The Alpha Male Syndrome; a business book with applications to everyday life

Like many good business books, "Alpha Male Syndrome" is perfectly applicable to the non-business aspects of our lives. Written by husband-wife executive coaching team Kate Ludeman and Eddie Erlandson, the tome discuss the plus/minuses of (overly) confident leaders. What's an "alpha male"? They want excellence, they want it now, and they're sure they know how to get it. In fact, very sure.

Alpha males don't have to be unhealthy for an organization (or a family) but they often are. They can turn normal business meetings into something right out of the "Apprentice" (which the authors' call the "Alpha Male Show"). They also say that there is often a discrepancy between how an alpha male leader believes the meeting has done and how everyone else felt it went. (Readers who have not encountered this during at least some point in their career should consider themselves lucky.)

Alpha males are generally bad for the health of those around them (with higher incidences of illness, absenteeism, burnout, etc.). Their "wake-up calls" are insulting jolts that are anything but inspirational. It goes without saying they have no concept of work-life balance, at least for those around them.

Competitive, belligerent, and impatient, these hard-charging leaders can run roughshod over colleagues and employees, to the detriment of their careers and the bottom line.

What about "alpha females"? According to the authors, there just aren't that many leading to the male focus of their research and the book.

What's the authors' suggested course of action? Executive coaching. Not surprising since that is their primary activity. If you are having to deal with an alpha male in a non-business setting (say a spouse) then counseling is the ticket.

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