Today’s Ask the Executive Coach focuses on why great leaders must tell themselves the truth, and what happens when they don’t.

Q. What causes leaders to lose their way?

A. I was coaching Bob, a top executive of an international firm. He was the kind of leader that exuded confidence and likeability. His greatest strength was being the change agent and getting results. But he would cut corners and go around people to make it happen. He feared failure and shielded his team from issues his department had to face. Therefore, he ended up doing most of the work and played the hero by doing impressive deeds, facing challenges alone and gaining notice.

Bob is not alone. The early chapters of leaders’ stories fit the pattern of what some call, “the Hero’s Journey.” Many leaders approach their early career as if they were on the quest of an all-conquering hero, with a primary focus on themselves, their skills, performance, achievements and rewards.

The hero stage is well described by Daniel Vasella, CEO of Novartis, in a 2002 Fortune magazine interview “Temptation is All Around Us.”  He noted that leaders who only think short-term (making each quarter’s financial goal) soon fall under “the tyranny of quarterly earnings” and lose sight of the long-term goals and good of their company. He notes:

“Once you get under the domination of making the quarter-even unwittingly…you’ll begin to sacrifice things that are important and may be vital for your company over the long term. The culprit that drives this cycle isn’t the fear of failure so much as it is the craving for success…For many of us the idea of being a successful manager is an intoxicating one. It is a pattern of celebration leading to belief, leading to distortion. When you achieve good results, you are typically celebrated, and you begin to believe that the figure at the center of all that champagne toasting is yourself. You are idealized by the outside world, and there is a natural tendency to believe that what is written is true.”

To avoid this trap, leaders must practice telling themselves the truth. Here are six truths leaders must tell themselves:

• The hero’s job may initially seem the best route to success. Acting as a hero is only a stage that leaders move through on their journey to being a strong leader of influence.
• Doing impressive deeds and facing challenges alone is risky. There will always be problems and hurdles to overcome.
• Those closest to the leader will determine the success level of that leader. Potential leaders help carry the load.
• An organization’s growth potential is directly related to its personnel potential.
• When leaders learn and live good values, they make themselves more valuable and lift the value of other people.
• Never solve a problem for a person; solve it with that person.

All leaders are prone to losing their way at one point or another on their leadership journey. As Bob began telling himself the truth about what would truly make him a “hero,” he became the change agent everyone was looking for.

What do you need to do as a leader to begin practicing telling yourself the truth? What questions do you need to ask yourself as a leader?