A634.3.4.RB - The Harder They Fall
A634.3.4.RB - The Harder They Fall
In today’s business community, risk taking and rule breaking
are becoming the norm. This is also considered a traits that some organizations
may look for in business leaders. Traits such as modesty and humility are losing
their value when it comes to identifying good leadership.
“A swift and steady rise by a brilliant, hard-driving,
politically adept individual followed by surprising stints of miscalculations
or recklessness” (Kramer, 2003) He points to a winner-take-all mindset
where performers expect everything but end up with nothing. Kramer offers the following two explanations
for this mindset:
- Because there are so many talented, determined people
competing for just one top slot, the players in winner-take-all makes must be
extraordinarily aggressive about the risks.
- Rules are for fools. A conspicuous feature of
the-winner-takes-all mind-set has to do with individuals’ attitudes about the
rules of the game. Many players in winner-take-all markets believe that getting
ahead means doing things differently from ordinary people.
What is most difficult to
cope with is success. Risk-taking athletes (such as myself) in particular often
begin to consider themselves to be exempt from the rules that govern other
people’s behavior. Some who have demonstrated above physical ability,
resourcefulness, and the drive to succeed often become susceptible to
uncharacteristic lapses in common judgment and/or personal conduct. Further,
success with risk-taking and rule-breaking frequently leads to a propensity to
cast off self-restraint, prudence, and a sense of proportion. Often successful athletes
become confused with the difference between nerve and talent. In my case
on the field I would follow a play complete out and freelance. And off the
field or court I would push the limits of personal conduct and/or ethics.
We are surrounded daily by the genius-to-folly syndrome.
Turn on the television and at any given time you can watch and listen to the
presidential debates, interviews, and campaigning. We are currently purpose to
decide the leader of the greatest and most powerful country on the planet. But
both candidates suffer from genius-to-folly syndrome. We live in a society that
promotes this syndrome. The get ahead at all costs mentality which is usually
at the expense of others. And in this case the American public is the one
paying the expense. Both of the leading candidates are committing more “wrongs”
for two reasons; to get ahead and thinking they are above the law. Sadly
enough, there seems to be a lack of social accountability and a very
unhealthiness to get ahead at all costs emerging in our culture.
Works Cited
Kramer, R. M. (2003). THE HARDER THEY FALL. Harvard
Business Review, 81(10), 58-66.
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