Leadership is an intimately human condition: Justin Menkes

Justin Menkes, an expert in the field of C-suite talent evaluation, is the acclaimed author of Executive Intelligence, a bestselling book which claims that our strength comes from our understanding of the science of assessment. In his most recent book, Better Under Pressure: How Great Leaders Bring Out the Best in Themselves and Others, which reveals the secret about CEOs who deliver their greatest successes when the time is the toughest, Menkes says the happiest and most satisfied people tend to spend majority of their time and energy in effortful activities, not leisure. A good leader should be a psychologist, he tells DNA in this interview. Excerpts:

In Better Under Pressure, you write that three essential and rare attributes —realistic optimism, subservience to purpose and finding order in chaos — can make a leader successful and that these three capabilities can be learned. What led you to write something like that?
I was struck by the overwhelmingly positive conclusions that master chief executive officers had generated about human potential. They not only believed these traits could be taught, but also had the extensive experience of successfully doing it.

How does a person realise his potential, learn it and then put it into practice? Also, is everybody capable of learning to realise his/her potential?
Realising potential is unique for everyone. There is no simple linear formula. But it has some critical guiding principles. It does occur over a lifetime. At some point in our lives we may feel that we have reached the end of our opportunity to learn anymore — that thought is quite depressing. At 93, when Peter Drucker, the management thinker, was asked, ‘What do you think has been you best book’, his response was ‘My next one’. Having mentored under him, I have seen that the inner thirst for learning and growth and the gratification as a result of it is hardwired in us. We must, however, surround ourselves with individuals who accelerate its development. In fact, on a personal note, it is our duty to do so and we are the one at fault if we fail.

In today’s business world, CEOs have to face greater challenges. What will be the significant difference between those who succeed and those who fail? They must find ways to become successful over the long term rather than in the short term. Today’s world can create a sense of ongoing crisis, of a continuous ‘turnaround situation’. This is true for everyone. Those who win will learn how to build systems that accept this reality and learn how to progress within it to win the long game.

Of the three catalysts of realising the potential, which is the most difficult to master? How can one work around it?
The most difficult to master is realistic optimism. Nothing kills the process faster than individuals whose psychology leads them to blame their circumstances on others and find a position of victimhood. To break a person out of this is extremely effortful, costly, and frankly must be questioned as to whether or not it is worth the effort. If it is, look for continuous and focused learning opportunities to help that individual vent in private about what went wrong was entirely the fault of others, and then pose hypotheticals to them about in the moment responses (they could have used but didn’t) that might have led to more positive outcomes. The counsel cannot be berating its tone and this is critical. It is there to open a sense of possibilities for them.

You have interviewed around 60 CEOs around the world. What do they all have in common?
These three attributes, all expressed in their individual persona. They have adapted to a world of constant flux and duress.

What kind of environment should be created in an organisation so that all employees work to their potential?
Workplace must give the employees a palpable sense of the outside competitive environment, its measurable and progressing threats to the business. It should also bring to table their own multi-dimensional plan to win against it and provide a continuous measurable feedback about how they are doing.

In your book you write that human mind reacts to bad things more quickly. Why is it so and how can one control his mind?
Negative bias is inevitable because threats to our well being have far more significant and permanent consequences than possibilities of positive opportunity. This is a human condition that we must acknowledge and work with. Thus, fear of failure is felt more palpably as we get older, but with proper mentorship and counsel we can certainly learn to recognise this feeling and control it.

What is the connection between leadership and psychology? Why do you say that good leaders should be psychologists?
Leadership is an intimately human condition. It is something that occurs in a day to day, moment to moment process over time. Leaders can no longer take a weekend away to plan a seven year strategy or walk away as their teams execute a strategy. In today’s world a leader needs to stay much more intimately involved in its evolution and execution.

You say that the happiest are the ones who spend more time in work than leisure. Can you elaborate the psychology behind it?
Self esteem is built by attempting new activities that stretch our capacities and ultimately by mastering those activities. The experience opens up a realm of possibilities of meaningful accomplishments we could make during the rest of our lives. It creates a deeper possibility of gratification, a feeling that is more deep and lasting. Hence, making it valuable than the more fleeting and superficial emotion referred to as ‘happiness’.

While reading the book one gets a feeling that only ‘good human beings’ can become good CEOs and work better under pressure. Is that the message you want to send across?
If by ‘good’ you mean a sincere ethical foundation in which their job is to make the world a better place then yes. That’s not from some personal sense of doing good — it’s from the reality that in the 21st century people who wake up every day believing their role makes a difference and simply work harder than their competitors.

Power tends to trigger the feeling of self-importance. How can one manage it?
Know that grandiosity is an inevitable human response to success and recognise it for what it is. And believe me, like any other feeling, it is passing. During periods of good, one can always be rest assured that a different and more challenging experience is around the corner. There is only one thing that is inevitable in this world and that is change.

How can aspiring leaders make stress their friend?
They are living it. But these principles are intended to allow them to do so consciously, effortfully, in a way that gives them a competitive advantage over others.

You say human imperfection and vulnerabilities can be brought under control. How should one work around it?
To bring human imperfection and vulnerabilities under control, one has to first accept it and be honest about it. Failure represents a critical moment to bring people together and build trust. Relationships that have not experienced vulnerability remain superficial.

Has any Indian company approached you to counsel a CEO contender to make the transition successful?
I have not worked in India. I have worked with expat Indians.

What are the key things that you focus on before zeroing in on a leader?
Extensive criteria are summarised to me before I meet a person. But more than anything my questions are guided by the needs analysed for the job.

Have you ever regretted your choice of a CEO?
Not yet, but it will happen.