CEO Failure Mode: The Bureaucrat

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Some CEOs love processes. They love the detail and the sense of control that comes from having a documented procedure for everything.

But that love can become an obsession. When it does, you have one of the most soul-crushing failure modes in leadership: the Bureaucrat CEO.

The Bureaucrat CEO is most common among those who are highly Conscientious in DISC terms (you can read more about the High-C CEO tendency here). These are often exceptional operators who built their reputation on bringing order to chaos. But somewhere along the way, process became more important than people or outcomes.

The Process Prison

For the Bureaucrat CEO, process is king, and following process is more important than results, innovation, or employee satisfaction. They want workers who act like robots, carrying out the same tasks over and over again with mechanical precision.

Tasha Eurich, author of Shatterproof, has described a ten-page dress code she once experienced that specified everything from the length of pants to the openness of female employees’ shoes—and how she spent a considerable amount of time finding ways to subtly break the rules to see if anybody would notice. That's what happens when process becomes disconnected from purpose.