Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting out of the Box

“Yes. I want you to think about how and whether you really focused on results during the time you worked with him. I want you to consider whether you were open or closed to correction, whether you actively sought to learn and enthusiastically taught when you could have. Whether you held yourself fully accountable in your work, whether you took or s

In the box, my whole way was blaming—both my thoughts and my feelings told me Nancy was at fault.

The reason why horizontal alignment is such a helpful indicator of mindset is that a hyperactive self-interest, which is what drives someone who is in the box (or who has an inward mindset), doesn’t incentivize a person to build awareness about the objectives, needs, and challenges of his or her lateral coworkers.

“So,” Lou said, turning to the board and writing, “trying to change others doesn’t work.”

If people act in ways that challenge the claim made by a self-justifying image, we see them as threats. If they reinforce the claim made by a self-justifying image, we see them as allies. If they fail to matter to a self-justifying image, we see them as unimportant.

We call this characteristic “horizontal alignment.” It is a measure of the extent of understanding people have about the objectives, needs, and challenges of those lateral to them in their organizations.

“If I betray myself,” Bud said as he backed away from the board, “my thoughts and feelings will begin to tell me that I’m justified in whatever I’m doing or failing to do.”

In fact, assigning responsibility in such a case is actually a way of helping someone. It is an entirely different thing, however, to excuse one’s own role in a problem through the guise of holding another responsible.

“And if I’m already in the box toward someone, I generally won’t have feelings to do things for them. So the fact that I have few senses to help someone probably isn’t evidence that I’m out of the box. It may rather be a sign that I’m deep within it.”