Executive Coach and entrepreneur Rachael Wood has a view on almost every subject imaginable through both her own professional and personal experiences and those of her clients. She will be sharing those views most pertinent to today’s woman in a new column on FMWF.com.
My client base is full of interesting and ostensibly very successful individuals; masters of industry, global celebrities, and top financiers all use the services of a coach.
Equally, every professional athlete works closely with a coach in order to maintain and hone his or her skills and to ensure that they stay at the top of their game.
There are certain personality traits: confidence, enthusiasm and drive, which we tend to associate with success and that we recognise in leaders.
However, often the more successful a person becomes the more likely that self belief can manifest itself as self indulgence and rational decisions make way for narcissistic behaviours.
Keeping one’s feet on the groun can be the key to holding onto the very success that enabled one to fly.
The recent chaos in the financial markets, and ultimate fall of some banks must, at least in part, have been caused by too much power in the hands of too few unchallenged leaders.
Success can be an addictive drug. It is intoxicating and can erode self-awareness and self-restraint.
The more success that a person enjoys, the less likely they are to be challenged by others and equally, the less likely they are to invite other’s opinions.
Together these factors foster self-indulgence.
Adrian Furnham, Professor of Psychology at University College London, believes than an excessive display of a virtuous quality can have negative results.
‘HBOS named courage as a core competency that it wanted to see in its leaders,’ Prof Furnham explained.
Arguably a number of decisions made by HBOS and its peers demonstrated significantly more courage than sense.
Whilst at entry level to a career we may be given opportunity based on qualifications and professional skills, the speed which we rise through the ranks is likely to be as dependent on other skills such as networking, charisma and presentation.
One should beware the bright, attractive, conscience free, charming ‘go getter’ that joins the graduate training programme.
With their inevitable promotions come a ruthlessness and disregard for others that will become more pronounced the higher they go.
But it is not just in the business world that the traits that lead to huge success can cause equally great failure.
Likewise celebrities experience a similar effect as their influence grows in parallel to their ‘entourage’ of employees trained to stroke their ego and realise their every whim.
This has recently and quite spectacularly been demonstrated by the rise and then the very public fall of Britney Spears, but through the decades has been seen time and again as artists of all genres rise swiftly to enjoy fantastic success only to be destroyed by the excesses that that very success affords them.
As humans we go through a complex decision making process based on information from many different sources. One of these sources is undoubtedly the reactions of those around us.
From childhood, our behaviours are encouraged or discouraged by parents, teachers, family and friends.
Negative responses from others make us question what we are doing because acceptance from others important to us in contributing to our self-esteem.
As our success increases so does our power and it becomes more risky for others to challenge us.
A consequence of this is that our own decisions become based on less information as fewer people are prepared to stand up to us.
Eventually, the most successful among us find ourselves surrounded only by people who agree with our views and consequently we become very self-indulgent in our decision making process.
More often than not, this will lead to a spectacular derailment.
It is a fascinating puzzle. The very strength of characteristics that can lead to success, unchecked, can destroy us.
But without strong and focused individuals, forceful leaders, ambitious artists, there will be no progress.
It is all about balance, get the balance wrong and you are in trouble.
About Rachael Wood:
Executive Coach and entrepreneur Rachael Wood has a view on almost every subject imaginable through both her own professional and personal experiences and those of her clients. She will be sharing those views most pertinent to today’s woman in a new column on FMWF.com.
Company director, mother and wife are just three of the hats Rachael wears on a daily basis and like many women she thrives on the different challenges and rewards that each role presents.
After graduating from University College, London with a degree in Psychology, Rachael began a career in investment banking, becoming the youngest director in Capital Markets.
Rachael went on to co-found and float Imprint Plc, a recruitment business that grew to 600 employees across eight countries with a market capitalization of over £110m before its eventual sale in 2007.
In 2008, Rachael founded OgilvieDavies, her executive and life coaching practice, and works with a range of professional, celebrity and private clients across the world.
Rachael has been featured in numerous publications focusing on successful women, has been shortlisted for a number of awards and appeared as a Panelist on The Apprentice in 2008.
She says; “Through the good times and bad, I have always dared to dream and I try to put ideas into practice straight away. Hesitation encourages doubt, action is invigorating.”
Aside from business, Rachael enjoys her country home, which she shares with her husband James, and children, 2-year-old Phoenix and 2-month-old India.
She has even found time to become involved in the restaurant world, co-owning two London venues within the Marco Pierre White Group.
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