Customer Reviews

Alpha Male Syndrome

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a book that would have benefitted me greatly had I had it during my Enron years... Alpha Male Syndrome by Kate Ludeman and Eddie Erlandson. It would have helped me deal with a majority of the management there...

Contents: Alpha Male Syndrome; The Variety of Alpha Males; The Alpha Commander; The Alpha Visionary; The Alpha Strategist; The Alpha Executor; The Alpha Male Team; The Care and Feeding of the Alpha Male; Coaching for Alphas; Sample Alpha Assessment Report; The Alpha Scale; Notes; Index; About the Authors

Many people have heard the term "Alpha Male" in the business world... They are the dominating leaders who have charisma and produce results. And on the positive side, the alpha traits of the commander/visionary/strategist/executor can be a boon to your business. But with the strengths of each of those roles come a number of risks. Ludeman and Erlandson break down the traits of each alpha style in a clear and consistent fashion, and then proceed to speak to each of those personas with practical ideas on how they can capitalize on the strengths and minimize the risks. There is also an analysis of how each style plays out in the "alpha triangle", the interplay between villain, victim, and hero. The alpha and their coworkers each show up in the triangle, and often the players shift between roles with each situation. If you're *not* the alpha, you'll start to understand how to deal with each of those personality types, which might make the difference between your survival or burnout on the job. Oh, and women? You can be an alpha too. You show it differently, but you still have the same risks to manage...

When I worked at Enron Broadband, management was rife with all these types. Unfortunately, I didn't have these tools on hand to survive as well as I could have. It wouldn't have made a difference in their behavior, but it would have made a huge difference in my job satisfaction. A critical read if you have one of these creatures in your life...

If you do a search of available Amazon books on professional and technical leadership you'll find about 60,000 entries. Many of these books will focus on the qualities possessed by great leaders or the characteristics one needs to be successful.

Kate Ludeman and Eddie Erlandson address leadership by focusing on the prototypical alpha male and its four sub-types. The authors differentiate this book by taking the concept of leadership far deeper. They recommend that the reader assess him or herself within this topology to better understand their strengths and weakness as they relate to successful leadership. One of the essential concepts they introduce is that a one's greatest assets can become one's greatest liabilities and that both lie on a spectrum and may become manifest at different times and for different reasons.

The assessment tools within the book are excellent as are the exercises provided. I found the in-depth assessment available on their website extremely helpful and, for me, very accurate. Best of all they provide some meaningful measures to minimize one's shortcomings.

Importantly the book is grounded in solid research as well as the extensive experience of both of these executive coaches. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who wishes to better understand what it takes to become a consistent and effective leader. It also can be used to complement a mentoring program for junior executives, managers, or directors.

Congratulations to the authors for a superb contribution to this important field!

Alpha Male Syndrome is a very well written and very useful book. It breaks down the various types of alpha behavior in ways that make the information actionable - how to deal with an alpha boss or colleague, how to be a more effective alpha executive - and how to apply those lessons to improve your home life.

I wish I had this book many years ago. It will be very valuable to current executives, and it should be required reading of all first time managers so they can avoid the many common pitfalls identified in this book.

Executive coaches Kate Ludeman and Eddie Erlandson do a lively job of presenting the pitfalls of the brilliant but overbearing boss who manifests the "alpha male syndrome." However, sometimes they wield a pretty broad brush. Take the statement, "We've observed that many leaders who fit the dysfunctional alpha male typology fall prey to sexual predation, becoming womanizers who use conquest and control to assert their dominance." This kind of wrap-up could leave you wondering who is the predator and who is the prey. Rounding out such proclamations is tricky, since the alpha male syndrome is not a standard psychological diagnosis, but the authors' discovery and coinage. With those caveats, this sobriquet might help managers who need to understand why they abuse the people around them - and how to stop. Perhaps it is better for the alpha to see himself not as a vicious bully, but as a man burdened and blessed with a syndrome that has some positive features. Abused employees also may find some helpful coping mechanisms in this popular-style psychological analysis of their overbearing bosses. The book's best advice is that alphas should manage stress with exercise and deep breathing - good counsel for anyone. Another good piece of advice is that alphas need, at least, executive coaching. We say they can start here.

Two management consultants have jointly written this book about alpha males who occupy some 75% senior management positions in America's business world. According to them, alpha males are indomitable, tenacious, and persevering enough to reach the apex of their career. They inspire awe and respect but could move people to fear and trembling. Despite having great career success, the downside of their traits and behaviours such as the `laws of the jungle' attitude, interpersonal impatience, and difficult controlling anger can have devastating effect to their health, marriage, and other people surrounding them.

Both writers marry hard data on some 1,500 executives and base on their abundant coaching experience with senior executives from Fortune 500 firms to figure out why such top dogs become pit bulls that snowball problems and expose their vulnerabilities. In short, alpha males are various in terms of their different traits they possess such as commander, visionary, strategist, and executor. Some are inclined to act like visionaries that often dream up exotic ideas but hate naysayers. Others have an uncanny ability to deal with crisis but tend to exercise their authority through intimidation and domination. Both writers conclude that Trump's `apprentice' mentality would do more harm than good. In today's business environment where trust, respect, and collaborative dialogue between corporate bigwigs and coworkers are vital for business survival and growth, both writers offer alpha males a list of `awareness of self and others' tools that could guide them beyond the `alpha triangle' trap and move themselves and their people to effectiveness.

This book is a comprehensive study of alpha males. It is also a landmark management study that not only fills need for alpha males but also provides an impetus for further research on this subject. Revealing the importance of tapping human potentials in teams to high performance, alpha males should learn how to involve the whole team that harness their intelligence, vitality, and drive without wreaking havoc on working relationships. They have to put aside their `zero-sum' jungle mentality as well as personal glory in pursuit of the alchemy of human connections. This book is accompanied by a website that contains an online alpha assessment to testify whether you are an alpha male or not and also your alpha strengths and risks. It helps readers undertake a self-awareness exercise in order to understand and modify their tendencies and risk areas. Chapter 8 provides alpha males with a repertoire of tools to practice emotional and physical reset such as stress relief and endorphin increments in order to achieve high-level health and wellness.

This book is highly recommended for readers who are interested in understanding more about the upside as well as downside traits of alpha males. It is also a highly recommended book for alpha males who aspire to leverage their strengths and subdue their flip-side risks for the best interest of shareholders and their people.

When the authors (whom I know well) gave me a signed copy of their book, I promised to read it with a bit of trepidation. This perhaps stemmed from the simple statement, "You need to read this book", which preceded the gift.

Regardless of where the damning responsibility originates, be it father, mother, wife, or dog, I cannot escape one certain truth. I am an alpha male. So I began reading the book, hoping desperately that it was not another in a long succession of cliché-ridden self-help, psychobabble-filled elaborations of the obvious.

250 pages never went so fast. The authors are actually onto something. Like the scientists they are, they describe the characteristics of the alpha male, the importance of being an alpha make, but even more importantly, the downsides of alpha male behavior and the very real impediments to group morale and productivity. However, the authors go further. Drawing on their extensive experience gleaned from interviews and coaching sessions involving hundreds of industry, and interestingly military, leaders, the authors outline concrete steps, I suspect not accomplished without some personal pain, that alpha males can embark upon to improve their job performance and satisfaction, while simultaneously elevating the performance and respect of their colleagues.

To you leaders and executives out there, I can only say one thing. The more you feel you don't need to read this book, the sooner it should be under your Christmas tree.

Jack Pickleman, MD
Former John Igini Professor of Surgery and
Chief: Division of General Surgery
Loyola University Medical Center

Drs. Ludeman and Erlandson, who occupy near-legendary status among executive coaches, here offer a major gift to the thousands of Alpha Male executives who stalk the corridors of corporate power. Every executive should read this book, but perhaps of equal importance, those who work for and with Alpha Males really should read it. The book offers a wealth of understanding about this breed, as well as a clear road-map Alpha Males can follow to a more balanced, healthier version of themselves. Do yourself a favor and read this book, then do the other Alpha Males in your company or network the favor of gifting them with a copy. They'll thank you, and the world will be a saner, more productive place.

Very good book for those who want to understand what's going on in the management team. All managers should read this book. A must

It is hard to not wax poetic about this book as I was so excited to literally walk into it in an airport store soon after it was published. Not one to usually look at hardback books, the title was alluring and the content took my breath away. Here were two top consultants working with some of the best and the brightest who had characterized the execs into four categories. Their process of categorization allows a much greater understanding by the executive than most of the others I have seen over the years.

Each of the four "types" (and most of us have a mix) have specific strengths and risks when it comes to leadership and effectiveness as a top executive. As an executive coach, I really like helping each "alpha" I work with to look at the "risks" of their personality traits rather than call anything a weakness. We play to our strengths and mitigate our risks. This offers a framework from which we can look at what is working, what isn't, and set very specific goals for behavioral change.

Every successful executive has some/many alpha traits. Kate Ludeman, PhD and Edie Erlandson, MD at Worth Ethic, offer an online test that is incredibly helpful as it provides very clear explanations of the specific strengths and risks indicated by the individual. The conclusions and recommendations they offer are extremely valid (from a practical point of view). Having worked with hundreds/thousands of alphas over the past 25 years, I wish I had the benefit of this screen and understanding of their conceptualization process for each client earlier. This is one of the few items I always use when working with a new client.

Breaking the traits into strengths and risks is really what it is all about. Although I have used a SWOT analysis for years in all levels of work (with individuals or with boards and strategic planning), I've always hated the "W" term, weakness. This is such a judgmental and pejorative term to most people, and sounds very permanent. The term "risk" is ever so much better to work with (and hints at the situational component). So even if SROT won't be a best seller, I now explain that what I want to look at are their personal risks, not weaknesses. Every exec is comfortable with risk. It's how we live, and really is an important part of what gives the fabric of life a certain richness and depth. A risk is something that one can assess and make decisions about. A weakness is just, well, yuck.

What I appreciate about this well written book is that it doesn't just give "quick fixes" for alphas. Instead, Kate and Eddie invite us all to explore the deeper issues going on underneath the surface in order to create lasting changes. As an Alpha, I learned more about my own challenges and as a coach to Alphas, gleaned much wisdom from the examples Kate and Eddie shared from their vast experience. I also recommned taking their alpha assessment online [...]