NH Primary and Egonomics

Disclaimer.. I almost didn't publish this post.. but I thought it was just too good a topic for leadership development.. excuse the political examples, but they serve as an excellent source for dialog. In no way does this post seek to endorse or support anyone.. other than you in your leadership journey.


If you missed my review of the book Egonomic.. check it out! It is an excellent read related to how do we get to Level 5 Leadership. Three core principles espoused in the book were:

Humility - The Openness you create in you and others
Curiosity - How intense are you in exploring and searching for answers.. Asking questions
Veracity - How well can you handle the brutal truths?

I found myself looking at the Presidential candidates and using these three principles as a sort of measure on whether they will be successful. If we were to rank them on these three principles... how would they rank out. Based on the news coverage this past week.. here is my ranking.. subject to change.. I should note that this has nothing to do with how I might vote and is based solely on how they have acted on news shows and in debates (I ranked them on the two of the three principles on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being best; I omitted curiosity.. too hard to know) Note I have linked to some videos that I think are insightful.. if you have a better example let us know by posting a comment:

On the Republican side

McCain - Leads on Veracity (9) and humility (9)..
Paul - Veracity (10), not so humble (6),
Hukabee - Veracity (7) Not always willing to discuss things, humility (9)
Thompson - Veracity (9), humility 4
Giuliani - Veracity (6), not sure he knows humility (4),
Romney - Veracity (4) Very shifty, humility (2) flipped on woman's right.. crushing
On the Democrat side:

Obama - Veracity (9), and humility (7) I think his frankness is what is keeping him alive
Clinton - Veracity (5), but humility (7) (only because she showed real emotion this week)
Edwards - Veracty (3), and humility (5) (The haircut did him in)

Clinton was the most interesting.. I think egonomics explains why tearing up made a difference for her in NH. She struggles to be both humble/open.. seeing her be authentic made a huge difference in trust..

Course.. this is all just random thoughts.. but I wanted to show you how these three principles can impact leadership.. you may not agree with my rankings.. honestly, I kinda did them quickly and may not have them perfect.. what is true is those candidates who won or had shifts upward in votes exhibited egonomics and more specifically REAL humility.. Real Brutal Truth telling.. Might be a good formula..

One last statement.. in no way is this an endorsement of any candidate.. this blog is about leadership only. A successful President should have egonomics skills that complement a host of other competencies..

egonomics hits a homerun!

In what I predict will become a best seller and one of the top books on leadership this year.. egonomics: what makes ego our greatest asset (or most expensive liability) delivers what every leader needs.

I did a quick count in my head and the number of leaders I know who could benefit from just one chapter in this book is amazing to me. Do you know of a leader who is too competitive.. or maybe one who is likely to become defensive if you question something they have done... or maybe one who thinks the world revolves around them.. If so.. your Christmas shopping is done. Buy it, wrap it up, and send it.

Of all the books I could give to a CEO or top leader who is derailing, I think this one is my favorite. It paints a road map on how to become the Level 5 leader that Jim Collins describes in Good to Great! And if you know of a young charging leader, this may be the best book I can recommend to keep them from derailing on their way to top. For one, I see some of my biggest mistakes described in this book. Some it took me years to overcome both personally and in the view of others. So ego is important and we all need to read this book.