James Bagge is the executive chairman and co-founder of Bvalco, a board evaluation consultancy focused on helping boards become fit for the future.
Was it bullying or just abrasive behaviour? Whichever it was, it was just poor leadership.
My last stream of consciousness (April newsletter) was about the importance of ‘involving’ behaviours as an essential component ingredient of good leadership. Well, have we not just witnessed two classic examples of faulty behaviours and consequential poor leadership and the individuals concerned falling uncomfortably on their proverbial swords but for two entirely opposite reasons?
Tony Danker of the CBI seems to have overdone the ‘empathy’ bit to an extent where his juniors were made to feel uncomfortable. In that case familiarity really did breed contempt. In stark contrast, Dominic Raab seems to have thought good leadership is all about demanding top level performance and assuming that can be achieved without first winning the support and buy in of those whom he seeks to lead. One has visions of an overly ‘abrasive’ Blackadder attempting to lead Baldrick ‘over the top’.
As in most things in life, there is always a balance to be struck. Good leaders strike that balance.
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