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During my 27 years of global executive recruitment, I led many mission-critical searches, including finding leaders for turnaround situations, companies that sought new leadership because the CEO they previously hired and trusted drove them into the ditch.
After leading several crisis engagements, you begin to analyze how an otherwise well-educated, articulate CEO could screw things up so badly.
It was not a complicated problem to diagnose. There was a common thread for virtually every CEO who failed their company — they became so focused on their authority, control, and status that they could not do their job. To lead.
To enhance your brand and career, you need to focus much less on being in charge and taking care of those in your charge.
Saying you are a servant leader does not make you one.