University of Minnesota - UMN Executive Leadership Insights
The Leadership Killer
Book

The Leadership Killer

Reclaiming Humility in an Age of Arrogance

John R. Havlik and Bill Treasurer
Little Leaps Press, 2018
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Editorial Rating

9

Qualities

  • Well Structured
  • Concrete Examples
  • Inspiring

Recommendation

Bill Treasurer and John Havlik detail how you can survive leadership with your soul unsullied and your honor intact. They explain the dangers hubris poses for leaders and how they can guard against it. Both authors draw on extensive leadership experience. After college, Treasurer captained the US High-Diving Team. Later, he became Accenture’s first full-time executive coach, teaching the consulting firm’s executives how to become better leaders. As the founder of Giant Leap Consulting, he has counseled thousands of leaders. A former US Navy SEAL, Havlik headed the redeployment of all US Special Forces troops during the Iraq War drawdown in 2011. Treasurer and Havlik’s thoughtful book will educate leaders and all those who want to become leaders. The authors provide wise insights and important admonitions that all aspiring and experienced leaders should take to heart.

Summary

Hubris

Hubris is “exaggerated pride or self-confidence.” It inflates the ego and, thus, diminishes and eventually destroys moral character. Hubris pushes leaders to seek power and amass it for self-aggrandizement, not for the good of the people they lead or for the benefit of their organizations. 

With leadership comes power. This breeds hubris, a malignant vice for leaders. It’s corruptive and compromising; it strikes at a leader’s integrity and effectiveness. It provokes leaders to abuse their power. Hubris ruins leaders and damages the people they lead.

But because of leaders’ exalted position, the threat of insidious hubris comes with the territory. Hubris leads to rigidity, incompetency and complacency, plus a tendency to intimidate others and a lack of gratitude. Hubris turns otherwise good individuals into jerks, raging narcissists and all-around horrible people. Eventually, hubris robs leaders of their moral foundations.

The Repercussions of Bad Leadership  

Bad leadership undermines several important factors of a leader's impact: &#...

About the Authors

Bill Treasurer is the “chief encouragement officer” of Giant Leap Consulting, which helps people and organizations become more courageous. He also wrote A Leadership Kick in the Ass, Leaders Open Doors, Right Risk and Courage Goes to Work.  Captain John “Coach” Havlik, US Navy (Ret.), separated from the Navy in 2014 after more than 31 years of distinguished naval service, 29 of those years in the Naval Special Warfare (SEAL) community.

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