision we will make. The decision-making process of leaders that only hear positive feedback inevitably suffers. As those leaders’ decision making suffers so does the trust people have in those leaders’ decisions. As trust in the leader’s decisions declines so does the leader’s status as a leader, until that leader’s status as a leader inevitably dies.