Obsessives expect others to follow suit. They regard their obsessiveness as a source of inspiration. 'I believe if someone comes to work for me I pay them well and expect them to give me their absolute,' says one senior manager, 'I don't believe you should tell people to do things. You should ask them and they should expect to come in early every morning and go home late at night and just work and work because they enjoy doing it.
If obsessive managers could take a step back it would be easy for them to recognize the unhealthy side of their obsession. It dominates their life to the detriment of family, friends and fun. At work it may well cloud their judgment - often they are so obsessed they are incapable of being objective.
Working for an obsessive boss poses unique problems and is rarely compatible with job security. 'Obsession is where common sense bites the corporate dust,' says a manager who has worked for two bosses he identifies as obsessive. 'I did not go along with the obsession so I was quickly shown the door.
'But the people I worked with carried on working an obsessive number of hours and did not question the boss's demanding habits. To the obsessive boss no-one else's world matters. If you point out, as I did, that their decisions are not rational but based on obsessive prejudice, you can guarantee fireworks.
The dividing line between commitment (healthy and outward-looking) and obsession (unhealthy and inward-looking) is a thin one. It is a precarious balancing act. Running your own business you need to be extraordinarily focused and thorough in what you do. But paradoxically, you cannot afford to be narrow in your outlook. Companies need a combination of extremely focused managers and ones with more of an entrepreneurial outlook taking in the broader picture.
Having sailed across the Atlantic, Jonathan Jeffes knows a thing or two about obsession. Now managing director of Westward Training and Development, he believes that companies are becoming better at identifying obsessives, whether they are empire-builders or obsessively competitive and redirecting their energies. 'People are often obsessed with the wrong thing - how many hours they work on a particular task,' he says.
'Obsession', like anything else, needs to be channeled in the right direction. If it isn't you end up with people doing their own thing for their own ends rather than working as a team.'
Bob Kaplan of the US Center for Creative Leadership, prefers not to use the word obsessive with its negative connotations. In his book Beyond Ambition, Kaplan came up with the word 'expansive' to sum up the obsessive striving of many managers. 'Executives desire a sense not merely of adequacy but of high personal worth, and they seek it not by doing an acceptable job, but by doing an exceptional job,' he says. 'Expansive executives see themselves, perhaps unconsciously, as heroes. Like heroes, they want to execute some masterstroke, or accomplish prodigious amounts of work or adhere to the highest standards.'
Obsession is a recurring theme in the way heroes and anti-heroes are portrayed in all walks of life. The actor Alan Bates has said: 'Everyone who is any good is obsessive.' Films are full of obsessives who should really be in therapeutic clinics - from Indiana Jones to Gordon Gekko in Wall Street. Perhaps the most obsessive individuals are those with their own companies. For them there is no escape. 'If you are not obsessed with your idea, there is no point in starting a business,' says Tim Scott of the Business Founder's Bureau. 'But if you are to overcome the myriad of obstacles ahead, establish credibility and succeed, you have to temper your obsession with reality. Obsessives need a touchstone - often their partner - to bring them back to earth. Otherwise, they end up being blind to any of the pitfalls.'
For the self-employed, obsession is paradoxically, often essential. Again the balance is delicate. Bank managers are likely to be more reticent about lending money to an obsessed zealot with a distant gleam in his eye than to someone obsessed with achieving quality products at competitive prices.
If obsession is to work for you, it has to be harnessed to business objectives. It can be a great driving force, enabling everyday crises to be swept aside. But if it is allowed to develop unchecked, obsession can be disastrous, no matter what the business.
