Have you ever met someone with the propensity for making wrong decisions? They just have a knack for doing the wrong thing.

There are some people who can’t seem to succeed in spite of themselves. Just when things look like they are going in the right direction, a decision is made or an action is taken that eliminates any gains previously made. These kinds of people, and these kinds of leaders, often find themselves in chaos of all kinds. Their lives and businesses are a swirl of difficulties.

These kinds of people are self-destructive. Their decisions do not contribute to their growth, they contribute to their demise – and the demise of those following them. This could be wrong decisions made, or it could be wise decisions not made.

We must understand that not to decide is to decide. A decision to not decide is classic Ostrich leadership: bury your head in the sand and hope things will remedy themselves.

That is passive, accidental leadership and it doesn’t end well.

Self-destructive leaders are not willing to ask for or receive input from others. They think they know best and, therefore, blindly head off in a direction without all the input necessary to create exceptional results. They can certainly experience some success, but when they fall, they fall hard.

Basically self-destructive leaders are arrogant: they think they have nothing to gain from the input of others.

Self-disruptive leaders on the other hand are humble leaders. They recognize that previous success does not guarantee future success. They understand that to continue to grow, to continue to succeed, to continue to lead well, they need the input of others. They recognize they have much to gain from the input of others. And they obviously self-disrupt.

Here is what I mean by self-disruptive: pulling things apart that are working well to see if there is a better way to do it.  It is a desire for continuous improvement. It is a commitment to continuous innovation. It is ongoing curiosity.

A self-disruptive leader is not content to always do what they have always done – even if it is wildly successful. A wise self-disruptive leader knows that change is a constant. In order to deliver sustainable success self-disruption is a must.

Self-disruption is a willingness to look at your products, processes, people, promotion and pricing to see if there is a better way. How can we innovate in order to keep moving forward?

Self-disruptive leaders are not willing to wait until disruption is forced upon them by the competition or economic conditions. They disrupt themselves and their organizations to stay ahead of the curve, and ahead of the competition.

Self-disruptive leaders are innately curious. They have a deeply held commitment to excellence. And, they are willing to fail. To fail means you have pushed beyond your current capability, and that is how growth occurs.

This does not mean that self-disruptive leaders and harsh taskmasters who are never satisfied. No, they may simply be the first one to ask questions like,

“What can we do to improve this?” “Are we absolutely convinced this is the best we can do?” “Will we be leading our market with this, or will we be playing follow the leader?”

Self-disruptive leaders love to bring the best out of people. They help others to dream more, be more and do more. And, they love to bring the best out of themselves. They are enthusiastic life-long learners.

What would Blackberry look like today if their leadership was self-disruptive at the height of their success? We will never know. The ditches of the business highway are littered with companies that failed to innovate, and, therefore, failed to survive. They failed to be self-disruptive and change with the speed of business, so disruption was forced upon them.

So how can you become a self-disruptive leader?

Choose humility: choose to learn from others. Understand you have blind spots and need the cumulative knowledge, wisdom, understanding and discernment of others. Understand that no matter how successful you have been, you don’t know what you don’t know.

And ask questions that bring the best out in you and others.

Choose to be self-disruptive, not self-destructive.