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Leadership is the global obsession. Many writers and psychologists try to go inside the mind of the leaders. Kets de Vries here describes the psychological profile of successful CEOs. He explores top executives’ vulnerabilities.
     You’ve studied the psychology of leaders in your whole life. How do you identify the successful ones?
     The first thing I look for is emotional intelligence — basically how self-reflective is the person? Of course, emotional intelligence involves a lot more than just being introspective. It also involves what I call the teddy bear factor. Do people feel comfortable with you? Do they want to be close to you? An emotionally intelligent leader also knows how to single people out and say, "Hey; Deborah, you are special. I’ve looked a long time for you." In general, emotionally intelligent leaders tend to make better team players, and they are more effective at motivating themselves and others. Furthermore, leaders do not always learn skill of emotional intelligence on the job. Of course, over the years, I’ve met highly successful executives who are not self- reflective at all. They are total doers. You have to be a doer to make it in business.
     Nevertheless, in my experience, the most effective leaders are able to both act and reflect, which prepares them to manage for the long term.
     Do the background of successful leaders you’ve studied have anything in common?
     There is evidence that many successful male leaders had strong, supportive mothers and rather remote, absent fathers. This is beautifully exemplified by Jack Welch, who in his autobiography, describes his attachment to a powerhouse of a mother and depicts his father, a train conductor, as pleasant enough but not very present. However, when it comes to women, it’s harder to explain what makes for success. But it does seem that the model for great women leaders is more complicated than that of great male leaders. As with the men, some strong women leaders had powerful, supportive mothers. But others had powerful fathers.
     Would you say that culture plays a role in determining what type of leader you have?
     Certainly, different cultures have very different expectations of leaders. In America, for instance, a leader is a big shot. He takes himself very seriously, and other people regard him as a kind of support. In Dutch culture, a leader is someone who suffers. A leadership style that would be effective in Sweden, for example, may be quite malfunctional in Russia. On the other hand, corporate culture varies enormously as well, and companies differ in how they regard factors such as power, status, and hierarchy. There are also great differences in the way executives from various national cultures look at control and authority.
     You often write that executives are irrational. What do you mean by that?
     Well, ff you study executives, you quickly see that they don’t behave rationally all the time. Indeed, irrational behavior is common in organizational life. The mental health of senior executives is very subtle. They can’t be too crazy or they generally don’t make it to senior positions, but they are nonetheless extremely driven people. But executives don’t like to hear this, they like to think they are totally in control.
     Now to sum up, what is your prescription for healthy leadership?
     Self-awareness and a well-rounded personal life, as well as an ability to suffer fools and laugh at yourself.