Seven uncommon characteristics of counterfeit leadership

Image courtesy of Tamara Gak on Unsplash

This is the second of a two-part blog on leadership. The first offering described the eight uncommon characteristics of authentic leaders.

I am sure that most people would like to believe that they are too smart to be taken in by leadership counterfeiters. We can spot the silky-smooth talker, who is just a little bit too silky smooth for their own good or the ‘fake-it-until-you-make-it’ types, that somehow manage to convince the boss to promote them beyond their capability. Yes, counterfeiters abound in the field of leadership and it is not that difficult to spot them either. Liars, braggarts, fearmongers and blame shifters are just some examples of common characteristics of leadership confidence trickers. But what about the uncommon characteristics? What about the subtle signs that require more careful discernment?

Here’s something that may surprise you, very often, counterfeit leadership presents amongst those that we might ordinarily consider to be the ‘good guys.’ After all, if it were that easy to spot counterfeits, no-one would ever be taken in by them. Let’s be clear, just because someone earnestly believes something is authentic does not make it so. Therefore, counterfeit leadership isn’t just a matter of intent, it is a measure of substance.

So, here we go. Set out below are seven uncommon characteristics of counterfeit leadership.

1. When preference is presented as principle

No-one likes to be told how difficult or challenging it will be to resolve an issue they are grappling with. Presented with two options: one more challenging than the other, it can be all too easy to opt for the path of least resistance. This is where counterfeit leadership comes into its own because those who practice it are least likely to stand on principle unless it advances a cause for themselves. On the contrary, faced with a situation, that requires a position to be asserted or a stand to the taken, the calculation of counterfeit leadership will be to do whatever may be advantageous for itself in the short-term, not what will benefit others in the long term.

2. When the indispensable impersonates the invaluable

One of the quickest and simplest ways to differentiate authentic leadership from that which is counterfeit, is to see what happens in its absence, not its presence. Whilst authentic leadership seeks to be invaluable (ie: to empower those in its orbit), counterfeit leadership pretends to be indispensable (ie: an orbit without which nothing else can exist). Counterfeit leadership is not interested in growing or nurturing a succession culture. Why would it? Succession would eliminate the illusion of single person dependency. Counterfeit leadership craves attention and rejects the notion that anything of value can happen without it.

3. When a crisis is presented as chaos

If you want to test leadership character, see how individuals perform in a crisis. By its very nature, a crisis is a situation that is usually resolvable. It is one that requires discernment, logic, judgement and decisiveness. All these characteristics are essential to the authentic leadership brand. By contrast, chaos is a situation that has become both unmanageable and ungovernable. Amid chaos, the chain of command is vacated, whilst responsibility is abdicated. Therefore, chaos is a situation that is beyond conventional leadership control. By presenting crisis as chaos, counterfeit leadership seeks to avoid accountability and justify the failure to act.

4. When coercive control imitates the freedom to act

Have you heard the saying: “in the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king”. That is the modus operandi of counterfeit leadership, when it comes to the custodianship of knowledge. For counterfeit leadership the specific focus is on the means through which to control the interpretation of knowledge. Counterfeit leadership understands that when people have knowledge as well as the freedom to discern and act upon it, they are empowered and once empowered they can question what they are told. For the avoidance of doubt, the biggest threat to counterfeit leadership are empowered people.

5. When delay is presented as decisiveness

It is interesting how decisiveness is seen as synonymous with action, whilst delay is often equated to indecisiveness. That is of course quite misleading because a decision to delay, could be just as decisive as a decision to act. In fact, delay may prove to be the better decision. So why is delay a counterfeit leadership characteristic? Well context is everything. Delay that is borne out of a careful and rational assessment of facts is not indecision. However, that which arises from prevarication, procrastination and aversion to risk is indecision. Leaders who operate in such a way, abdicate their responsibilities and cause paralysis within their ranks. Not only that, but when they try to pass off this kind of delay as decisiveness, they deceive themselves and others.

6. When monologue masquerades as dialogue

Authentic leadership actively encourages the ebb and flow of discussion as an essential part of team building and ideas development. By contrast, counterfeit leadership is not interested in questions or debate and is inclined to pay lip service to opinions that do not accord with its own. Even to the extent that issues are ‘discussed’ with others, counterfeit leadership will actively seek to dominate and manipulate the ‘discussion’ as a subtle, yet unsophisticated form of ‘re-education’. Counterfeit leadership cannot tolerate that solutions might emerge from sources other than itself. On the contrary, it must control the narrative at all costs.

7. When the tactical is disguised as the strategic

It is so often the case that counterfeit leadership thinks in the moment. It is obsessed with positioning for the here and now and is totally unprepared for the longer-term consequences or implications of its actions. Why is this? Well let’s remember that counterfeit leadership is the exact opposite of authentic leadership. Authentic leadership is concerned with the long game. As such, it is patient, willing to take risks, prepared to make mistakes and committed to doing what is right for the greater good, not its own good. The commitment to doing what is right is a strategic commitment, whilst commitment to doing what is convenient is a tactical one.

In conclusion, it is worth remembering that the title of this blog is ‘seven uncommon characteristics of counterfeit leadership’ (not counterfeit leaders). Why is that so important? Well, here’s a sobering thought; amongst leaders, it is possible to have counterfeit leadership characteristics co-mingled with authentic ones. As set out in the opening paragraph of this blog, counterfeit leadership is not a dividing line between the ‘good guys’ and the ‘bad guys.’ To that extent, your favourite manager could have just as many counterfeit leadership characteristics as authentic ones. It therefore serves as a reminder of how the subtle differences, between that which is authentic and that which is fake, can easily be missed if we do not remain vigilant.