Are swaggering executives and technologists with massive egos all bad?
( Page 1 of 2 ) The current economic downturn isn’t much fun, but there is a silver lining: Arrogance is now viewed as among the greatest sins in corporate life. Executives with massive egos are now held in disrepute, and the hubris that pervaded so many companies during the boom is blamed for provoking and prolonging our current economic troubles. These beliefs about the dangers of swaggering corporate superstars are also bolstered by two much talked-about books: Jim Collins’ Good to Great and Rakesh Kuhrana’s splendid Searching for a Corporate Savior. I can’t stand people with “overbearing pride,” and you probably can’t, either. But the pendulum has swung too far. The old Chinese proverb, “Arrogance invites ruin; humility receives benefits,” is appealing but is a half-truth. It holds for CEOs of big companies and many other executives, including some CIOs, but not for everyone. True, arrogant executives tend to overestimate how smart they are, so they often do a bad job of weighing c
