Its origins are debated.

Its also been criticized as being scientifically inaccurate.

And yet still the "boiled frog" metaphor persists.

It persists because it carries a powerful message about our awareness of and response to gradually changing circumstances, whether those changes are business, social, environmental, or even personal.

People and teams are quite skilled at boiling frog bosses. This is especially true when the frog is the CEO, but any senior leader of a large organization can easily end up in the pot.

General McMaster recently wrote a book about his time serving as Trump's National Security Advisor.  He described Oval Office meetings as being "exercises in competitive sycophancy."

It is easy to look down your nose at a statement like that and say, "Well, that's Trump's team, not mine."

Are you sure? 

I ask because people and teams are quite skilled at boiling frog bosses. This is especially true when the frog is the CEO, but any senior leader of a large organization can easily end up in the pot.

First the Why.  Let's face it, Corporate America, Government, Military or any large organization all have a kind of game-like aspect to them.  And those that have had their jobs a long time and risen in the ranks are, by definition, good at whatever the game is or they wouldn't still be playing it.

Long tenured leaders often figure out that getting good at frog boiling could help them avoid discomfort in the form of change, conflict, and threats to their status or continued employment.

You need to remember something: you're not that funny.

If they are trying to avoid change, conflict, etc, how exactly do they try to keep you calm and maintain the status quo?

Limit the Information You Get.  Organizations put CEOs and senior leaders in a bubble and what they see is often controlled.  Moreover, they often try to make sure you have a full schedule so your ability to "wander" gets constrained.

Frank Blake the former CEO of Home Depot says, "The organization molds itself to fit your opinions.  They mirror back what they think you want to hear.  They don't thrive on confrontation and they especially don't seek out confrontation. They filter information and give you an overly positive view of what is happening."

Drown You in Flattery.  When Frank Blake became CEO, Bernie Marcus, co-founder of Home Depot, told him, "you are going to get around the table with your leadership team.  You are going to tell a joke and everyone is going to laugh.  You need to remember something: You're not that funny." 

Stop Giving You Personal Feedback. One reason its lonely at the top is because you stop getting the personal feedback you used to get when you were lower in the organization.

Best-selling author, Malcolm Gladwell was asked on a podcast why he thought billionaires still complained so much.

"The second reason is more insidious. When one is embedded in a network, it is a form of correction.  In other words, the people around me govern my utterances, my behavior.  They're the ones who make me aware of when I've stepped over a line. When you get higher up, the number of people in that correcting circle starts to shrink. You're not getting feedback anymore on your behavior. Think about my three-year-old.  She gets non-stop feedback on her behavior. I mean, every single thing she does. If she grows up to be a billionaire, that will vanish. That's a very different condition in which to live your life." ~Malcom Gladwell, In Good Company podcast

I hope it's clear by now that yes, your team knows how to boil water.  The higher you go, it's not only air that gets thinner.  Truth does too.

Act Exactly Like You Taught Them To.  As the saying goes, the deepest wounds are often self-inflicted.

Did your team start to filter information because of their discomfort with change or because of your reactions, which explicitly signaled to the team what you want to hear and what you don't?

"My dad was a bankruptcy attorney.  He always said the #1 thing all bankrupt companies have in common was CEOs that didn't like to hear bad news."  ~Gavin Baker, Founder, Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer of Atreides Management, LP

I hope it's clear by now that yes, your team knows how to boil water.  The higher you go, it's not only air that gets thinner.  Truth does too.

It's Getting Hot in Here

If you like, you can pretend none of this is happening to you.  Remain calm and continue mopping your brow as needed.

But should you start to wonder about the information you are getting and be interested in ensuring that what you are seeing and hearing is closer to the whole story...in short, should you be interested in staying out of the pot...I will provide a range of suggestions in the next couple articles.

Dennis Adsit, Ph.D. is an executive coach, organization consultant, and designer of The First 100 Days and Beyond, a consulting service that has helped hundreds of newly hired and promoted executives get great starts in challenging new jobs.