self-awareness leads to excellent, ethical leadership

self-deception is the attempt to hide some truth from oneself to achieve a benefit

self-deception creates a barrier between the person who seeks self-awareness and what’s real

self-aware leaders are less prone to corrupt acts and unethical behavior

organizations must help leaders attain self-awareness by focusing on the sequence of events and influencers leading up to a leader’s ethical decisions

because a leader knows what’s right and ethical does not mean they will act accordingly

excessive positivity in a leader’s message may hide their true, nefarious intentions

one lie may lead to more lies and serve to increase a self-deceptive leader’s comfort with the practice

authentic leaders are confident in their morality and express that to followers through engagement

leaders and followers influence each other to be ethical

before a leader faces an ethical dilemma, they should be molded into an ethical person

charismatic leaders inspire others to greatness; they are energetic, confident, and determined

strong, charismatic personalities may also be egotistic

leaders with high self-esteem and high self-efficacy are confident in their abilities to lead

if self-confidence is achieved under false pretenses, the leader may become overconfident in their leadership abilities

self-deception can help a leader adapt their self-identity to fit within an external reality

control, or the perception of control, is important to a leader

a false sense of control through self-deception is a fleeting safe haven

the key to a leader’s success is in the trusting relationships they build with followers, colleagues, superiors, and customers

consistency between words and deeds helps build trust

one’s accurate self-evaluation is the most important contributor to a 360-degree feedback system

regular feedback from many sources helps a leader to more accurately monitor their performance

the desire for accurate self-understanding is more the norm than is self-deception

leaders can improve the quality of their decisions by understanding their strengths, weaknesses, values, and beliefs

multi-rater, 360-degree feedback gives a leader a more precise picture of their leadership attributes

misdiagnosis of one’s leadership attributes is problematic, as it contributes to self-deception

leaders must first understand that a decision they face has ethical implications before they make an ethics-based decision

viewing an element of a problem as simply practical and not ethical to avoid the ethical nature of the problem is a failure of leadership

an accurate self-assessment by the leader is critical to the veracity of 360-degree multi-rater feedback

a leader’s development is dependent on discovering and acknowledging the discrepancies between their assessment of themselves and others’ assessments of them as a leader

self-awareness helps leaders build positive relationships with followers

self-awareness is about understanding how one’s performance affects others

feedback is one of the most effective tools at showing a leader their blind spots

upward feedback enlightens a leader to the unique perceptions of their direct reports

the effect a leader has on others is influenced by the honest self-evaluation of their behavior and the empathy they feel and show to their colleagues

a leader projecting a positive image may be attempting to achieve social approval of their behavior

a leader uses a communication strategy to convey their style and motivations to people inside and outside the organization

leaders must connect with followers to discover their followers’ needs and wants

leaders more interested in personal gain may manipulate others into believing their intentions are to serve the good of others

self-aware leaders are better able to anticipate how others view them, so they are better able to craft their message to their constituents and customers

a leader may try to project that they are ideal leaders and may do so by lying to others to falsely enhance their prestige

leaders may convey an excessively positive, even unrealistic message, to inspire followers

self-deceptive team members undermine the critical thinking needed by a team to affect organizational outputs

liars in a small group are at a disadvantage to their honest peers

teams comprised of self-aware individuals show greater team-level functioning and performance and are better able to avoid groupthink

a self-deceptive leader’s perception of reality may not match the reality of the organization

leaders may receive less honest feedback from employees that are fearful of the leader’s position and influence

leaders confident in their abilities, believing they are in control, may shun feedback that says otherwise

leaders should spend more time striving to achieve performance goals and less time protecting themselves from political dangers

organizations should avoid ambiguity and inconsistencies in the feedback collection process for a leader

people are more motivated to discover deception from others and less motivated to examine their ego for signs of self-deception

self-deceptive and others-deceptive behavior can be costly in interactions within a group

signs of deceptive behavior can leak out in the form of verbal, nonverbal, and written communication

narcissists, exhibiting greater levels of grandiosity, entitlement, dominance, and superiority, have a strong self-deceptive component to their personality

an individual is more likely to self-deceive when there is a high chance of getting caught in a lie they tell to others

there are different levels and degrees of deception and self-deception, and the degree to which one lies may depend on the level of their intended gain

deceiving oneself causes mental strain, resulting in a detrimental impact on future cognitive capabilities

individuals may be able to mentally compartmentalize information in an attempt to avoid dealing with unwanted information

strategic leaders constantly face complex situations and relationships

whether the truth lies at the conscious or subconscious level, it is important that leaders can recall it for future decision-making

self-deception is easier for the perpetrator than others-deception because, as the number of targets grows, so does the chances of getting caught

deception can be complicated and can become more so as the lies increase in frequency and severity

ignoring incoming information is one way to deal with discomforting or distracting stimuli

discarding, distorting, misremembering, or misrepresenting information while self-deceiving leads to blind spots

self-deceivers may distort their information-processing mechanisms in place of altering incoming truthful information

self-deceivers filter information during the information processing phase of data collection

self-deceiving leaders choose to avoid information that challenges their existing beliefs

cognitive biases, like bounded ethicality and confirmation bias, help self-deceiving leaders choose information that supports their desired views and outcomes

blind spots protect self-deceiving leaders from acknowledging information they don’t want to acknowledge

leaders with inflated views of themselves as leaders may find it difficult to accept negative feedback

failing to see relevant information contributes to a leader’s biased approach to decision-making

deceiving rivals and self-deception to protect and preserve one’s self-identity have had evolutionary value

self-deception is an adaptive trait that helps one adjust their identity to fit with their environment

narrowing one’s focus to information supporting already-held beliefs leads to irrational thought

intentionally corrupting information while collecting and storing the information will lead to distorted thought processes when the person must recall that information to make a decision

leaders may anchor new decisions to previous bad decisions to convince themselves and others that the outcomes are actually positive

self-deceiving leaders rationalize negative feedback to match with previously held notions

leaders may shift the blame for failure onto others to protect their ego and protect themselves from rejection

people often attribute success or failure in a self-serving manner; ascribing success to their skills and failure to circumstances or to less-competent constituents

self-deception adds the complicating factor of the target of the deception being that person’s memory recall protocol

the stress of making important decisions is confounded when the leader chooses to self-deceive

self-deception provides only temporary relief of decision-making stress

people generally fail to see the bias in their ethical decision-making

self-deception enables one to validate morally unjust behaviors so that it conforms to what others may see as more socially-palatable actions

demanding schedules make it more difficult for executives to act ethically

self-deception may have emerged in humans to protect them mentally from overwhelming stimulation

routinized self-deception, over a long term, may result in a psychological numbness to the practice

self-deception negatively impacts a leader’s performance

self-deceptive leaders are more likely to fall prey to someone else’s efforts to deceive them

over-estimating one’s abilities (seeing oneself as more capable than they are) and under-estimating one’s abilities (missing their strengths) both have deleterious effects

self-deception detaches one from reality

self-deception leads to an inefficient, fragmented mental system used to process information

by using self-deception as a means to deceive others, the self-deceiving leader may change their beliefs about the potential outcome of an action or scheme

the ultimate goal of self-deception is to deceive others

even if a person can separate their psyche into knowing and unknowing parts, one of these parts must be responsible for their malicious actions

the human default is to presume that others are being honest

people are not good at detecting deception

deceivers act differently when they attempt to deceive than when they go about normal, honest activities, and they may be unwitting of the differences

some believe that higher-ranking people in society are better at detecting deception than lower-ranking people

an organization may formally or informally foster an atmosphere of deception and corruption

organizational stressors and the need to achieve distinction may encourage a leader to focus inwardly

constant, high-pressure situations may weaken a leader’s will to act ethically

it is easier for a leader to commit future lies when their deceptions go undetected

like-minded groups misoriented in the same direction can feed a cycle of unethical behavior

some leaders have engrained in their psyche a process that is susceptible to errors in perceptual causation