$hitty Leadership - Why??

An excerpt from Positional Authority Ain't Leadership: Behavioral Science for Navigating Bull$hit, Optimizing Performance, and Avoiding A$$ Clownery

"Unfortunately, failed leadership is often (not always) at the root of the more than three-fourths of the companies that do not survive past the ten-year mark (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2016). Ironically, many of $hitty leaders are good people. They just behave badly. Why? Well, in short, often times if they knew better, they would do better. But doing better isn’t just about telling them to do better. Doing better entails:

• Having the skills: Leaders need to acquire effective leadership skills. This goes beyond just being informed; it’s about developing the ability to apply leadership principles practically and consistently. Leaders aren’t born, they are made.
• Having the experience: Leaders must directly experience the outcomes that their leadership behaviors produce. This direct experience helps to shape their understanding of the cause-and-effect relationship between their leadership behaviors and the workplace atmosphere.
• Having the value: Leaders must also place value on the outcomes of their behaviors. If the outcomes of their leadership approach align with what they personally deem important, they are more likely to repeat these behaviors, even if they are detrimental to the team or organization.

Historically, the world has been littered with $hitty leaders. How did they become so $hitty? While their personal experiences have undoubtedly shaped their behavior, a significant part of the problem is that many leaders are hampered by what they don’t know. This lack of self-awareness, often a pivotal factor in why many leaders falter, can be illuminated by considering two well-known concepts: the Peter Principle and the E-Myth.

The Peter Principle (1969) suggests a common paradox in organizational advancement: individuals often rise to their level of incompetence. In other words, people are promoted based on their current performance rather than the aptitude needed for the new role, leading them to a position where they can no longer excel.

Similarly, the E-Myth (1986) addresses the misconception among entrepreneurs that expertise in a technical skill equates to proficiency in running a business in that field. It underscores the difference between being skilled at a job and effectively managing a business that does that job.

Both of these principles reflect a major issue in leadership: a blind spot in one’s own knowledge and skills. Simply put, they don’t know what they don’t know. But the irony is, they think they do! This phenomenon, known as the Dunning-Kruger effect in pop psychology, is a bias that leads people to overestimate their abilities because they lack awareness of their own limitations. While the rigor of the research behind this effect might be debatable, its real-world manifestations are evident. Take, for example, my experience in boxing gyms. I’ve often witnessed “tough guys” enter the ring, confident in their abilities, only to be swiftly outclassed by seasoned boxers. Their quick defeat was a harsh lesson in the limits of their own knowledge and skills.

I personally encountered the Dunning-Kruger effect during a local nightclub event where I, at six feet and 175 pounds, faced off against a six-ten, 245-pound center from the Miami Hurricanes basketball team. To onlookers, the outcome seemed a foregone conclusion; however, as a trained fighter, I knew better. The outcome wasn’t about being tougher, smarter, or better in any way—it was about being well-trained. The fight ended in the second round with a body shot from me. The center, like many others, fell victim to not knowing what he didn’t know, learning the hard way that training and skill often trump sheer size or strength. Had he known what I knew, he would have almost certainly wiped the floor with me! This example translates well into leadership: without recognizing their own knowledge gaps, leaders may face similar situations, underestimating challenges and overestimating their ability to handle them effectively.

Too often, leaders fall into the trap of emulating the superficial aspects of successful leadership they observe in others, mistaking these fragments for the whole picture. They see a leader’s external actions and hastily conclude, “This is what leadership is.” However, this tendency to rely on correlation too frequently results in them missing the intricate, unseen elements that truly define effective leadership. While correlation has its place in the world, it can be as misleading in leadership as believing that shouting in an argument makes you right. It’s easy to look at a leader giving great speeches and think, Ah, great oration is the key to leadership. But that’s like assuming a cake is all icing. Sure, the icing catches the eye, but the real substance is the cake beneath—the quiet, persistent efforts behind those speeches.

Similarly, when you see a leader who produces great results, seemingly through being tough and decisive, what’s often missed are the compassionate, nurturing efforts these leaders put in behind the scenes. It’s much more than the stern face people see in the boardroom; it’s about the thoughtful mentorship, the careful relationship-building, and the empathetic conversations in the hallways."

If you want to up your leadership game, or the leadership of others, pick up your copy of the #1 best-selling book today!

References:

Gavoni, P., (2024). Positional Authority Ain't Leadership: Behavioral Science for Navigating Bull$hit, Optimizing Performance, and Avoiding A$$ Clownery. Heart & Science Consulting.

Gerber, M. E. (1986). The E-Myth: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It. HarperBusiness.

Kruger, J., & Dunning, D. (1999). Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognizing One's Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77(6), 1121-1134.

About the Author

Specializing in human performance, coaching, and organizational leadership, Dr. Paul "Paulie" Gavoni is a behavior scientist and educator who has worked across education and human services for almost three decades. In this capacity, he has served the needs of children and adults through various positions, including COO, Vice President, Director of School Improvement, Leadership Director, Professor, Assistant Principal, School Turnaround Manager, Clinical Coordinator, Therapist, District Behavior Analyst, and Director of Progam Development and Public Relations at PCMA. Dr. Gavoni is passionate about applying Organizational Behavior Management (OBM), or the science of human behavior, to make a positive difference in establishing safe, productive, and engaging environments that bring out the best in faculty and staff so they can bring out the best in the learners they serve. He is an active board member of the Opioid Awareness Foundation and World Behavior Analysis Day Alliance.

Known for his authenticity and practical approaches, Dr. Gavoni is the host of the Top 1.5% globally ranked Crisis in Education Podcast and a sought-out speaker at various Educational and Behavior Analytic Conferences Internationally. He a the Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-selling co-author of The Scientific Laws of Life & Leadership: Behavioral Karma; Quick Wins! Accelerating School Transformation through Science, Engagement, and Leadership; Deliberate Coaching: A Toolbox for Accelerating Teacher Performance; and MMA Science: A Training, Coaching, and Belt Ranking Guide. Dr. Gavoni is proud to introduce OBM and Applied Behavior Analysis to worldwide audiences through his numerous publications and his work with PCMA to create productive, safe, and positive cultures.

Beyond his work in education and human services, Dr. Gavoni is also a former Golden Gloves Heavyweight Champion and a highly respected striking coach in combat sports. Coach “Paulie Gloves,” as he is known in the Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) community, has trained world champions and UFC vets using technologies rooted in the behavioral sciences. Coach Paulie has been featured in the books Beast: Blood, Struggle, and Dreams a the Heart of Mixed Martial Arts, A Fighter’s Way, and the featured article Ring to Cage: How four former boxers help mold MMA’s finest. He is also an author who has written extensively for various online magazines such as Scifighting, Last Word on Sports, and Bloody Elbow, where his Fight Science series continues to bring behavioral science to MMA. Finally, Paulie was also a featured fighter in FX’s highest-rated show at the time, The Toughman, and as an MMA coach in the Lifetime reality series Leave it to Geege.