A Leader Who Lacks Humility

This comes from a recent post on the Leading Blog. A story that ran in the Wall Street Journal by a univesity management professor Terry Leap says there are some warning signs for spotting a flawed CEO (as if there are some who are not). He says they all boil down to a lack of humility - or inflated ego.

Here are the warning signs presented by Dr. Leap:

• An overt zeal for prestige, power and wealth. A manager's tendency to put his or her own success ahead of the company's.
• A reputation for shameless self-promotion. Trumpeting their successes while quickly distancing themselves from setback.
• A proclivity for developing grandiose strategies with little thought toward their implementation.
• A fondness for rules and numbers that overshadows or ignores a broader vision.
• A reputation for implementing major strategic changes unilaterally or for forcing programs down the throats of reluctant managers.
• An impulsive, flippant decision-making style.
• A penchant for inconsiderate acts.
• A love of monologues coupled with poor listening skills.
• A tendency to display contempt for the ideas of others.
• A history of emphasizing activity, like hours worked or meetings attended, over accomplishment.
• A career marked by numerous misunderstandings. There are two sides to every story, but frequent interpersonal problems shouldn't be overlooked.
• A superb ability to compartmentalize and/or rationalize. Some executives have learned to separate, in their own minds, their bad behavior from their better qualities, so that their misdeeds don't diminish their opinions of themselves.

That's quite a list. Unfortunately, about the only way to spot all of these flaws is to actually go to work for one of these unpleasant characters. And oh the damage they do to the organizations they are charged with leading. What I don't understand is how they get into the positions of authority in the first place. How does someone with all that baggage get promoted to such a role?