Hard Lessons of the Ego: The pride before the fall

<p>Episode #252 // Chris Licht, the former CEO of CNN,<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/cnn-chief-executive-chris-licht-is-out-dff6f818?mod=djemalertNEWS" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> resigned recently</a> after<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2023/06/cnn-ratings-chris-licht-trump/674255/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> a scathing exposé in The Atlantic.</a> What was supposed to be an opportunity to provide a firsthand account of a miraculous company turnaround, ended up in embarrassment, reputational damage, and the inevitable sacking.</p><br><p>This isn’t the first time someone has invited the media to make a contemporaneous record of a firm’s excellence, only to have it backfire spectacularly!</p><br><p>In the 1970s,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Steel_(1967%E2%80%931999)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> British Steel</a> was the subject of a documentary film which, instead of showcasing its leading edge management performance and industrial dominance, as had been expected, uncovered an unhealthy culture that made any aspirations of commercial excellence impossible.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>What causes leaders to believe their own bullsh!t? Why would they open themselves up to public scrutiny if they didn’t genuinely believe in their&nbsp; abilities, and the almost inevitable success of their mission?</p><br><p>In this episode, I look at these two case studies, and dig into the root causes of hubris. I also give my three tips for staying grounded (and staying out of the newspapers). </p><br><p><strong>Source Material</strong></p><p><strong><em>UnHerd</em> Article:</strong></p><p><a href="https://unherd.com/2023/04/how-britain-lost-british-steel/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>How Britain Lost British Steel</em></a></p><p><strong>HBS Case Study</strong></p><p><a href="https://store.hbr.org/product/british-steel-corp-the-korf-contract/481110" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>British Steel Corporation - the Korf C