Hubris, The Scourge Of Successful Leadership

Moby, the famous American musician, DJ, producer, and director once said, “success usually breeds a degree of hubris.”

A dictionary definition of hubris is “exaggerated pride or self-confidence.”

Confidence is an attribute that every leader needs to embrace and to foster in others. But when confidence goes too far, it can become hubris.

The main danger of hubris is that it clouds a leader’s judgment in various ways, which causes them to make decisions that are bad for them and for others who are affected by those decisions.

Hubris can be a real problem if a leader starts to think that only they can fix problems, identify opportunities and make all the decisions. They don’t recognise the team’s value, and worse, don’t recognise their own limitations.

It often is a result of success, sometimes from the very start of a career. A leader may have been on a fast track to achievement and had few personal setbacks or failures. They gain a reputation for accomplishment and start to believe in their own publicity.

If you had a great idea, turned it into a brilliant proposition and personally taken it to success, you deserve to be proud of yourself. The best advice in this situation is, don’t let it go to your head.

Remember that any achievement includes ‘luck’ as a key ingredient. When we say luck, we mean things like, timing

Stan Lee said: "Luck is the best superpower."

The opposite of hubris is the virtue of humility. It is the one quality that makes people more attractive to others. Humble people understand fully their strengths and weaknesses. Humility allows people the possibility of making mistakes while a lack of it prevents one from recognising and acknowledging their errors.

Robert Noyce, the founder of Intel, was asked how he felt about being known as the “Father of Silicon Valley” he responded, “You know it makes me a little bit proud, and a little bit humble.” There is a sweet spot between hubris and humility that is the key to greatness.

Hubris can cause short-sighted, irrational, or harmful behaviour since the person does not stop to examine their behaviour or consider the opinions of, or effects on others when behaving. Hubris often causes humiliation to whom it is directed.

The main danger of hubris is that it clouds people’s judgment and causes the leaders to make decisions that are bad for them and for others who are affected by those decisions.

Building a culture of critical thinking and humility can spare companies from the ravages of excessive hubris and self-confidence.

It can be the case that the higher someone rises in an organisation, the fewer peers he or she has, and they may be reluctant to speak up. The elevation of successful executives is usually powered by real skills in which they are justifiably confident, and for which they are richly rewarded and acclaimed. Leaders are expected to radiate confidence, to lead the charge even in the face of overwhelming odds. The frequent result? Hubris.

Don’t listen to Julius Caesar when he said: “It’s only hubris if I fail.”

A better quote is from American billionaire businessman, Charles Koch: "Hubris, arrogance, is just one step ahead of loss of integrity, because if you think you're better than other people, you know more, then you're going to think, as many leaders have, that the rules don't apply to them, so they lose their integrity."

A final quote, from someone who has experienced highs and low, actor Kevin Spacey who said: “We're all victims of our own hubris at times.”