The disease of existential schizophrenia. This is the disease of those who live a double life, the fruit of that hypocrisy typical of the mediocre and of a progressive emotional emptiness which no [accomplishment or] title can fill. It is a disease which often strikes those who are no longer directly in touch with customers and “ordinary” employees, and restrict themselves to bureaucratic matters, thus losing contact with reality, with concrete people.
Gary Hamel
My colleague and I were at a small airport waiting for the plane that would take us back home. It was a bit crowded but we managed to get a seat at the lounge and I decided to start reviewing the eighth leadership disease by Pope Francis. I read it three times and I felt quite uneasy. Despite my efforts, I was simply not getting it. Was I too tired? Too hungry? Too thirsty? Too stupid?
What did Pope Francis mean by defining ‘Existential schizophrenia’ as living a double life; the result of the mediocre’s hypocrisy and progressive emotional emptiness? A leadership disease explained like this was making little or no sense to me.
When something like that happens, when something does not make much sense to you, one has two options: a) assume that it really is nonsense, and disregard it; or, b) assume that you need to be illustrated, and get on to it. I chose the latter. Not only because of the source of the statements I was unable to grasp (though I’m not Catholic, the Pope is the Pope!), but because through the years I’ve come to realize that most of what I have initially considered non-sensical simply reflected my own ignorance, bias, or partial information when making those swift -and erroneous- judgments. After taking some time to reflect, research, or reconsider, even if still at odds with the matter, I found those statements to be reasonable, sensible, and even intelligent.
So I got back to reading and doing a little research. According to the WHO, schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by significant impairments in the way reality is perceived and changes in behavior. It is related to persistent delusions, hallucinations, experiences of influence, control or passivity, disorganized thinking or behavior, negative symptoms such as limited speech or restricted expression of emotions, or extreme agitation or slowing of movements. It basically is a breakdown between thought, emotion, and behavior which leads to inappropriate actions and feelings.
What does this mental disorder have to do with leadership? I was still not sure. Evidently, it was an analogy, but what did Pope Francis mean by it?
Perhaps the analogy itself was what initially threw me off. I have been an advocate for the rights of persons with disability, and schizophrenia is a condition that affects approximately 24 million people worldwide. There’s still much to be done to support people with mental health issues and analogies like this might not ease the burden. However, my uneasiness might well be due to my ignorance so I tried even harder to make sense of what was being conveyed. This is what I found.
When we get -or allow ourselves to be placed- into a ‘power -or bureaucratic- bubble’ we lose touch with those people outside of the ‘bubble’ and our decisions, impressions, and feelings are heavily predisposed by the fewer people and information ‘living in the bubble’. Like those with schizophrenia, we might lose our ability to act according to reality and instead do so according to our perceived -and impaired- parallel world. We may become unable to identify and do what is right and instead be content with just doing what is easy, expected, or rewarded.
We could also forget the common traits we share with our colleagues, competitors, employees, and every other human being, and instead become convinced of our exceptionality, of being part of a ‘special’ elite of predestined or superior beings.
As soon as I realized the implications of being disconnected from real people, the customers, the right bearers, to those we are mandated to serve, and to our most basic and genuine selves, I started to be more comfortable with Pope Francies analogy and I’ve identified three additional lessons:
- If you isolate yourself from the real world and comfortably live in the bubble of your title, position, wealth, authority, or power, you will likely miss the opportunity to become a better leader, a better colleague, a better family member, a better team player, a better citizen, and a better person. Granted the real world will sometimes be cruel and heartbreaking. It will not courtsy before you or turn a blind eye to your shortcomings, but it will help you find who you really are and -if you go for it- help you become who you want to be.
- If you decide to take the easy road of hiding behind process, structure, position, rank, practice, or tradition, in order not to risk the perks that have come to define you and the image you have of yourself, you will risk becoming irrelevant vis-à-vis the mission of the organization or company you work for. Do you remember what you wanted to achieve before you got into the position you so sternly defend now? Have you achieved it? Is that still your goal?
- Are you happy and at peace with yourself? If financially you could retire today and have all you need to cover your expenses and maintain your lifestyle, would you do it? If not? Why? Think it through. Will you continue to work so that you can make a difference, have an impact, serve others, and improve the world? Or is it that you need to feed your ego, ‘be’ in control, feel relevant, and receive praise?
I am still very unsure about this ‘leadership disease’. I don’t know if I got it right or totally wrong, but this could be said about every one of the other ‘diseases’ I’ve commented and possibly this one has just helped me realize -once again- the relativity of my individual ‘truths’.
Please do tell me what you think about this. What is your take? What are your learnings? What are your doubts?
Have a wonderful week!