C-suite ‘fever’: six hidden dangers when leaders breathe rarefied air

Paul Aladenika
4 min readDec 21, 2024

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Image courtesy of Microsoft Co-pilot

The important role that the most senior officers play in any organisation should never be underestimated. I know first hand the long hours they are required to work, the seemingly endless spans of control, the expectation of business ‘grip’ as well as accountability they hold whenever things go wrong. Set the superficial glamour aside for a moment, executive level leadership is not for the faint of heart.

Perhaps due to the complex roles that they occupy and the unreality that it represents when contrasted with the rest of the organisation, that can affect how they present and behave. The reflections in this blog are based on actual observations and drawn from more than 15 years’ experience in senior leadership in multiple organisations. This has given me the opportunity to witness up close what I describe.

The aim is not to make light of or ridicule those in executive leadership. Far from it. The intention is to highlight the risks for them as well as those around them.

Presented below are my reflections on: ‘C-suite ‘fever: six hidden dangers when leaders breathe rarefied air’.

1. The justification syndrome

Anyone who finds themselves in a senior role wants to justify their right to be in that role and hold the position. The danger is that the choices made by a person in an executive role, can spill over into a tacit expectation of those who do not occupy such a role. One such example of this is ‘workaholism’, which is something that executive leaders are notorious for. If someone decides to take on higher level organisational responsibility, that is their choice alone. However, it is not a justification to place the same expectations on those that are subordinate to them.

2. The slow morphology

For some executive leaders, their role becomes their identity. So much so that they find it difficult to separate themselves from it. From my observation, this change usually happens with the passage of time and as the executive becomes acclimatised and comfortable with the privileges, access and importance that their position affords them. This change usually manifests as over-bearing behaviour, paternalism/ maternalism and an alarming lack of self-awareness. That is not to say that individuals who behave in this way have ill intent, because some may, whilst others may not.

3. The collective survival complex

Whenever seniority recedes into survival mode, standards are the first casualties. Unfortunately, when standards are compromised it is usually to create a double-standard [one for those of a certain rank and another for everyone else]. This is something that I have witnessed first-hand. Quite apart from the mixed message that it sends to the rest of the organisation, it is also a highly unethical practice. In times of crisis, the executive level reflex should not be to hermetically seal itself from accountability. No matter how embarrassing that accountability may be for one of their number.

4. Perceptual disconnection

For those in executive positions, desensitisation can occur consciously or unconsciously. When it happens consciously it is because they choose to separate themselves from the connective tissue of relational leadership exemplified by empathy and compassion. The unconscious manifestation occurs by dint of what is allowable at their level of operation. The danger of perceptual disconnection is that it can lead to self-deception, where executive leaders find themselves unable to distinguish between right and wrong. In such a scenario, almost anything is justifiable.

5. The front

An obsession with the appearance of things is one of the most common manifestations of C-suite ‘fever’. The necessity to ‘front’ is derived from the need to appear in control and make things seem better than they are, rather than acknowledge that a situation has been badly mismanaged, and that a conflagration is likely to result. The problem with presenting a ‘front’ is that, at a certain point, it becomes an affront, and any confidence begins to dissipate, as leaders are perceived to be less and less credible. Fronting may preserve one’s dignity in the short term, but it causes irreparable harm in the long run.

6. The cycle of self-affirmation

Self-affirmation works when individuals believe things about themselves and when those beliefs are reinforced by others. The danger is that people can affirm both truths and falsehoods. Therefore, if the prevailing belief amongst executive leadership is false, then the cycle of mutual delusion is complete. The more that leaders affirm what they want to believe, the easier it becomes for everyone in the collective to affirm it as well. For organisations, the risks and consequences increase exponentially, the more senior the leaders are.

Again, this is not intended as a critique of all c-suite leaders. I personally know many people who occupy these roles and have the deepest respect for them and the incredible work they do. Rather, as someone who has worked across multiple industries, including as a senior leader, the intention is to highlight observable patterns of behaviour that manifest at the highest level. Not all those characteristics are unique to executives. However, from my observation, the way in which they do present at executive level is unique.

Paul Aladenika is host of the 11th Thing Podcast

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Paul Aladenika
Paul Aladenika

Written by Paul Aladenika

Believer, TEDx speaker, host of The 11th Thing Podcast, blogger, mentor, student of leadership, social economist & thinker. Creator of www.believernomics.com .

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