Why do some talented executives fail? part 1

And why do others often fail to be effective, or as successful as they should be?

In their book, Maximum Success: Changing the Twelve Behavior Patterns That Keep You From Getting Ahead, James Waldroop and Timothy Butler identify twelve behavior patterns — what they call "Achilles' heels" — that can harm, or seriously hinder, a person's career development. In their roles as consultants and executive coaches to many Fortune 500 companies, they offer invaluable job-saving advice on how readers can modify their behavior to get things back on track.

Behaviors That Can Hold You Back

Here are five behavior patterns that can be highly destructive to your career. Please note that the following stories of real-life individuals illustrate a "pure case" of the behavior in question. Although these stories are actually quite interesting, please do not make the mistake of comparing yourself to those worst case examples.
Chances are, you aren't in half as much trouble as some of these people. But even the occasional display of some of these behaviors — especially as you move upward in an organization — can do substantial damage to your ultimate career success. Although the book identifies twelve behavior patterns, here are only five of the behaviors, starting with...

1) Never Feeling Good Enough

"In a world overpopulated with enormous egos, 40-year old Paul seemed to be an anomaly," begins the first of Waldroop and Butler's twelve case studies. "He actually had an ego that was too small for his considerable abilities and new position as head of the Mexican arm of an international bank based in Dallas, Texas.

"Although he had never been a manager, Paul had considerable know-how as a banker and Latin America was his specialty. Moreover, Paul had succeeded at everything he had ever done and had been a top student in both college and graduate business school. But in his new position, Paul was suddenly a misfit — or so he felt. He was self-conscious and awkward, and unable to speak with authority. Instead of strolling through the offices in comfortable command, Paul scurried down the halls with an intense, inner-directed gaze that signaled to everyone that he was in trouble. His body language broadcast concern, discomfort and even isolation. His discomfort soon began to show, and his clients and subordinates also began to get quite edgy themselves."
Paul's actions and feelings fall into a pattern that Waldroop and Butler describe as a kind of career-related acrophobia. Paul's insecurity was born of his innate belief that he was incapable of surviving at the heights he had somehow scaled. He felt in his heart of hearts that he didn't deserve to be where he had been placed, which is a feeling a surprising number of people have to a greater or lesser extent.

How can someone like Paul who habitually feels and acts this way acclimate and learn to love the heights? As Paul was counseled, it became clear that he would have to learn to carry himself in a way that reflected his ability and the capacity for command he had inside. He was coached to adopt the look of someone who is full of confidence, even if he didn't feel that way inside. They coached him to walk slowly, to talk slowly and even to eat slowly.

Those simple gestures seemed superficial at first, but coupled with some other interventions, they actually worked. Over a period of months, Paul's clients and employees began to see him as a relaxed, confident leader, and Paul responded by developing even more self-assurance.