Myers-Briggs Type ‘JERK’ and the Dark Side of Leadership

Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darknesses of other people.—Carl Jung 

The US Army is finally taking a fresh look at toxic leadership within its ranks and its connection to the suicides of active-duty soldiers. Within the past year, 350 active duty military committed suicide. In addition, it is approximated that a staggering 8,000 veterans commit suicide every year—or roughly 22 per day. Given that we spent 20% of the national budget on defense in 2011, and spent $729 BILLION in 2012, you would think that we would have cracked the code on effective leadership in the US Military, but we are far from it.

NPR released an in-depth report on the renewed focus on toxic leadership earlier this week. Researchers like anthropologist Dave Matsuda were charged with examining why soldiers were attempting and committing suicide in Iraq. In 2010, there were nearly 30 documented cases of either suicide or an attempt. Army investigators would traditionally evaluate the suicide in terms of personal stressors related to family, financial or other personal pressures. Coming from the outside of the military, Matsuda found, “In addition to major problems in their personal lives, the victims also had a leader who made their lives hell — sometimes a couple of leaders”.

These hellacious leaders were referred to as a “Myers-Briggs Type JERK” by a participant in a study relayed by Colonel George E. Reed. In a 2004 edition of Military Review, Col. Reed recounts the efforts of the U.S. Army to tackle toxic leadership within its ranks. While climate assessments were conducted, the data on toxic leaders would often be ignored if they were able to produce favorable results, or it was the toxic leaders themselves who received the data themselves and did nothing with it. I can guarantee that if we added a “JERK” typology to the Myers-Briggs, it would have far greater reliability than the current instrument (more on that in a subsequent post).

The problem with toxic leaders is that they often are in the dark about their own darkness. In an article published in the Harvard Business Review by Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatis, and Annie McKee they describe this condition as the “CEO disease” wherein top executives have a complete disconnect between the way they are believed to be perceived and the way they are received: “We found that an alarming number of leaders do not really know if they have resonance with their organizations. Rather, they suffer from CEO disease; its one unpleasant symptom is the sufferer’s near-total ignorance about how his mood and actions appear to the organization. It’s not that leaders don’t care how they are perceived; most do. But they incorrectly assume that they can decipher this information themselves. Worse, they think that if they are having a negative effect, someone will tell them. They’re wrong.”

 In the military, I would argue that the propensity for a leader not to care about what those in their command think is actually valued in an uber macho culture of callousness rather than compassion. Insubordination is not tolerated. At least that’s what I learned by watching Goldie Hawn in “Private Benjamin” when I was five. But this cultural perception has been reinforced by the countless second-hand stories of horror I have heard from the veterans I have worked with over the years. At the darkest time in my life, I volunteered at an adaptive yoga studio working with veterans who had polytrauma—a traumatic brain injury and also, a physical disability usually caused by an explosive device. I have never encountered such bravery and determination in the midst of incredible struggle. All my problems were instantly minimized in the glow of working with these incredible men who had sacrificed it all for a negative return on their investment. We cannot take away the risk of shrapnel, or grenades from enemy lines unless we end all wars. But we can no longer ignore the wars from within created, manufactured and amplified by toxic leadership. While the visible wounds hurt and sometimes can never be fully healed, the invisible wounds caused by toxic leadership cut down deep into the psyche and shake us at the core.

As always, the first step begins with us. We must first confront the darkness within ourselves to bring light into our organizations, and lead by example. And if the U.S. wants to be a leader with respect in the world, we must start from within. The military is a really good place to start, and start again and again until we get it right.