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Jamie Dimon has been CEO of JPMorgan Chase since January 2006<\/a>, holding the role for more than 20 years. In that time leading the largest bank in the U.S., Dimon has watched many executives sink or swim. He says that the one trait that predicts failure isn\u2019t arrogance; it\u2019s insecurity.\u00a0<\/p>\n The JPMorgan Chase CEO recently spoke on The Master Investor Podcast<\/em><\/a>. He said that there are two types of people who \u201cget a big job\u201d \u2014\u00a0some are insecure and others are more secure.\u00a0<\/p>\n The problem is a structural one, Dimon said. Each promotion diminishes the percentage of the job that someone understands. He gave the example of a star mortgage trader who suddenly receives a promotion to run all of a bank\u2019s trading.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cNow he\u2019s got equities, commodities, fixed income, Asia,\u201d Dimon said. \u201cHe\u2019s an expert in mortgages, but not in the other ones.\u201d One more promotion, and 36 people report to him. \u201cIt induces insecurity,\u201d Dimon said.\u00a0<\/p>\n True leaders who are already secure in themselves respond to that feeling in a particular way. They have \u201cthese innate skills to trust people, to get the best out of people, to not get embarrassed by not knowing,\u201d Dimon said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Insecure leaders respond differently to the same promotion. They create a bubble, surrounding themselves with people who boost their ego.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt becomes friends of Bob. It becomes PowerPoints: Make them look good, don\u2019t tell them the bad news. And that is what causes the problem,\u201d Dimon said. \u201cYou get that in governments too, where leaders are surrounded by people telling them what they want to hear, because they\u2019re insecure.\u201d<\/p>\n From that point of insecurity, reality begins to fade. \u201cReports start being modified to look good, as opposed to addressing what\u2019s going on in your company,\u201d Dimon said.\u00a0<\/p>\n A secure leader has the benefit of taking criticism as part of the course. \u201cYou\u2019re not going to hurt my feelings by telling me we have a crappy product,\u201d Dimon said. \u201cCustomer complaints are a gift.\u201d<\/p>\n Sometimes Dimon noted that members of his own leadership team were noticeably uncomfortable when junior staff brought up problems. \u201cThat tells me something about the manager,\u201d he said. \u201cThey probably shouldn\u2019t have that kind of job.\u201d<\/p>\n Dimon also looks for humility from new hires. He abides by a simple character test for big promotions: \u201cWould you promote someone to a big job that you wouldn\u2019t have your child report to?\u201d<\/p>\n Dimon notices when managers recognize the work of their direct reports, adding that recognition is a form of humility. He recommends avoiding \u201cbureaucracy, complacency, and his cousin, arrogance,\u201d labeling all three as the downsides of every company.\u00a0<\/p>\n To avoid those three pitfalls, Dimon has left every JPMorgan board meeting for the past two decades so directors can discuss issues plainly, without him in the room. He called for directors to take that time to agree or disagree with him, and put their case in front of the board. \u201cI insisted upon it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Jamie Dimon has been CEO of JPMorgan Chase since January 2006<\/a>, holding the role for more than 20 years. In that time leading the largest bank in the U.S., Dimon has watched many executives sink or swim. He says that the one trait that predicts failure isn\u2019t arrogance; it\u2019s insecurity.\u00a0<\/p>\nInsecure leaders create an echo chamber<\/h2>\n
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