‘The lunatics have taken over the asylum’. No, that’s not a jab at the world’s leaders, often hyper-wealthy and drunk on power and their own egos, it’s what a young Badger thought many years ago when his employer appointed a new Chief Executive from outside the company. Soon after their arrival, the new CEO appointed more outsiders to key leadership roles. Unsurprisingly, most of them had worked for the CEO before. The workforce quickly grasped that the ‘new sheriff in town’ and their ‘deputies’ were intent on rapidly and ruthlessly making their mark.
At the time, the Badger was leading his very first systems/software development project. The rationale for the rapid changes made by the new CEO seemed unfathomable to someone who was completely focused on delivering his project. Looking back decades later, having accumulated wide-ranging business and delivery experience, it’s clear the company needed change to sharpen its commercial and financial focus. Indeed, the CEO changed it for the better in these respects, but to the detriment of a great embedded workforce culture that was exceptionally team oriented. Wariness and distrust of the new sheriff and their deputies spread through the company, especially when the scale of the salaries, bonuses, and share options being paid to the new leadership became public knowledge.
The Badger’s respected and long-standing line manager at the time supported the need for change. They were, however, vocal in their dissent about the new CEO’s approach and the chaos it caused. They confided to a number of direct reports, including the Badger, that they expected the new sheriff, who was ruthlessly intolerant of anyone with the temerity to challenge the changes being promulgated, to exit them from the company. They were right. Within a few months, they left the company having signed a compromise agreement. On their last day at work, they gave the Badger two pieces of advice, namely, ‘When you deal with any CEO or senior executive consider them to be psychopaths until you’re sure they’re not’, and ‘Remember that any CEO or senior executive will be your friend, until it suits them not to be’. These struck a truthful chord which caused the young Badger to learn about the actual characteristics of a psychopath! (In simple terms these are summarized here, for example). Furthermore, these words of wisdom triggered the Badger to learn more about human behaviour and to use that learning to good effect throughout the rest of his own delivery and leadership career.
And that’s the key message from this item. If you have an opportunity to learn about the rudiments of human psychology, then take it and use what you learn when interacting with, and observing, others. His line-manager’s advice stood the Badger in good stead over the years. Keep it in mind, especially when there’s a ‘new sheriff’ with a new set of ‘deputies’ in town intent on change…
