Why do so many team members end up working under leaders who lack basic emotional intelligence and self-awareness?  The answer is pretty straightforward.  Organizations hire and promote people through the filter of competence, and entirely disregard the impact a person’s character has on their ability to lead well.

To be fair (or at least understanding) hiring and promoting based solely on competence is easy.  Competence can be measured, but character not so much.  The danger is that someone with  poor character can do more damage in a very short amount of time than someone with weak competence.

People with high competence can seduce an organization into believing they are the greatest thing since sliced bread, especially when the organization has suffered under weak competence.  High self-confidence can easily mask a lack of humility and character.  If you have one of these people in your organization, removing them needs to become one of your highest priorities.  Leaving them in place will damage your credibility as a leader and run the organization into the ground.

Do the hard stuff and look past charisma and charm to deep-dive into a candidate’s actual track record of humility, values, and execution.  Look for candidates who have solid Leadership Foundations.