Indian Institute of Management Indore

Post-Graduation Programme in Management

Leadership Workshop
Leadership Article Review of
Leadership Run Amok by Scott W. Speier, Mary H. Fontaine and Ruth L. Malloy
Pamona Deva
Section H
2018IPM074
Introduction:
The article analysed in this report is named "Leadership Run Amok" by Scott W. Speier, Mary H.
Fontaine and Ruth L. Malloy and is published in the renowned Harvard Business Review. It
focuses on busting myths around how over-achieving individuals always lead an organisation to
the zenith. The article starts by stating the achievement as the primary motivator of executives
nowadays and how it has benefitted organisations due to the increased number of innovations
and patents issued. The authors then build on the research by famous psychologist David
McClelland wherein he tries to find the relationship between motivation and leadership
behaviour. He then studies three internal drivers of individual behaviour: achievement, power,
and affiliation. It was found that each of the three motives is present in individuals to some
extent or the other and how initially the presence of high achievement drive was correlated to
organisational or national success. Nevertheless, while organisations flourished in the short run
due to the achievement drive, in the long run, it meant cutting corners, keeping people out of the
loop and cheating. Essentially a narrow and short-run focus on achieving goals meant
compromising on the methods being utilised and hence long-term performances and
sustainability of results for self and the organisation.

Summary:
For those who are overachievers and have done well for themselves in their life, the authors
seem to be proving a somewhat contradictory point. They seem to be telling the audience that is
aiming for achievement is not only not good but also detrimental to success. While the thought
sounds absurd at first, one can start seeing the point of reading the article. To be successful, we
need to aim for more; however, the journey to achieving more matters a lot. Focusing just on
numbers, be it the sales targets, the financial records, the patents etc., can certainly lead to
success in the short term. After all, we are focusing on what matters the most. However, when
the sole focus is on pumping those numbers, leaders usually put pressure on themselves and their
employees to produce. This leads to reduced employee morale; trust is affected, and as a result,
workplace productivity takes a hit.

To elucidate on their central idea, they have divided the article into five major sections:

1. The Growing drive to achieve: The part talks about how the drive to achieve is
inculcated sometimes through the culture, and for many people, it is innate. The three
internal drivers of human behaviour are then explained. Achievement is defined as
meeting or exceeding a set[pd1] standard of performance, affiliation is defined as
maintaining close personal relationships and power is bifurcated into two – personalised
and socialised power. While achievement was initially seen as the only driving factor of
success, it was later found that the most influential leaders are motivated by socialised
power.
2. The Six Leadership Styles: The article then explains the six styles of leadership. They
emphasise the importance of achievement drive and caution the reader about how an
over-achievement drive only hampers the ability of executives to perform in the long run.
Then they move on to the various ways a leader may choose to motivate, reward, direct
and develop their subordinates:
● Directive: Strong coercive behaviours

○ Helpful in times of crisis when quick decision making is required and when the leader has to
manage the poor performer.

○ May hamper innovation and creativity when overused.

● Visionary: Clarity and effective communication

● Affiliative: Focus on harmony and positive relationships

○ Useful in certain high-stress situations or when employees are affected by a personal crisis.
However, the best results can be seen when combined with innovative participative or coaching
styles.

● Participative: Effective collaboration and democratic working

● Pacesetting: characterised by personal heroics

○ Beneficial in the short run, but in the long run can tire people out and lead to exhaustion and
burnout

● Coaching: long term development and mentoring

Further, the authors stress that no one style is perfect, and each has its upsides and downsides.
The key is to be in touch with all the styles and use them at the appropriate time.

However, leaders usually have a favourite or dominant style that they are most comfortable with.
It has been observed that neutral or demotivating climates in an organisation are usually related
to the pacesetting style of leadership used by leaders. In high-performing and energising
organisations, leaders were known to use a wide range of styles and usually had a command over
the participative, affiliative, and coaching styles.

3. Recognising Your Motives: Then, the article addresses the issue of how can one
recognise if they are an overachiever. The first step is to understand how motives
influence leadership styles and understand themselves; leaders can analyse their
activities.
a. High achievers can be seen taking on challenging projects, outperforming other
high performers and being utilitarian in their communication.
b. People driven by affiliation like to spend time with their loved ones and usually
prefer group activities that provide them essential avenues to build strong
relationships. Such individuals can usually be seen making heavy use of phone
calls and e-mails to stay in touch.
c. People motivated by personalised power want to feel strong and are driven by
status. Will seek out status symbols like the right car and engage in prestigious
activities.
 d. Socialised power-driven individuals derive satisfaction from mentoring and
coaching others and making them feel capable.
4. Managing and Exercising Your Motives: Now comes the essential topic of channelling
the drive into new behaviors. When leaders set out to change their ways through careful
analysis of their performance, what they find might be hard to swallow. Leaders need to
shift their focus from numbers to engaging their subordinates and drawing people into
conversations. Instead of telling them exactly what to do, they should focus on building
the employees' capabilities through careful coaching and assistance. Another strategy to
deal with this over-achievement drive would be to focus your energies somewhere other
than work.
5. Changing the Culture: Individual behaviour at times is also affected by the
organisational culture. If the culture emphasizes the achievement at all costs behaviour,
leaders have no option but to harness their internal achievement drive.

Evaluation:
The article brings out the humanistic side of leaders and how it is essential for the organisation's
overall performance. Even though written around 15 years before, the learnings from the article
are more than applicable in the current scenario, even more so now that the employees have
shifted to work from home during the pandemic. If leaders continue focusing on numbers when
employees have already lost contact with the organisation, the performance will take a hit, and
the turnover rate might be sore. Leaders now have the essential role of tying the virtual
organisation together, building capabilities among employees as they work remotely and hand-
holding at all times is impossible.

The examples presented are relevant regarding how leaders deal with their subordinates and how
harsh behaviours will only drive them out of the organisation.

Conclusion:

Leaders need to bring about a balance in their achievement drive and socialised power drive.
While focusing on numbers is essential, tackling the individuals who work on those targets is
even more essential. Because of this, the tasks of managers cannot be utterly mechanised because
it involves dealing with humans and not just targets.