IDENTITY CRISIS IN LEADERS

One of the books I read on ‘Leadership’ was narrating the following anecdote.

A retired senior executive was invited to a conference to deliver a lecture. He had addressed the previous annual conferences of the same organization in the last couple of years also. However, this year when he was invited to the stage to deliver the lecture, he walked to the stage with a cup of coffee on his hand.  After he spoke for a few minutes, he sipped the coffee from the cup and then he looked at the cup for a few seconds and smile. He continued his speech “Friends, I had come to the same conference last year also. But I was not a retired person and I was in command of the office. So, When I arrived at the airport, I was received by a team of people, offered a bouquet of flowers; and escorted to the Hotel which was indeed a five star. There was another gentleman to receive me at the Hotel and look after my needs. Next morning, again a team of people escorted me to this convention from the hotel and I was offered a coffee in a cup that was very impressive. This year, I booked my ticket and I landed at the airport. There was no one to receive me and hence I picked up a cab. I went to the hotel where I was notified about my room. There were none to receive me at the airport, none to receive me at the hotel, the bouquet of flowers was missing. I organized a cab to come to this conference, I walked towards the corner where tea was being served and collected a cup of tea and this is it.  This cup is now smiling at me and asking me a few questions on the celebration of leadership. Why did I get the respect last year and what went wrong this year? Leaders, please understand on most occasions, it is not you who is celebrated, it is not you who is respected, but the position that you are. The power that is associated with it” He kept silent for a minute and took a long breath and said “Remember, your identity as a leader often has a positional value.”

As I read this description, I could relate with ease to a number of my colleagues who had displayed an air of arrogance drawn from the post when they were in the office, but suffered a huge crisis in their identity in due course. Sufficient data exists to show that people who demit their office on retirement and bemoan their loss of power do suffer from some types of psychological illness, depression and heart attacks as they are not able to come to terms with the realities arising out of loss of power, loss of identity and an engagement with power and authority.

People suffer from a crisis of identity even when they are in office or when they hold an enviable position. In most cases, they are indicators of low self-esteem, a reflection of their level of incompetence, a self-pity due to competitive bidding of their identity or a description of their acknowledgment of fear of survival in that position.

Some of the common reasons for such issues relating to the identity crisis of an individual are:

1.  Celebration of Authority and power

A number of people often get intoxicated with the power that is drawn from the position and feel that the celebration of their identity is associated with the exercise of power and authority, oftentimes, using them out of context, too frequently and without judgment. They believe in creating a fear psychosis among the people who are in their circle of control and think their respect would increase with the limitless use of this power. Sometimes they use the power to create an image of themselves and to hide their own incompetence or inadequacy of skills. They believe that once others working with them are aware of what he could do with the powers vested, they would keep a distance and consider them as demi-gods

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2. Projecting a false image

Some leaders who suffer from a sense of inferiority or a fear of the visibility of their inadequacy or who are insecure of their own performance, tend to project on themselves a ‘persona’ who they are not. They look around for some celebrity brands in their own professional fields and imitate styles and strategies. On several occasions, they stand exposed, ridiculed and treated with contempt. Nevertheless, they continue with their ‘bravo’ displays least realizing an ostrich cannot dance like a peacock, whatever be the efforts. Such leaders become failures professionally sooner than later.

3.  Fear of change and uncertainty   

Some Leaders are victims of tradition, convention, and hence tend to remain in their ‘comfort zones.’ Their fixed mindset that ‘everything is alright’ “that is how things are done’ ‘after all, I have climbed the ladder only this way’ triggers them to rebuke others who are different, who are creative, who love innovation and who usher in change. This unwillingness to change sets in motion a ‘fault finding syndrome’ and they wait for opportunities to bully others and scoff at them at evert step till they are totally demoralized and prepare to leave. In many organizations they enjoy some misconceived trust from the management and hence project themselves as guardian angels of the growth of the organizations till the last rites are performed for the organization.

4.  Fear of survival in the position

Many positional leaders continuously fear from survival in their existing cadre because they have other individuals in the team who are better qualified, who are star performers, who often narrate stories of success. The leaders think such people in the team are potential threats to their existence. Hence, they somehow want to keep these performers are suppressed by holding their freedom and keeping them always under a shadow so that their visibility is restricted. They tend to project the performance and success stories of these persons as their own depriving them the legitimacy of the reward for their work. Good workers hesitate to work with such leaders and if they have to, they tend to restrain their original and creative faculties.

5.  Absence of self-confidence

Some leaders, though are hardworking and passionate about what they do, suffer from low confidence profiles. They look for periodical validation of their work, seek praise, look for acknowledgement and await recognition. They think that the celebration of their brand in public platforms, receipt of awards and recognition in public domains, display of their interviews in magazines and media visibility are the only way to move forward. Sometimes they tend to secretly verify from the members of their own team “How do you see my performance?” “What do people talk of me in the market?” “Do you think I am on th8e right direction?’ – These questions arise not really for appropriate validation, but as instruments to boost their self-confidence from time to time.

Identity crisis in leadership is not a new phenomenon. It has existed for centuries. But with the new life styles, newer organizational descriptions, exhausting competitions in leadership positions and demanding fitness levels for organizational leaderships, the spectrum of crisis indicators appear to be increasing. May be “Leadership Counselling” may acquire some fancy prospects.