Have you observed greed in leadership? How has that impacted/influenced your feeling of trust and relationship with that leader, your organisation, yourself?
These are selected notes from the Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries, Distinguished Clinical Professor of Leadership Development and Organisational Change, INSEAD (from the article, ‘Is Greed Destroying Your Soul?’)
* Greed may have a purpose, according to evolutionary psychologists. They believe that, by pushing us to amass status-signalling possessions, greed can help us attract a mate and thus perpetuate our genetic code.
* I prefer to look at greed as a coping mechanism. In my interactions with greedy people, I have observed that many are trying to fill an inner void or solve another emotional problem.
* Many greedy people obsessively pursue wealth as a substitute for what they feel is lacking inside them. But they ignore the high price that comes with greediness…
*…the greedier we become, the more we advance on the path of self-destruction.
*…like the proverbial leaking bucket that can’t be filled, the personal costs can be high. Far too often, greed comes with stress, exhaustion, anxiety, depression and despair. In addition, it can lead to maladaptive behaviour patterns such as gambling, hoarding, trickery and even theft.
In the corporate world, as John Grant wrote, “fraud is the daughter of greed.”
* Some believe that without a dose of greed, a given person, community or society may lack the motivation to move forward. I believe that, as with most things in life, managing greed is about balance. Like all potentially destructive human drives, greed must be tempered by positive social norms, such as generosity.
* Unchecked greed can destroy the soul of humanity like a great cancer, metastasising throughout society. The victory of greed over compassion may ultimately cause our civilisation’s downfall.
* Society’s ambivalence about greed makes it difficult to “treat” greedy people. After all, many view greed and its related traits – such as ambition and material success – as desirable rather than a potential mental health problem. It is not always easy to explain the harm caused by excessive greed…
There is still such a thing as free will. We all have a choice.
* If you can’t be content with what you have, you’re unlikely to be happy with more.
* One of the most difficult tasks for greedy people is learning to be selfish in a proper way. They need to pay attention to their inner self. It requires persistence, patience, humility, courage and commitment. But a long-term investment in the self can be a powerful antidote to greed and other forms of addiction.
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