20 Habits of Highly Unsuccessful and
Ineffective Leaders
It's great to model ourselves on the best, but knowing what habits
to avoid can also be beneficial.
It's great to read books and articles about what the great leaders do so that we can model ourselves on the best, and I highly recommend that.
However, it's
also worthwhile taking the time to understand what bad leaders do so that we can learn what to avoid which can be just as
helpful.
Over my 25 years in leaderships, here are
some of the habits of unsuccessful and ineffectual leaders that I
have seen, and in some cases, their justification for having them.
These are habits best avoided, if possible!
1. Believe They have All The Answers
They know that the reason that they have been put in charge is
that they are smarter and better than everyone else. So when it comes to
deciding strategy, solving problems, or resolving issues, there is no need, or
point in involving anyone else.
2. React, Don't Respond
Driven by their emotions, they react quickly to situations
without worrying about facts or the repercussions of their actions.
They can always show good emotional intelligence by apologizing
later.
3. Take Big Risks, The Bigger The Better
They like to gamble and take big risks. Believing in the
adage "Nothing Ventured Nothing Gained" and that Smart Risk taking is
for wimps.
When I questioned a decision that one boss was taking his
response was, "that's not your concern I get paid big bucks to take
the big risks and make the tough calls."
Personally, I though he got paid the big bucks to take the right
risks and to be successful, but what did I know.
4. Believe That Talking About It and Doing It Are
The Same Thing
I always remember the first boss I worked for, when the CEO
asked him how it was going, he said: "It's going great, we have been
discussing the problem for two days now." The only problem was that was
two days that the business couldn't operate, and we were no closer to finding a
solution.
5. Focus On Blame Not Solutions
It's better to know who's fault it is so that we can fire
them and make sure this doesn't happen again.
6. Believe Their Own PR
There is a big difference between confidence and arrogance; the
former helps build trust in the leader, the latter destroys it. As soon
as you start to believe your own PR, then you are leaning more towards
arrogance and starting down a path that is going to end in tears.
7. Don't Waste Valuable Time on Planning And
Preparation
Sometimes you just have to dive and get it done. Don't worry
about what's involved, or whether you're focused on the symptom or root cause,
just do it. My favorite comment was "we can afford to spend time and
money on planning; we just need to get started".
Which was interesting because we
found the time and money to do it again correctly, after that
first attempt failed badly.
8. Hire People Beneath Them
As a leader, it is critical that you are the most skillful and
knowledgeable member of the team, that way everyone can focus on their job
rather than working out how they could replace you.
I worked at one company where the
boss told me that he liked to recruit from the bottom quartile because it kept
the costs down. He then added, "the only problem with that was the results sucked."
9. Focus Instant success
It's all about results, and if we find that they are not coming,
then we need to move quickly on to another topic.
They believe that a lot of short-term success will lead to
long-terms success.
10. Focus On The Big Picture, Not The Details
Don't worry about the details, focus on the big picture, as that
will keep you motivated. We all know the devil is in the details, but that
could lead to concerns, a lack of belief and even worse de-motivation.
11. Focus on Weaknesses Not Strengths
As leaders we cannot have or show any weaknesses, so we need to
work on eliminating them, or failing that, hiding them.
12. Confuse Stubbornness With Determination
"Winners never quit, and quitters never win" is a
great approach to achieving results.
However you're bordering on stubbornness if your approach is
failing but you refuse to change it.
13. Don't Play Well With Others
It's hard to play well with others when you adapt a command and
control approach to leadership. People like to be led not managed.
14. Think Praise is For Wimps
It's ok to praise people once we have achieved success, but
praising people just to keep them happy is not a good approach to building a
strong, resilient team. We've got to be mean to keep them keen, and praising
people too often makes a team soft.
15. Take Don't Give
The more we take, the more we have, that's how winners are made.
It's a dog eat dog world, and we have to fight for our share.
16. Quick to Criticize
If you want people to improve, you need to point out their
mistakes quickly and clearly. It's also best to do this publicly so that others
can learn too.
17. Easily Distracted
Never content with their current goals they are constantly
looking for the next big thing that the get involved in. I think the reason for
this is it's much easier to start something new than to finish something important.
18. Make Excuses
There are a million and one reasons why things don't work out as
planned, so it's not always our fault, and we need to remember that so as we
don't become too de-motivated. One boss told me never ever accept
responsibility it could be career limiting, always have someone ready to blame
or a good excuse handy.
19. Love To Micro Manage
It's hard to trust everyone, so by micro-managing your staff,
you can keep a close eye on things, and look to offer advice or step in if
things start to go wrong.
20. Practice Inconsistently
It's great to be inconsistent because it keeps your team
guessing, which in turn keeps them on their toes. Predictability, on the
other hand, can lead to complacency.
BY GORDON TREDGOLD
http://www.inc.com/gordon-tredgold/20-habits-of-highly-unsuccessful-and-ineffective-leaders.html?cid=em01014week33a
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