Leadership CEM Handout copy
This handout compiles evidence-based insights on what makes effective versus derailed managers. It opens with a set of leadership mindsets attributed to Robert I. Sutton (Good Boss, Bad Boss) that emphasize humility, protection of staff, focus on small wins, balancing assertiveness, and learning from mistakes. It then summarizes empirical studies of managerial derailment (Bentz 1985 retail study; Center for Creative Leadership interviews; NIOSH 1999 ratings), listing common failure modes such as insensitivity, poor delegation, lack of strategic thinking, inability to adapt to new bosses, and low self-awareness. The document discusses the financial cost of executive failure (estimates ranging from $500k in a 1985 corporate estimate to $750k–$1.5M per senior manager in later HR polling), argues that poor execution (not strategy) is the main operational failure, identifies causes of poor execution, and recommends operational remedies (continuous improvement, clear goals, monitoring performance, aligning incentives, and putting right people in right jobs).
Questions this document answers
A 30-year study of failed managers in the retail industry (Bentz, 1985).
$500,000 (estimated in 1985; noted as about $1,000,000 when adjusted to 2008).
$750,000 to $1,500,000 (DeVries & Kaiser, 2003).
40% (source: NIOSH summary cited in the handout).