John Stumpf’s sudden retirement yesterday was no surprise. As Wells Fargo’s fake-accounts scandal continued to grow, it became clear that the bank couldn’t move on until Stump left the building. What makes the news interesting is that it fits a larger recent pattern, along with the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 disaster and the never-ending VW mess. All look increasingly like examples of the same leadership failing.
The failing is a common one: demanding results at all costs in the belief that pushing people to their utmost limits is the only way to make them deliver everything they’re capable of. That belief holds an element of truth, of course. That’s what makes it seductive and insidious, a trap for leaders who don’t fully understand what they’re doing.
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