Arrogance hard to tell from
ignorance
HARVEY MACKAY / SF Chronicle 29oct00
PERIODICALLY, A world leader steals the spotlight for incredible arrogance. Yugoslavia's Slobodan Milosevic and Iraq's Saddam Hussein run neck and neck in the arrogance sweepstakes.
Recently, Saddam began sharing his playbook with Slobodan. According to London's Sunday Telegraph, the Iraqi leader dispatched his top intelligence aides to Belgrade. Obviously, they didn't help Milosevic hang onto power, and surprisingly, low-key lawyer Vojislav Kostunica beat Milosevic at the ballot box. Kostunica's campaign nixed arrogance. He painted a picture of returning the country to plain-vanilla normalcy.
Everyone has a raw moment or a rough day. For some powerful people, arrogance is habit-forming. Arrogance junkies should watch out for these danger signs:
The arrogant confuse personal pleasure and professional power. In 1996, the U.S. division of Swedish drug maker Astra got itself into one big sexual harassment pickle. Astra USA's CEO lost his job, and other top execs quit or were asked to quit. Business Week reported that "company parties were raucous affairs at which heavy drinking and dancing were virtually mandated." Not surprising that the same CEO once "didn't like the suit a high-ranking executive was wearing and ordered him to change it."
The arrogant rarely bother with the facts. Experts contend GM's former top management mandated the production of the EV1 electric car in 1990 without knowing how likely people would be to use it. This electric car is becoming a museum piece, even with today's eye-popping gas prices. GM's headstrong electric joyride was no surprise. During this time, GM's management raised eyebrows, especially in the handling of layoffs.
Arrogance loves testing its limits. In business circles, nobody could outdo Occidental Petroleum chairman Armand Hammer. Hammer died a decade ago at the age of 92. His exploits are documented in several books, including Edward J. Epstein's "Dossier: The Secret Life of Armand Hammer."
The allegations are legion. There's the Hammer who befriended Lenin and peddled flea-market goods as "Romanov" heirlooms to raise hard cash for the Soviets. There's the Hammer who bribed dignitaries worldwide. There's the Hammer who was audacious enough to build the Armand Hammer Museum, purportedly at the expense of his company's shareholders. Hammer's arrogance caught up with his legacy as Oxy's value soared on news of
his death.
Arrogance apes arrogance. Who was Gen. Douglas MacArthur's arrogant role model? His father, Gen. Arthur MacArthur. William Manchester quotes Arthur MacArthur's aide as saying, "Arthur MacArthur was the most flamboyantly egotistical man I had ever seen, until I met his son." In 1901, Arthur MacArthur was military governor of the Philippines, working for the civil governor, William Howard Taft. Arthur turned insubordinate, and he lost his job because of it. Taft, of course, went on to become president, and later, Supreme Court Chief Justice.
In 1935, son Douglas followed in pop's footsteps and became top gun in the U.S. military mission in the Philippines. After a spectacular record in World War II, Douglas headed the U.N. forces in Korea. Exactly 50 years after his father was sacked, President Truman booted Douglas out of his job for insubordination. The incident didn't just drum Douglas out of his Korea command, it also cost him the very good chance he had of some day becoming president. It was another general, the diplomatic team leader, Dwight Eisenhower, who moved into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Arrogant execs believe nobody beats their people-picking. Last year, an article in Fortune contended that "bad execution" brought down most failing CEOs. Bad execution isn't confined to a crumbling bottom line. "The CEO may become a victim of 'intellectual seduction,' installing a subordinate so talented that the CEO persuades himself failure is impossible," the article said. "If the protégé then fails to deliver, the CEO can't come to terms with it."
Retailers will tell you that the biggest mistake a buyer can make is not to mark down slow-moving merchandise fast enough. What's true for pet rocks is true for pet people.
Overcoming arrogance boils down to respect. South Carolina football coach Lou Holtz epitomizes respect. Holtz is a relentless builder of people. In his book, "Winning Every Day," he writes, "Don't we all know people who never open their mouths unless it is to deprecate something? Feel sorry for those poor souls. They tear down only to build themselves up."
Mackay's Moral: Arrogance can let the air out of any career.
