Harry Levinson on the Psychology of Leadership

1. The "Great Jackass Fallacy" destroys intrinsic motivation.

If the first image that comes to mind when one thinks 'carrot-and-stick' is a jackass, then obviously the unconscious assumption behind the reward-punishment model is that one is dealing with jackasses who must be manipulated and controlled.

The manipulation trap. Most organizations unconsciously treat employees as stubborn, stupid creatures that must be driven by rewards and punishments. This carrot-and-stick philosophy, which Levinson terms the "great jackass fallacy," creates a self-fulfilling prophecy where employees respond with passive resistance, unionization, and active sabotage.

The power struggle. Bureaucratic structures reinforce this fallacy by forcing dependency on those at the bottom, leading to a perpetual battle for control. Instead of fostering commitment, this system breeds:

• Intense internal infighting and empire building
• A residual group of defeated "career people" passed over for promotions
• Widespread distrust of management's motivational techniques

A new paradigm. To escape this cycle, leaders must abandon paternalistic manipulation and restructure organizations around the actual tasks. True motivation occurs when employees are treated as partners with a voice in their own destiny, rather than objects to be controlled.

2. True Management by Objectives must begin with the employee's personal goals.

Obviously, no objectives will have significant incentive power if they are forced choices unrelated to a person’s underlying dreams, wishes, and personal aspirations.

The human disconnect. Traditional Management by Objectives (MBO) operates as a highly rationalized, industrial engineering illusion that intensifies hostility and distrust. By focusing strictly on corporate-mandated statistical increases, MBO treats managers like rats in a maze, offering them only a limited choice of pre-determined bait.

Synergistic alignment. Real self-motivation only occurs when an individual's psychological needs and the organization's requirements converge. Management must first understand what employees want out of their lives and then assess how the organization can help them achieve those dreams. This mutual task requires:

• Regular, open dialogue about personal aspirations
• Joint evaluation of the fit between personal and corporate directions
• A willingness to let employees move on if interests do not mesh

Long-term costs. Ignoring the personal dimension of goals leads to severe organizational decay, such as deteriorating customer service and high turnover among talented youth. When organizations unilaterally dictate objectives, they sacrifice qualitative excellence for short-term, easily measured statistics.

3. Performance appraisals must evaluate the "how" of behavior, not just the "what" of results.

As long as managers appraise the ends yet actually give greater weight to the means, employ a static job description base which does not describe the 'how,' and do not have support mechanisms for the appraisal process, widespread dissatisfaction with performance appraisal is bound to continue.

The appraisal paradox. Most performance appraisal systems fail because they focus entirely on the outcomes of behavior while ignoring how those outcomes were achieved. A manager may successfully get an operation "into the black" but destroy the organizational fabric by using authoritarian, highly destructive methods.

Dynamic job descriptions. To fix this, organizations must replace static job descriptions with dynamic ones that outline the behavioral topography of the task. This means explicitly defining how a person is expected to manage:

• Aggression (e.g., taking a stand vs. handling situations with delicacy)
• Affection (e.g., working closely with subordinates vs. maintaining distance)
• Dependency (e.g., working independently vs. relying on team support)
• Ego ideal demands (e.g., the specific gratifications and power sought)

The critical incident process. Managers should record specific, verifiable behaviors through a continuous critical incident process rather than relying on subjective annual ratings. This provides real-time coaching data, protects against discrimination lawsuits, and helps identify who can truly stand alone in higher-level roles.

4. Executive burnout is an organizational failure, not an individual weakness.

The major defining characteristic of burnout is that people can’t or won’t do again what they have been doing.

The exhaustion syndrome. Burnout is a state of emotional depletion and cynicism that strikes highly competent, overconscientious achievers who hurl themselves against impossible organizational demands. It is characterized by chronic fatigue, irritability, a sense of being besieged, and a complete loss of purpose.

Breeding grounds. Modern corporate environments act as perfect incubators for burnout by subjecting managers to prolonged, unremitting pressure without psychological support. Key contributing factors include:

• The escalating complexity of matrix structures and public hostility
• Constant corporate reorganizations that render past sacrifices meaningless
• The emotional toll of demoting or discharging subordinates during downsizing

Systemic prevention. Top management must actively intervene by limiting work hours, rotating people out of high-stress roles, and establishing mutual support systems. Sufferers do not need mere introspection; they require physical outlets, public defense from leaders, and realistic career fallback positions.

5. The abrasive personality is driven by an agonizing, unconscious need for perfection.

Like the proverbial porcupine, an abrasive person seems to have a natural knack for jabbing others in an irritating and sometimes painful way.

The perfectionist drive. Abrasive executives are often highly intelligent, analytical, and intensely productive, yet they leave a trail of scorched earth and demoralized colleagues. Their hostile, condescending behavior is actually a desperate defense mechanism masking a low sense of self-worth and an impossible demand for personal perfection.

Organizational paralysis. Because they view any compromise as a surrender of standards, abrasive managers oversupervise, undercut rivals, and treat differences as challenges to be vanquished. This behavior severely damages the organization by:

• Silencing subordinates who fear their intense wrath
• Creating a politically insensitive environment that blocks teamwork
• Leaving behind a completely dependent, self-doubting staff when they depart

The sheepdog approach. Salvaging this valuable talent requires superiors to act like sheepdogs, gently but firmly nudging them back into position with frequent, non-judgmental feedback. If they fail to respond to behavioral counseling, they must be referred to professional therapy to address their deep-seated, unconscious conflicts.

6. Midlife transitions require managers to shift from active competitors to generative coaches.

The middle-aged manager who fails to take himself, his crises, and his feelings seriously keeps running, intensifies his exploitation of others, or gives up to exist on a plateau.

The midlife turnaround. Between the ages of 35 and 55, executives undergo a profound physical and psychological transition marked by the realization of their own mortality. This realization often triggers a temporary period of depression, restlessness, and a sharp rise in psychosomatic health symptoms.

The pain of rivalry. During this stage, managers face the agonizing task of preparing younger rivals to succeed them while sensing themselves to be on a descending path. This unconscious conflict often manifests as:

• Intense, unacknowledged resentment toward younger "whiz kids"
• An inability to delegate authority or genuinely develop subordinates
• A desperate, self-defeating pursuit of lost youth and corporate power

Embracing generativity. To mature creatively, the middle-aged manager must transition from active "quarterback" to generative "coach." By focusing on long-range planning, mentoring, and finding purpose in social causes, they can turn this potential crisis into a personal and organizational renaissance.

7. Unresolved psychological drives and a tyrannical superego can lead to self-destruction.

The relentless driving of himself was a form of self-sacrifice—just like alcoholism, most accidents, repeated failures on the job, presenting the worst side of one’s self to others, and some forms of crime.

The tragic case. The suicide of Bob Lyons—a highly successful, athletic, and seemingly well-adjusted executive—illustrates the devastating power of unresolved internal conflicts. When a person's self-worth is tied entirely to relentless performance, any reduction in work capacity can trigger a catastrophic psychological collapse.

The warring drives. Human personality is governed by a constant struggle to fuse constructive (loving) and aggressive (destructive) drives under the watchful eye of the ego. When the ego is weakened by chronic stress, these drives can become unfused, leading to:

• Severe psychosomatic illnesses like ulcers and hypertension
• Unconscious self-punishment through accidents or repeated failures
• The displacement of aggressive energy directly back onto the self

The tyrannical superego. A harsh, punitive superego demands impossible standards of performance as the sole price for self-love. When external avenues for discharging aggression (like hard work) are blocked, this internal judge turns inward, driving the individual to literal or figurative self-destruction.

8. Choosing a chief executive requires evaluating a multifaceted profile of personality dimensions.

A good executive is multifaceted like a diamond.

Beyond technical competence. Selecting a chief executive is a highly complex task that cannot rely on simple business competence or computer logic. Boards must look past static resumes to evaluate the subtle, qualitative dimensions of a candidate's personality and behavioral patterns.

The behavioral profile. Levinson identifies twenty critical personality dimensions grouped into thinking, feelings/relationships, and outward behavior. Key areas of evaluation include:

• The capacity to conceptualize, synthesize, and tolerate ambiguity
• How the candidate manages aggression, affection, and dependency
• Outward traits like integrity, stamina, and social responsibility

The perfect fit. No single individual possesses perfect scores across all dimensions; instead, boards must seek a profile that matches the organization's specific developmental tasks. The ideal leader is one whose characteristic behaviors align naturally with the future competitive demands of the business environment.

9. Family businesses are uniquely plagued by deep-seated, unconscious rivalries.

The fundamental psychological conflict in family businesses is rivalry, compounded by feelings of guilt, when more than one family member is involved.

The founder's shadow. For the entrepreneurial founder, the business is simultaneously his "baby," his "mistress," and an extension of his own ego. Unconsciously driven to escape his own father's authority, the founder often struggles to delegate power, viewing any successor as a threat to his masculinity.

Internecine warfare. This psychological dynamic breeds intense, destructive rivalries between fathers and sons, as well as among brothers competing for parental approval. These conflicts frequently result in:

• Sons being kept in infantile, dependent roles well into middle age
• Brothers turning board meetings and daily operations into personal battlegrounds
• Non-family employees being forced to take sides, paralyzing the organization

Professionalizing the firm. To survive, family businesses must transition to professional management as quickly as possible, separating ownership from daily operations. Family members should move into policy-making roles on the board, allowing objective, outside managers to run the business.

10. Successful career transitions depend on aligning work with one's deeply rooted ego ideal.

When a career helps satisfy the ego ideal, life and work are rewarding and enjoyable.

The career itch. By midlife, many managers find their once-stimulating careers becoming routine, boring, or unrewarding. The desire for a second career is often a healthy, developmental push to reassert independence and fulfill long-deferred dreams.

Mapping the ego ideal. The ego ideal is an idealized self-image formed in early childhood, representing the person we believe we ought to be. To choose a successful second career, a manager must map this ideal by analyzing:

• The core values of parents and early childhood heroes
• The specific life experiences that provided the deepest gratification
• One's preferred style of handling aggression, affection, and dependency

Navigating the transition. Making a significant career shift is an evolutionary process that inevitably triggers a period of mourning and temporary depression. Success requires open communication with one's spouse, realistic financial planning, and the courage to pursue authentic self-reliance.

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