The story ended as they all seemed to end, Terry as the hero.  The sales team sat quietly and nodded their heads.  The story that Terry had meant to use to inspire greatness in his team, fell flat.

On The Phone

Once in her car, Sandi called Erin to vent.  “Has Terry ever made a mistake?  Has he ever ticked off a client?  Has he ever really been in a situation that didn’t go his way?”

The Infallible Leader is an OxyMORONic Leader

“What get’s me Sandi, is he tells us what to do, and if it doesn’t work, then it must be our fault!  Maybe, just maybe Terry’s sales strategy is at fault!”

Over Lunch

Mark and Doug were laughing hysterically.  “I love it, Doug.  He’s the Messiah of Widget Sales!  The sales gospel according to Terry!  Where do you come up with this stuff?”

Between Sales Calls

Chris called his wife to give her the bad news.  “Honey, Terry claims that headquarters changed the policy and he didn’t know it.  When I called HR, I found out the policy was changed 6 months ago.

So now the money he promised us for winning his stupid contest is not coming.  We will have to make different vacation plans.  I wish he’d just man up and own his mistakes.”

Stuck In Traffic

Erin was on her phone again, this time with Mark. “If he’s not going to use our suggestions, Terry needs to quit asking for them!”

“At least he didn’t bring up that time three years ago when Doug’s strategy with Acme Inc. blew up in his face!  That seems to be his go to story whenever we make a suggestion.  Doug is calling him the Messiah of Widget Sales!”

“That is too funny!”  Erin laughed.  “How are Doug’s interviews going?”

“He should get an offer next week, and then he’s gone.  He’s going to try to get me an interview if he gets the job.”

The Bottom Line:

There was only one infallible leader who ever walked this earth and none of us are him.  Terry was not the Messiah of Widgets Sales.  His inability to embrace his faults damaged his team.  Ironically, he had no one to blame but himself.

The Infallible Leader is an OxyMORONic Leader.

In the story above, Terry displayed many of the traits that Infallible Leaders have:

• Terry only shared his success stories and never his failures.  As a result, his people saw him as arrogant and out of touch.
• Like many leaders, he failed to see that his people were not the problem.  Leaders can develop bad game plans.  No matter how completely the team implements a bad plan, positive results are unlikely.
• Terry felt like strategies that were successful for him had to be successful for others.  He failed to realize there was more than one way to skin a cat.
• Some leaders will never admit a mistake because they feel it makes them look weak.  Therefore, like Terry, they shift the blame to others.  Terry blamed headquarters for his blunder and his people knew it.
• When a leader like Terry asks for input but never incorporates the suggestions of others, he is not really interested in the opinions of others. He is just asking for suggestions to placate those he leads.  This can close down communications on any team.

The leader who exudes an air of infallibility will never build trust with his team.  More is learned from failures than success.  A real leader is unafraid of sharing his failures and admitting mistakes.

The leader who is more interested in finding the best strategies instead of just implementing his strategies creates a culture of open communication and trust.  His team will see the humility displayed and be open to new ideas as well.

As a leader, I must give up the idea that I need to be infallible.  I am not and cannot be without fault.  To be a real leader, I must have the humility to accept my failures, accept other peoples’ ideas, and accept that I may not always be right.

Question:

When have you worked for a leader that never could admit he was wrong?