why leaders fail

“When Claudio Fernando-Araoz, head of research for the executive recruitment firm Egon Zehnder International, looked at CEOs who had succeeded and those who had failed, he found the same pattern in America, Germany and Japan: those who failed were hired on the basis of their drive, IQ, and business expertise – but fired for lack of emotional intelligence. They simply could not win over, or sometimes even just get along with, their board of directors, or their direct reports, or others on whom their own success depended.�

I've been a fan of Warren Bennis since I chaired a workshop of his. What a lovely man. And I like Barbara Kellerman's thinking on what makes a bad leader. This is a long clip - 38 minutes - and the introduction goes on a bit too long. But, if you have the time, sit down with a coffee and maybe a few colleagues who are interested in leadership, over lunch maybe, and look to pull out, say, three learning points to put into action.Barbara Kellerman's microphone doesn't work at first. Give it a minute - Warren Bennis fixes it for her.