Back in 1977, longtime friends and Organizational Development consultants Stephen Jenks and Fritz Steele published The Feel of the Workplace, a book about internal organizational climates. For years after that, the two wrote articles about arrogant leaders and the effect they have on people and institutions.
“Then when Enron went down, we realized its leaders were unbelievably arrogant,” said Stephen. “And then the financial crisis hit and we saw more examples of extreme arrogance that caused suffering among shareholders, customers and employees. This prompted us to pull all our writings together and publish The Arrogant Leader: Dealing with the Excesses of Power, a book that looks at the causes of arrogance, its effects, ways of coping or reducing it, and other related topics.”
Stephen and his partner wanted to help readers understand arrogance, its costs, and how to deal with it so it doesn’t sabotage personal competence, relationships, good intentions and organizational survival. It’s a very timely book with examples from business, politics, law, music, sports, etc.
Reviewer Peter Block recommended, “If you want to have some fun in a serious way, read [this] book. In unbundling arrogance, the authors de-romanticize destructive leadership and create space for leaders who embody and support the best of our humanness.”
The Arrogant Leader was published in September 2012 by Smith/Kerr Associates in Kittery, Maine. You’ll find it on Amazon.
