Careers Newsletter
 
NEWSLETTERS
 

CIO.com updates, insights and advice on technology, management and your career.

 
 
 
LEADERSHIP
 
CIO Executive Programs
The Leader in Face-to-Face Education for Senior Executives

Offering regional and national programs, CIO (and CSO) events bring together some of the most respected names and thought leaders in information technology and security. Presented by CIOs and other senior level executives, these invitation-only programs offer timely topics and strong networking. Learn More »

 
CIO Executive Council
A Peer-Advisory Service and Professional Association for CIOs

Mid-Market CIO Panel: Tips and Techniques for Improving Vendor Relationships

July 15, 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM U.S./Eastern (GMT-4)

We'll highlight relationship priorities and best practices identified in a Council study, and we'll interact with a CIO panel on the approaches they've used to improve strategic vendor partnerships.

Secrets of Successful Vendor Contract Negotiations for the Mid-Market

Sept. 10, 2009, 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM U.S./Eastern (GMT-4)

On this free public Council teleconference, Matthew A. Karlyn, attorney at Foley & Lardner in Boston, will share tips on negotiating tactics and new, creative contract terms to help mid-market CIOs make better deals.

Executive Competencies Assessment Tool

Assess Your Business Leadership Skills with the Council's new benchmarking tool. Rate yourself in change leadership, strategy, customer focus and more.

More / Register »

Learn more about the CIO Executive Council »



 
 
RESOURCE CENTER
 
 
 
SUBSCRIBE TO CIO
 
Are you involved in setting the direction for your company's IT budget or strategy?

Apply today for a FREE subscription to CIO Magazine!

 
 

Avoiding Hubris in the Workplace

In the spring of 2005, the American public wastreated to the spectacle of well muscled baseball players testifying infront ...

 

May 26, 2005CIO

In the spring of 2005, the American public was treated to the spectacle of well muscled baseball players testifying in front of a Congressional committee. Only one former player admitted to using steroids.

In effect, these players took their cue from their commissioner, Bud Selig: He delivered testimony that essentially positioned him and the owners as blind, deaf and dumb to the issue of artificial performance enhancement that was enabling players to rewrite the record books.

The players’ union was even more outrageous; labor leader Donald Fehr said that the issue of testing and subsequent punishment was strictly a matter for collective bargaining, never mind that such substances negatively affect health and welfare of players.

The performance of the commissioner, the union and the players was a classic example of hubris, the total disregard for what others think and belief that you are held unaccountable for your actions.

Guilty as Charged
Hubris is not reserved for baseball. It just seems to find itself in the crosshairs more often. Politicians are notable practitioners; many posture relentlessly, pretending to take the high road when the low road is where they actually travel. Business leaders are equally guilty. When a product launch fails, a marketing campaign sputters or a policy goes down in flames, they cross their arms over their metaphorical chests and refuse to budge. Michael Eisner took hubris to the nth degree when he refused to relinquish his CEO role in the face of a shareholder revolt. True he surrendered the chairmanship, but he remained in charge. Does this mean that politicians, coaches and businesspeople must kow tow to public opinion? No, but as purported leaders they need to listen to criticism.

Hubris is a human failing. The Greeks originated the word and Greek playwrights made liberal use of it in their tragedies. Most of us mortals are guilty of it. And to deny that guilt is an act of hubris in itself. Hubris is a divisive act. When leaders make mistakes they fail to acknowledge yet punish others for similar failing, they are guilty of the “superiority complex." That is, the rules do not apply to me.

Such highhandedness undermines the moral fabric of an organization. Therefore, we must acknowledge hubris and guard against it. Managers, especially those who have been modeling themselves on CEO types who are guilty of hubris, are particularly vulnerable. Projecting hubris is a sure way to turn off your people, and in the process fail to meet your objectives. And when that happens, you may find yourself looking for another form of employment. The unemployment lines may be the last refuge of those who took hubris one step too far. So here are some things to focus on.

 
 
Loading...
 
WHITE PAPERS

Enterprise Performance Management

15 years after "The Performance Measurement Manifesto" was published by the Harvard Business Review, companies continue to redesign how they measure their business performance.
 

The Future of Collaboration

Oracle Beehive is the only unified collaboration solution built for the enterprise.
 

Exclusive Economist Intelligence Unit Research

Find out why - and how technology can help balance centralized control and individual autonomy.
 

ERP at the Speed of Light

Without the right strategy and tools, implementation acceleration carries the risk of abbreviated end user training and change management, over-engineering of business processes, and other problems that can lead to higher over-all cost of ownership and the erosion of business benefit.
 

5 Tips for Data Loss Prevention Solutions

RSA® The Security Division of EMC has identified 5 key considerations to help organizations simplify the evaluation process for selecting a DLP solution that is right for their business.
 

Communications Transformation Platform

The Communications Transformation Platform enables you to provide the services your customers demand - faster, cheaper and with less risk.
 

WEBCASTS

Management Excellence: Linking Process, Operations for Agility and Profit

Linking Process, Operations for Agility and Profit
 

Managing Client Systems in the Enterprise

Keeping client systems costs under control is just one of the many initiatives IT must address when trying to manag...
 

IT Consolidation Made Easy

The Primary IT Initiative for Reducing Costs
 

Webcast with Dan Vesset: Investing in Business Analytics Technology

What exactly is business analytics and why should you care? Dan Vesset of IDC and Gaurav Verma of SAS answer this a...
 

Capitalize on Your SAP Content

After 18 years of partnership and over 3,000 successful customer deployments, Open Text has become SAP's premier pa...
 

Enterprise Cloud Computing: Ready for Primetime?

The progression toward enterprise cloud computing is happening today, as industry leaders deploy technologies that ...
 

Resource Alerts

Get instant email notifications by topic when white papers, webcasts, and case studies are added to our library.

 
FEATURED SPONSORS
 
 
 
SPONSORED LINKS
 

Disciplined Autonomy: Resolving the Tension Between Flexibility and Control

64-page prescriptive guide to security, compliance, and IT operations.

Get Google Enterprise Search for your business information.

Accenture IT Consulting: Enabling high performance. More...

Top Five CIO Challenges

Insight makes it easy to spend your Microsoft subsidy check.

Five minute business analytics assessment. Immediate results.

Dangerous Collaboration Practices: 5 Ways IT Can Minimize Risk

Accenture: Outsourcing for uncertain times. Click to learn more.

Keep online transactions fast with CA Wily APM

Get agile IT security with CA Security Management

Trade in your old laser printer and get up to $1000 back!

Taking the Service Desk to the Next Level

Revolutionizing Enterprise Application Deployment

Why Data Loss is Increasing--and What You Can Do About It

Data Loss Prevention: A Better Way to Approach Security

Learn how to managing client systems in the enterprise.

Build a High-Performance Open Web Platform

Mid-Sized Company CIO Community: infoBOOM!

Enterprise PBX Comparison Guide

Getting Value from Outdated Networking Equipment

Top-line Performance that's Bottom-line Efficient

White Paper: 8 Key Ingredients to Building an Internal Cloud

Read about virtualization and consolidation effort best practices

Building the Virtualized Enterprise with VMware Infrastructure

Reduce risk, gain agility. See how Progress can help your business.

Improve ROI, lower TCO and reduce energy consumption.

Introducing the new HP ProLiant G6 server family

Accenture: Outsourcing for Competitive Advantage. More...

Better spam protection with Postini for just $1/user/mo

Introducing the new HP ProLiant G6 server family

infoBOOM! - The Mid-Sized Company CIO's Exclusive Community

Accenture IT Consulting: Logical meets technological. More . . .

The Fraudster Economy Model: Operating a Business in the Underground

Payback in 9 months with CA Spectrum solutions

The Case for Investing in Business Analytics Technology. Read white paper.

Live Webinar: Applying Business Analytics. Click here to learn more

Seven Ways ITIL Can Help You in an Economic Downturn

Developing A Dynamic, Real-Time IT Infrastructure

Maximizing the Business Value of the PC Infrastructure

Communications and Collaboration Needs at Business Organizations

Using Open Source to Deploy Web Applications

Cloud Computing: Read about VMware's compelling vision & set of products

Enterprise PBX Buyer's Guide

Secondary Market Primer: Your Network at Half Price

How Interactive Viewer Reduces the Effort to Meet Visualization Requirements

Stop Application Fraud at the Source with Device Reputation

Learn about the VMware vSphere (TM) & Intel (R) Xeon (R) Processor 5500 Series

Learn how a virtualized enterprise can help your company reduce costs

Why Isn't Server Virtualization Saving Us More?