According to a leadership expert, some people, such as the former CEO of OpenAI, Sam Altman, believe in going things too far, and that’s when they go from inspiring to terrifying.
“Delusional overconfidence in CEOs is a serious concern for organisations,” Don Moore, a professor of leadership and communication at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, said in an interview with CNBC Make It.
Make It received no quick response from Microsoft or OpenAI regarding Altman’s sudden departure from the latter on Friday, and it is still unclear under what circumstances he arrived at Microsoft on Monday. Commenting directly was not possible for Altman himself.
It’s easier to understand the 38-year-old’s leadership philosophy, which is to “have almost too much self-belief,” as he stated in a 2019 blog post, as one of his main success factors.
Sam Altman says successful people ‘believe in themselves
“Belief in oneself has great power,” stated Altman. “The most successful people I know believe in themselves almost to the point of delusion.”
It is said by Moore that Altman is “far from the first entrepreneur to have endorsed the idea that you have to believe in yourself, above all else,” in order to thrive. He does, however, point out that overconfidence can be problematic for a leader as well as for anyone who buys into their delusion or suffers from it in some other way.
The benefits and drawbacks of excessive confidence
People who possess extreme overconfidence can achieve great things. According to Moore, it can also make them and those around them more vulnerable to “dysfunctions, perversities, and errors,” particularly if they become too conceited to prepare for potential risks.
Billionaire Elon Musk’s “absolute certainty” that SpaceX could launch a rocket to Mars in the near future was highlighted by blogger Altman as the “benchmark for what conviction looks like” in his piece titled “How to Be Successful.”
At the time, Musk was mainly focused on managing SpaceX and Tesla while announcing intentions to send a cargo ship to Mars by 2022. A Reuters investigation earlier this month uncovered a long list of unreported worker accidents at SpaceX, including crushed hands and fingers, severe brain injuries, and even fatalities. These injuries are purportedly directly related to Musk’s ambitious pursuit of a Mars trip.
According to Moore, overconfident executives frequently persuade others to follow them, including board members, investors, and employees, only to ultimately fall short of the unrealistic expectations their confidence generates.
He claims that’s one reason why voters are frequently dissatisfied with the candidates they support for office. “We pick the ones who are making grandiose promises, who inspire our hopes for reform, but reality is complicated, and the changes they can actually introduce often fall short of what their most enthusiastic supporters hope for.”
Finding a balance between self-awareness and confidence
Get better at taking criticism. Altman outlined this as the most important thing an overconfident leader can do to avoid making disastrous mistakes or alienating a large number of people in his blog article.
Although it can be “hard and often painful,” seeking out constructive criticism is important because, as Altman stated, “it is what separates self-belief from self-delusion.”
Moore concurs. Additionally, he asserts that while it is simple for leaders to “pay lip service” to the idea of taking criticism, it is far more difficult to really do so.
“I think this is a challenge for every leader,” adds Moore. “Courageous leaders need to seek out that sort of criticism, ask themselves how they’re messing up, anticipate the errors that they’re most likely to be making, and listen hard when criticism comes their way.”
It’s possible that Altman learned the lesson well. As Moore notes, many OpenAI employees likely thought highly of Altman as a leader because hundreds of them openly expressed their support for him following his dismissal.
If so, Moore suggests that Altman’s leadership thesis—which states that you should never undervalue your own abilities since a lack of confidence might also stand in the way of your success—may need to be rephrased.
“I think impostor syndrome is a real thing,” Moore stated. “But that doesn’t mean that you should lie to yourself or others about how good you are or how much you can accomplish.”