The Mix at the Top — The Power of Psychological Diversity

Elisabeth Marx

Chapter 1 in The Power of Global Teams, 2013, pp 5-28 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract The mix at the top — why is it important? Is the success of organizations dependent on a single leader or is leadership at the top a team endeavor? For too many years, we bought in to the hero model of leaders: the CEO as the “white knight” parachuted in to the company when it hit troubled times or the internally groomed CEO in companies with less turbulence and longer foresight. Examples like Hewlett Packard’s high-profile revolving doors cycle of CEOs should raise the question whether we have an outdated and simply inadequate idea of leadership. Equally, the economic crisis has shown that the exclusive focus on the CEO as the hero does not work. When Barclays ran into a major crisis in June 2012, the Chairman had to resign, followed by the CEO and several members of his top team. Shareholders and the public are holding entire boards of companies responsible — and not just in the financial sector — for their inability to assess risks, and the executive management teams in troubled companies are taking the blame for reckless decisions and the failure to consider the long-term consequences of decisions and the insufficient discussion of “systemic risk”.

Keywords: International Business; Emotional Intelligence; Team Leadership; Chief Executive; Senior Executive (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palchp:978-1-137-00812-1_2

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DOI: 10.1057/9781137008121_2

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