Cockroaches & Moths

Here’s a simple litmus test for how well you’re doing as a leader: In times of trouble, do employees turn toward you for guidance, or do they run and hide?

When the latter happens, you have a cockroach culture in your organization — and you probably aren’t an effective leader. Your presence as CEO is like a light flicked on in a musty room. People scatter for the exits. They want to stay out of your way, disappear until whatever the issue is blows over. They’re in survival mode. Their prime strategy is avoidance.

The ideal for the CEO should rather be to draw people toward the light, like moths to a beacon. If catastrophe happens and people want to hear more from you, to be in your presence, then you’re operating on the moth model —and you probably are an effective leader. Which of the following most resembles your company culture?

Cockroach culture is an unpleasant phenomenon:

• The CEO registers as a threat. He or she provokes stress by their mere presence.

• Darkness is comfort. People don’…