When we talk about Hubris today, it is the sin of pride, as in, "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall."  But in ancient Athens, Hubris was a crime, a "reckless disregard for the rights of another person." And it was on display last week as the pre-appeals phase of the Enron trials came to an end.

There was Jeffrey Skilling, gone puffy and heavy since his days at the helm of Enron.  On the stand he explained detailed financial processes crisply and easily.  Then he expected the jury to believe that he didn't know what was going on at Enron.

The jury didn't buy that one. 

And there was good ole Ken Lay. He tried to look like a folksy old grandfather, down to his last vacation home because of the evil short-sellers and reporters set on vengeance. On the witness stand, he snapped with impatience when his tale of woe and honest intent was questioned.

The jury didn't buy that one, either.

The jury was acting like another character from the Greeks. Nemesis is "the spirit of divine retribution against those who succumb to Hubris." Nemesis was there bringing up the rear as the Enron Hubris parade wound out of sight.

And we thought to ourselves, "I'm glad that's over. Surely such arrogance will not come again in our lifetime."  And just then we heard the drumbeats of another Hubris parade.

Where could it be?  We turned our heads back and forth, looking.  The sound was coming from Wilmington DE and the Home Depot shareholders' meeting.

Bob Nardelli has been CEO at Home Depot for five years. In that time he's gutted the culture that once made Home Depot successful.  In that time he's lugged home some $245 million in compensation while Home Depot's stock has dropped 12 percent.  The stock of rival Lowe's, meanwhile, has soared 173 percent.

That's the sort of performance that ought to be humbling. Nope. Mr. Nardelli knows he's right and he's so sure of it that he's apparently decided that it simply wastes time to talk about performance and compensation with lesser mortals, like stockholders and analysts.

On Thursday, Mr. Nardelli was the only Home Depot director to show up for the annual shareholders' meeting. He did not make the usual CEO speech.  He did not have a question and answer session. 

During the election of directors, questions were limited to one minute and one person. Large digital timers, automatic-shut-off microphones, and orange-apron-clad bouncers were there to enforce the limits. Responses to the few questions allowed were something like: "This is not the forum in which to address those questions."

Then came the time for shareholder proposals.  There was a litany of one minute comments followed by Mr. Nardelli's response: "The board recommends you reject this proposal."

"Voting" for directors came next, but before the votes could be handed in, Mr. Nardelli announced that the directors have been elected, management proposals have been supported and the meeting is over. According to Joe Nocera of the New York Times it was 37 minutes from start to finish.

I'm not implying that Mr. Nardelli is the same sort of fellow as Mr. Lay or Mr. Skilling.  There's not even a whiff of illegality here.  But there is the stench of Hubris, which, Mr. Nardelli and the Home Depot board should remember is followed inevitably by Nemesis.

Wally Bock helps leaders at every level improve the performance and morale of the group they're responsible for. His latest book, Performance Talk: The One-on-One Part of Leadership, makes learning key leadership principles almost effortless because it teaches through a story, the way human beings have always learned complex lessons best.