Your organisation may be like a red sports car crying out to be driven fast. You may have appointed a leader (Chief Executive)  who has the skill and courage to drive full throttle despite the challenging road conditions. However now you’re the passenger on a foggy night hurtling down the motorway urging caution. The driver responds to your fear by saying, “ I’m keeping  my speed up because I didn’t want some idiot running into the back of me.”

Reckless leaders have their own logic but no insight or simply don’t care about the effect on others of their behaviour. What others see as dangerous and irresponsible they see as bold and fearless. What others see as a high risk, an unnecessary gamble they see as an exciting opportunity to use their superior skill and courage, even an adventure.

I was reminded of this whilst watching a documentary on Richard Branson and Virgin Galactica. Sir Richard is a very successful business man and an inspirational leader. Much admired for his David and Goliath victory over British Airways and his genius for marketing himself and the Virgin brand.  I just lapped up his comments about going into businesses he had no background in and making a success of them.

And as a former senior manager how I admired his bravery in ignoring the accountants when deciding whether to invest in a new venture. But the program asked some difficult questions when it came to the deaths that have resulted from the development of Virgin Galactic and the obsessive pursuit of being the first commercial airline to go into space.

Reckless leadership is not restricted to the private sector, leaders  of Local Authorities have been accused of recklessness in the way some whole heartedly pursued outsourcing irrespective of the risks and the advice they received. More recently some authorise have come spectacularly unstuck in property investments again despite knowing the high risks and the concerns of the accountants.

Your organisation may be more of a white van than a red sports car but a reckless driver is still a reckless driver.