WeWork, 'spectrum of self-awareness', and being 'careful not to fool yourself'

I listened to a fascinating podcast (link below), on WeWork, by one of my go-to authors: Adam Grant.
I love Grant's phrase 'spectrum of self-awareness' and the Feynman quote, speaking in the podcast: 'You have to be careful not to fool yourself'. 

(WeWork, a provider of attractive coworking spaces, grew incredibly rapidly under the leadership of co-founder Adam Neumann, but suffered immense and rapid decline in the autumn of 2019, accompanied by Neumann’s stepping down from the board and severing most of his ties to the company.)

I suspect Neumann, the ex-CEO of WeWork, might have been dressing 'taking' behaviour as 'giving', to use Grant’s vernacular (Grant, 2014). Was he doing this intentionally? I’m not sure. There was talk of drug use, and certainly systemic delusion might have been at play. 

David Fano, the ex-Chief Growth Officer of WeWork, again in the podcast, mentions the importance of work in our personal identity: 'We associate so much of our identity and our being to our work'.

WeWork epitomised and marketed that identity morph, I think. Fano spoke of a memorable occasion when WeWork got someone a job within 48 hours of losing theirs. This seems caring, on the surface, but is it really a culture of existential dependency, almost a cult?

Central, I think, is attempting to have an understanding of the underlying motives, values, beliefs of a strong, figurehead leader.
Fano says that he's 'Not sure a company can be altruistic'. I'd disagree, but I do think this is difficult and involves deep self-awareness, with diverse teams, psychological safety, the ability to question anything and anyone. And it has to come from the top down. 

I’ll end with a thought about charismatic leaders. Western (2019) discusses how a ‘Messiah’ leadership discourse grew in the West as an answer to Japan and the East’s productive cultures within organisations. Systems like Kaizen and 6-Sigma didn’t transfer easily to the West. ‘Messiah’ leadership grew as an alternative, where the charismatic nature of the leader’s personality achieves a desired culture, buy-in to the organisation’s ethos, goals, and aims.

Grant, in the LinkedIn post for this podcast (link below), suggests that ‘When you meet charismatic leaders, don't forget to look behind the curtain. They may be inspiring people to pursue the wrong ends—or the wrong means.’

Strong, characterful leadership has its attractions. I think we can feel safe under the wing of a powerful, paternal or maternal figure. But we lose some of our own identity, and our agency (our ability to govern our own thinking, feeling, activity) when we subscribe.

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6661600579200040960/

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/fall-weworks-culture-adam-grant/

Grant, A. (2014) ‘Give and Take’. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson

Western, S. (2019) ‘Leadership: a critical text’. London: Sage