President Reagan gave me the gift of a lifetime—the opportunity to start my professional career in his post-presidential office. In President Reagan’s post-Presidential office I had a front row seat to history. More importantly I learned what real leadership looks like, behind the scenes. Politics aside, President Reagan was one of the most gifted leaders the world has known in a generation.
You want to be a legacy leader—a leader of real influence—then beware of protocol and pyramids.
Do you refuse to be wrong? Do you get a lump in your throat, slightly sweaty palms, or assume a certain pious, entitled disposition at the very mention of admitting you're wrong?
Honestly think about it . . .
During my keynote speeches and leadership workshops, I coach CEOs and leaders at all levels through a tool called The Quiggle Assessment. There are a handful of dimensions to this tool though one reason I use The Quiggle Assessment is help leaders communicate with immediate impact.
The root cause of CEO Disease is a lack of self-awareness.
While in the White House, President Reagan obviously had a Presidential Cabinet: Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, Secretary of Education, etc.
In addition to his Presidential Cabinet, President Reagan had what he affectionately called his Kitchen Cabinet. His Kitchen Cabinet was a group of friends and advisers he counted on for three things:
As you ascend the leadership ladder and grow in leadership influence, the tendency is to become less and less self-aware. This tendency doesn’t make you a bad human—it just makes you, well, human. Period.
To be an effective leader—to lead with purpose, direction, and optimism—you have to fight the tendency to devolve in self-awareness.
I know you’re in hot pursuit of flushing CEO Disease out of your leadership system. Thus allow me to highlight one symptom of CEO Disease for you to evaluate.
Mike Mugel is my guest in episode 030 of my leadership podcast, Garage to Goliath | Leaders Building Legacies. Mike is the founder and CEO of Red Mountain Group. He started his company with one property and a vision that anything is possible. Mike has grown Red Mountain to a portfolio of over 4.5 million square feet with assets 17 states. Red Mountain helps empower communities to be open for business.
While you may think CEO Disease is just a you problem—a you problem becomes an everyone problem when it is undetected and unaddressed by you as a leader. Like most bad habits or that creeping undertow of egoism, this you problem spills out onto everyone else around you and those people don’t really like being dumped on.
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