Career diseases: Have you ever experienced a budget cut, loss of professional momentum, or lack of traction in your business? If so, you may be at risk for a serious occupational illness. Take the time to familiarize yourself with the symptoms and treatments listed below.
ADHD (all-digital hyperactivity disorder)
Symptoms: ADHD often goes unnoticed at first. As digital becomes all the rage, leaders with ADHD feel part of a trend. The most digitally savvy are admired. Titles like “digital native” or “digital evangelist” fuel delusions of grandeur for people with ADHD. Many are given the freedom to try new tools, often physically separated from their less digitally savvy peers.
There have been reports of leaders with ADHD leading their organizations to unthinkingly shift budgets from proven non-digital solutions to the digital world without question. However, as digital evolves, many people with ADHD feel disempowered. This is especially true when leaders want to see a digital strategy, a proper digital business case, or worse, ask, “Why are we doing this?” »
Causes: In emerging leaders, ADHD is often due to confusion between social media skills and social media business skills (knowing how to use them does not mean learning how to make money from them). In the case of senior executives, possible causes of ADHD are a narrow focus on business tactics or viewing digital as just a box of new and sophisticated tools (see also: one-sided business view). ADHD should not be confused with digital anxiety, the lack of understanding and subsequent avoidance of digital objects.
Treatment: The most effective action for ADHD is a technique called “zooming.” It asks leaders with ADHD to broaden their focus and consider an organization’s real strategic issues (and where digital technology could help) before focusing on digital tactics (also called “business sense making”).
OSBV (one-sided business vision)
Symptoms: OSBV is most common among functional leaders, such as those in marketing, agencies, or human resources. Leaders with OSBV are often experts in their field. They are adept at advertising, customer research, employee evaluations, and more. However, they may not see (or even ignore) business issues that lie outside their silos. Typical symptoms include budget cuts, schedule delays, career slowdowns, and, in extreme cases, job loss.
Causes: OSBV often occurs during corporate training, when people learn detailed functional skills rather than leadership skills. Most OSBV victims realize late in their careers that their role is not just to win Cannes Lions awards for best advertising but also to support the company’s overall goals, which may include cutting costs.
Treatment: Most cases of OSBV can be easily cured with a lunch or two with business executives or customers. In the long run, all organizations want to grow profitably, so leaders need to understand both the needs of the customers and the needs of the organization and meet both (also known as working in the “value creation zone”).
Authenticity
Symptoms: Authentic leaders, especially those with chronic symptoms, may experience isolation, limited respect from peers, and a lack of traction within their organizations. They are often described as insensitive, defensive, and, in extreme cases, self-absorbed.
Causes: Authenticity is often acquired by confusing absolute authenticity with compelling authenticity. While authentic leadership means building legitimacy through honest and ethical relationships rather than trying to be someone else, some people misinterpret this as “I’m great just the way I am; I don’t need to conform.” They become reluctant to improve as leaders.
Treatment: Symptoms of inauthenticity often resolve naturally when people receive appropriate feedback. Knowing how they impact their peers and teams will quickly help leaders discover the fine line between authentic and effective.
Chronic forgiveness
Symptoms: Teams led by people who consistently forgive often exhibit delays, chaotic behaviour, poor execution, and generally low overall effectiveness. Companies tend not to prioritize teams with these leaders as talent pools.
Causes: The cause-and-effect relationship of chronic forgiveness is complex. It usually begins with the assumption that mercy trumps merit. Another common cause is a leader’s lack of confidence in their ability to judge performance (“What if I’m wrong?”). But, a downward spiral begins when team members consistently get away with poor performance. Low performers don’t improve. High performers become increasingly frustrated and often leave.
Treatment: The first step in treating chronic forgiveness is relentless transparency about a team’s performance through appropriate performance reviews or 360-degree feedback. It is also essential to make evaluations, promotions, and hiring and firing decisions more objective, ideally by involving external leaders (i.e. other departments or outside experts).
Hedgehog Syndrome (HS)
Symptoms: Leaders with Down syndrome often find themselves with their heads down in front of their computers or smartphones, answering emails (Slack, if applicable). They are usually not well known outside their organizational silos, cannot provide direction within the office building, and generally do not have much visibility. Leaders with severe HS are often seen as having little influence.
Causes: Acute respiratory distress syndrome is caused by a severe lack of prioritization. For any work that involves change (which is most of today’s work), successful leaders make dialogue with customers and colleagues a top priority. These leaders know that to make change happen, they must genuinely understand people’s concerns and engage in conversation.
People with Horton syndrome lack this important prioritization gene. Instead of taking the time to visit markets, talk to customers, and walk the aisles of the organization, they avoid other people. They tackle the most obvious distraction first (usually email). Some even try (and fail) to organize change electronically. Shyness, fear of standing out, and lack of role models are often cited as underlying causes of HS.
Treatment: Leaders with HS respond best to awareness and behaviour modelling. Ideally, they should find a senior leader to accompany them to meetings with customers and people from other departments. Other treatment options include leading interdisciplinary projects, meeting with one customer per day, or disconnecting from your email accounts for a week.
Are you experiencing any of these symptoms? Don’t worry. As you can see, there is an antidote for each. Talk to your trusted leader about the options that work best for you.