Here we go with Module 4 of this course on why smart executives fail and how to become more successful in your career by understanding what goes wrong. Usually we spend most of our time studying and learning about great leaders. But we've definitely seen in this course that there's a lot to be learned by studying mistakes, by studying failure, organizational breakdowns as well. We are going to spend a lot of time on great leaders, especially in Course 3 when we talk about super bosses, and we really dig deep into the habits and behaviors and some of the best leaders. Here, I'm going to talk about the opposite, the worst leaders. I like to call this the seven habits of spectacularly unsuccessful people, which is maybe not something you want to get on that list. But boy, it is helpful to understand what they do wrong and why, and let's face it, some of these people are pretty famous and we're going to see them get knocked down a peg or two. Let's learn from them. Let's learn about what they did, especially as they started to get more successful. I think you're also going to see some nice connections to other things that I've talked about in the previous modules. Certainly what we talked about in Module 2, a lot about culture and remember those delusional companies. I talked about complacency and arrogance. Well, that's going to play out here a little bit as well. We want to learn what not to do, that's for sure, but we also want to pay attention to the early warning signs that we may be falling into the same traps. More generally, we want to learn about ourselves, both as leaders and as individual contributors. This module is set up with seven core videos, one for each of the seven habits. This comes directly from my research on why smart executives fail. I can tell you, it was quite fascinating to sit down with some of these leaders, and talk to them about what went wrong, and get them to actually open up about the mistakes that they made. They didn't always want to do that to be sure. But by talking to literally hundreds of other people that work with them and for them, I was able to piece together what happened. After each of the seven habits videos, I want you to move quickly to an application and deeper learning. Specifically, I want you to focus on three leaders and apply the examples and insights from each habit to each of these three leaders. Who are these three leaders that I want you to look at for the application exercise. Number 1, Elizabeth Holmes, the founder and former CEO of Theranos, a company that went out of business a couple of years ago. Back in 2021, there was a mega trial where Elizabeth Holmes was accused of fraud. It's an incredible Silicon Valley story about a dynamic leader that has every aspect of what I want to share with you in this module. That work will start with a case study or a narrative that will put you in the shoes of someone trying to analyze Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes. You'll have a lot of background about her and about that company that'll help you do the analysis. The second leader I want you to talk about is any CEO or manager you're interested in. This could be your own CEO, could be your own boss, could be your own manager, or it could be someone you're helping or advising. It could even be a potential boss or a manager in a company you're interviewing at, you get the picture. It's wide open. It's an opportunity for you to say, okay, wouldn't it be good to learn a little bit more and kind of dig deep on someone I care about for whatever reason I happen to care about it, for a career reasons, for personal reasons, for professional growth reasons. Pick someone you'll find interesting and useful, and we'll call this option your choice. The third leader I want you to look at is you. This is a little bit tougher because, to look at yourself and look at yourself with respect to whether you're making some of these significant mistakes as a leader is always hard because it requires you to be honest with yourself. But I think you can do it. You've had a lot of practice along the way throughout this course. That's the third leader. Using your journal or your notes, after viewing each of the videos about to come, and again they'll be seven of them. Before you go to the next one, evaluate each of these three leaders by considering these questions. Number 1, record one or two ways in which each leader behaves or acts, the same as or similar to the habit that you just viewed and that we discussed. Number 2, do the opposite. Record one or two ways in which each leader actually does quite the opposite, or at least pretty different from the habit that I'm talking about and that we're going to discuss. There's no reason to force or assume each habit on each leader for all seven habits, it might be that some apply more than others. That's okay for Elizabeth Holmes, that's okay for the your choice leader you're interested in, and it's okay for yourself as well. But try to think carefully about it and try to be as specific as possible in recording your notes because that's going to be valuable. Finally, pay special attention to leader number 3, you. Depending on where you are in your career, you may very well have experienced some of these things. You might have experienced managing others. Or you might have very little experience in doing any of that because you've been more of an individual contributor. You could even be in school or just about to start your career. Regardless, you have worked with and interacted with many other people along the way. I want you to draw on that experience, both in your current job and your past jobs, may be doing sports, thinking about coaches, or in other activities as well. When it comes to journaling and thinking about yourself, and in contrast to the other two leaders, you really have a lot more insight and experience. I mean, you know yourself, you've lived with yourself for all of your years and this is your chance to draw on it. It's not always easy, but it's your chance to draw on it. It's going to also tap into the self-awareness skills that we'll talk about all the way in Course number 4 in this specialization as well. Final note, whether or not you're able to identify specific instances of behavior by leaders akin to the habit, give some thought about early warning signs. Are there things going on that have gone on, or that have gone on in the past, that give you pause, that make you wonder what's next? Things that may be other should pay attention to or have paid attention to. Again, try to keep track of any warning signs you possibly can. It's just good practice. It's helpful, it's going to make you more effective. It's going to make you more effective as a leader, as a person, and certainly as someone who's trying to build a career.
