Rowley Associates

Background

How self-aware are you? Self-awareness is a critical component of leadership. It affects the impact you have on others, your ability to read those around you, and whether you see opportunities as a threat or a challenge. 

To help our clients become more self-aware we often ask them to diagnose the leadership style of other famous, or infamous, leaders. The idea being we see things in others before we see them in ourselves and, using another leaders achievements, temperament, background and approach provides a mirror with which to diagnose our own style – warts and all.

Try it yourself. Spend a few minutes familiarizing yourself with Dunlap’s achievements, personality, strengths and vulnerabilities and then use this information to diagnose his leadership style. You will have chance to compare your insights with ours at the end of the ‘analysis’.

If you want to take the exercise a step-further take our leadership diagnostic to compare yourself with some of the best in the business or call or email us for a free consult.

On the Couch

Al ‘Chainsaw’ Dunlap came to prominence in the 1990’s as the quintessential corporate raider. His method of slash-and-burn won admirers both in the senior ranks of his company as well as on Wall Street. That was until performance tanked, shares went into free-fall and his supporters turned against him. Dunlap joins other corporate titans like Jeffrey Skilling of Enron, lauded for their leadership then vilified for their results.

Albert Dunlap was born in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1937 the only son of Albert Senior, a shipyard union steward, and Mildred, his overbearing mother. As a child he was described as short-tempered, obstinate and prone to fits of rage. When asked about his childhood Dunlap would describe a series of brutal hardships that he had to endure and overcome despite the fact that his family was relatively well off for the times.

After leaving school Dunlap went to West Point, the military academy in New York State, which he described as ‘the best business school in the world’. After graduating toward the bottom of his class Dunlap took a series of jobs before landing as CEO of Scott Paper where the real story of ‘Chainsaw’ begins. Over the course of several years he made a reputation for himself as a champion of ‘shareholder capitalism’. An ideology based on the belief that corporations exist for the benefit of one group only – the shareholders. According to ‘Chainsaw’, customers, employees and the local community were irrelevant and as long as he served the interests of his shareholders (and himself), he was untouchable. Such was Dunlap’s hubris that he christened himself, ‘America’s #1 CEO’, and wrote a book about his methods entitled ‘Mean Business’ - I’m sure no pun intended!

Working for Dunlap was described as an exercise in misery. His ability to instill fear into his executive team, and the rank and file of the organization, ensured no one had the courage to defy him.  He was a master at using coercive power – forcing people to bend to his will. It literally was his way or the highway. Employees had to work impossibly long-hours, enduring his taunts and bullying behavior, to try and reach impossibly high sales and productivity goals. Interestingly all his executive team privately agreed the goals were unobtainable but were pressurized by Dunlap to meet them. Dunlap’s overall strategy was to create so much fear that he fashioned a compliant, dependent and demoralized workforce. In his book ‘Chainsaw: The Notorious Career of Al Dunlap”, John Byrne writes “In Dunlap’s presence, knees trembled and stomachs churned. At his worst, he became viciously profane, even violent … he would throw papers and furniture, bang his hands on the desk, and shout so ferociously that a manager’s hair would be blown back by the stream of air that rushed from Dunlap’s mouth. “Hair spray day” became a code phrase among execs, signifying a potential tantrum.” (1)

It would be easy to dismiss Dunlap as all bad, an extreme caricature of the worst possible leader. But diagnosing leadership behavior isn’t always black-and-white. Dunlap was also described as, ‘decisive, a hard worker, and loyal (but only to very few business associates and subordinates)’. When asked about his ‘tough guy’ image Dunlap commented, “I’m a no-nonsense person. I’m there to challenge people beyond what they’ve ever been challenged before.”

It has to be said his extreme methods did deliver results for his shareholders – increasing the market value of Scott Paper by $6.4 billion, and increasing shares of Lily Tulip Corp from $1.77 to $18.55 in his two-and-a-half-year tenure. Business analyst David Plotz argues that to criticize Dunlap for his viciousness would be like “scolding a lion for killing an antelope”. It’s in his nature. Struggling companies do need to become more efficient and effective to survive and that often means reducing the workforce. What Dunlap failed to deliver on, or probably see as important, was building a thriving, vibrant organization that, in the words of Jim Collin’s, was built to last. (2)

Your diagnosis – some questions to consider:

• How does Dunlap’s leadership style compare to yours? How might he be like you? How are you different?
• How might you deal with a person like Dunlap? Would he intimidate or infuriate you?
• What are Dunlap’s strengths? For example how would you describe his results orientation?
• Does Dunlap show personality traits of a perfectionist, a narcissist or someone who is anti-social?
• Is your team or business built to last?

Our diagnosis of Dunlap’s Leadership Style

Diagnosing Dunlap’s leadership style using our model of conviction and connection identifies him as an extreme C1 Leader, with exceptionally high convictions but totally lacking in the ability to connect with his team or employees (3). It’s very doubtful anyone working with Dunlap would say that he brought the best out in them. Looking at Dunlap’s style in more detail his leadership behavior can be defined as ‘Aggressive-Critical’. The keynote of this behavior is the expression of aggression. This may manifest itself as detachment and withdrawal, passive aggressive behavior, or, as in Dunlap’s case, out and out confrontation. Signature behaviors include; bluntness, criticism, cynicism and distrust. These leaders are likely to ignore the needs, wants, opinions, feelings or beliefs of others in favor of their own and constantly see any topic or idea as a contest of wills to win at all costs. These people are less interested in maintaining relationships as in ‘being right’. As such they are more likely to use ‘role’ or ‘coercive’ power to get things done than rely on referent power or personal expertise. This style inspires fear, distrust and anxiety.

It’s also important to consider whether Dunlap was suffering from a full-blown personality disorder. His anger, sense of entitlement, exploitative nature and complete lack of empathy points to a man with a narcissistic personality disorder. Many highly successful individuals display personality traits that might be considered narcissistic but in Dunlap’s case his persistent inflexibility, sense of entitlement and grandiosity, point to a more chronic, full-blown manifestation of the disorder.

Endnote

The rise and fall of Dunlap is also a cautionary tale for our times. His greatest fans were the financial markets and business analysts. Chainsaw was lauded for his ability to turn-around companies even if it meant misery for many employees and communities. Make no mistake Dunlap was a gifted change agent. He did exactly what he set out to do: make money. The learning from Dunlap’s leadership is that things haven’t changed much. The recent rise and fall of the financial markets is what happens when you get a cadre of leaders who put profit before all else. If no one challenges these people, industry continues to be deregulated, and business analysts continue to focus solely on celebrity leaders we will continue to have the ghosts of Dunlap shaping organizations and determining markets for many years to come.

References

(1)    Byrne, J. A. (2003). ‘Chainsaw: The Notorious Career of Al Dunlap in the Era of Profit-At-Any-Price’. New York: Harper Paperbacks, 432p

(2)    Collins, J. & Porras, J. I. (2004). ‘Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies’. New York: Harper Business, 368p

(3)    Rowley, A. R. (2007). ‘Leadership Therapy: Inside the Mind of Microsoft’. New York: Palgrave: MacMillan, 243p