The Fear of Success

Tim had been on the fast track. An Ivy League graduate, he had joined one of the premier consulting firms as an associate. He went on to earn an MBA, graduating at the top of his class. Recruited by a pharmaceutical firm, he rose quickly through the ranks, joining the executive team in record time.

Just eight years after joining the company, he was appointed its CEO. That was when things started to fall apart. Colleagues soon noticed that Tim seemed oddly reluctant to make important decisions. He would put off big projects and spend an inordinate amount of time on minor problems. As a result, the company missed out on some big opportunities. His behavior became increasingly worrisome. He would even turn up visibly drunk for important meetings. Although the board cut Tim some slack at first, his shortcomings quickly became too obvious to be ignored, and within two years of his appointment the board dismissed him. What went wrong?

Tim appears to have functioned extremely well as long as he wasn't in the number-one position. But the moment he was placed in the spotlight, he was in uncharted territory and could no longer hide behind someone else. In that extremely visible role, he became highly vulnerable, and his effectiveness diminished as he succumbed to self-destructive behaviors. At times, he even felt like an impostor. He also feared that the higher he climbed, the further he would fall when he made a mistake. Tim seemed to have unconscious feelings of guilt about his success.

He was consumed by the idea that his being too successful would upset his father, who had repeatedly failed in his business endeavors and had become embittered by it. He had taken out these emotions on Tim, constantly telling him that he didn't have what it took to be successful. As the years went by, Tim had internalized these criticisms. But this debasing sense of self remained dormant until Tim finally became CEO.

Questions

1. Should the executive board have fired Tim for failing to live up to expectations? What alternatives are there?

2. What could the board have done to help Tim address these disruptive behaviors?

3. What areas should be explored with Tim in trying to decode his negative associations with success?

4. What can Tim do to develop an alternative, more constructive internal narrative of success?

5. As a coach, how would you work with Tim to confront his fear of success?