Success Quote by Harold S. Geneen

Geneen’s jab lands because it hijacks a familiar corporate morality tale and swaps the villain. Alcoholism is the scandal people can picture: the martini lunches, the slurred decisions, the personal downfall with a neat cautionary arc. Egotism is messier, more socially acceptable, and far more likely to be rewarded. By calling it a “disease,” he doesn’t just criticize arrogance as a character flaw; he frames it as something contagious inside organizations, spreading through incentives, hierarchy, and the quiet worship of “visionary” leaders.

The line is also an insider’s rebuke. Geneen ran ITT during the conglomerate era, when size, deal-making, and CEO mystique often substituted for operational clarity. In that world, egotism isn’t a side issue; it’s a business model. The executive who believes they’re the exception to every constraint is the one who overpays for acquisitions, ignores dissenting data, turns meetings into theater, and mistakes momentum for strategy. Alcoholism might impair performance; egotism can masquerade as performance.

Subtext: the most dangerous leaders aren’t the visibly broken ones, they’re the sober, confident ones who stop listening. Geneen’s real target is the culture that confuses dominance with competence and treats humility as a lack of “executive presence.” It’s a warning about governance, not personal wellness: boards and teams should fear not the executive who loses control, but the executive who never thinks they need any.