8 Mistakes Managers
Make, According to Their Employees
This
independent survey reveals the truth about workplace bosses, from the
employee's perspective.
Last year, I conducted an independent workplace survey on LinkedIn and received hundreds of responses to the
question: "What is the ONE mistake leaders make more frequently than others?"
It obviously
struck a chord, as the sentiments of employees across the globe came streaming
in, many of them feeling distressed and disengaged.
I am revealing my top findings from this
survey, broken down by the eight most common themes. In essence, these are the
eight biggest mistakes leaders make that suck the life out of their teams.
1. Micromanaging.
Really, no
surprise here. Leaders who dominate people, decisions, and processes, lead by
fear, and lack vision make this the No.1 mistake. As I have written in the past, micromanaging ultimately derails your team's motivation and
creativity.
2. Leading from a position of power or ego.
As it has always been, hubris is the cause of
much conflict and grief. As one respondent succinctly puts it:
"Intellectual arrogance is like a
termite to some leaders and networks."
Others suggest that know-it-alls who think
they have the best ideas and information, and use it to wield power or control,
destroy morale.
Some respondents express disdain over leaders
unfit to lead, and blame the hiring of decision makers who place such leaders
in those positions.
The general
feeling here points to a lack of humility -- not able to own being wrong, and
not handling being wrong well. Even science agrees there's one
type of hubris (pride) leaders should avoid to achieve success and happiness.
3. Not listening.
One respondent puts it this way:
"It is not the inability to listen but
the inability to 'hear' what their team [members] are saying to them."
The lack of
active and respectful listening, and two-way communication -- sending without
receiving -- is a clear shortcoming for many. I have written about how this
type of "authentic listening" may be the most underutilized
and underdeveloped leadership skill you will find in entrepreneurs.
4. Not valuing followers.
This mistake
points to the overarching theme of leaders dismissing the value of their
people. They either don't care, don't know how to
care, or stopped caring. In essence, it's the leader who thinks anyone is
replaceable, and sees employees as "cogs on a wheel" rather than
"worthy colleagues" to be treated like business partners in producing
excellence.
Quite a few respondents offer great advice to
leaders who don't grasp how to properly value employees. Two that stand out for
me are:
·
Invest in employees with development and mentoring
opportunities.
·
Identify each person's unique skills and
strengths, and use them where they are best suited for business outcomes.
5. Failing to grow themselves as leaders.
One collective
sentiment from the study is that certain leaders, at whatever level, may have
self-entitlement issues about growing and developing themselves.
Upper management may invest heavily in
leadership development for middle and lower management, yet be reluctant to get
the same level of training. This despite the fact that leadership issues at the
senior level are just as frequent, often causing friction, strain and turnover
down the ranks.
Some examples of behavior that cry out for
executive-level leadership development:
·
Low self-awareness -- not knowing oneself.
·
Communication issues, lacking in two-way
feedback.
·
Ego: having all the answers and not
soliciting input.
Notice the correlation between mistake No. 2 (ego-driven
leaders) and leaders who want to push the responsibility for leadership
development down to lower ranks.
6. Lacking boundaries.
Some leaders forget to recognize
professional boundaries. The moment a leader starts trying
to "buddy up" with subordinates, the chain of command begins to
disintegrate and boundaries become blurred.
Leaders can compromise their own integrity by
becoming too friendly with subordinates. A healthy mutual respect should be the
goal of bother superiors and subordinates. Approachability is key, but not at
the expense of professionalism.
7. Not providing or receiving feedback.
Since employees are the ones most
intimately acquainted to how things are going on in the trenches -- with
customers, processes, etc. -- it behooves leaders to gain their tribe's trust
by coming to them first for input, buy-in, advice, and strategy.
This fosters a culture of trust, questioning
and creativity, where followers feel safe enough to contribute ideas and share
concerns that have value and can help resolve situations.
In the survey, respondents cite these common
"allergic reactions" to feedback among leaders:
·
Getting defensive when receiving feedback.
·
Soliciting "bogus feedback."
·
Not asking questions when receiving feedback
(a sort of emotional "shutdown" stemming from an ego position).
·
Reacting to feedback by reverting to
expertise and knowledge -- giving answers to every question and issue.
For leaders who do give feedback to
employees, these are common leader habits cited as being unproductive:
·
Providing feedback that isn't actionable or
doesn't help followers develop.
·
Assuming the absence of feedback means
everything is OK. A sort of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"
mentality.
·
Thinking they know what followers want/need
without asking them. Usually, this involves a lot of projection.
8. Not sharing leadership.
The concept of
sharing leadership and empowering your tribe to make their own decisions is not
new, but it's gaining momentum thanks to books like Turn the Ship Around, by David Marquet.
It makes sense for leaders to set the stage
for teams to operate this way because, on the frontlines, workers have more
knowledge of the subject matter than leaders do. As one respondent puts it:
"Leaders fail to tap into frontline
intelligence. Involve those who will be affected by the implementation by
enlisting their energy and insights, or be left with people asking 'What were
they thinking when they rolled this out.'"
Closing thoughts.
In the end, we don't need to demonize the
leaders who are the subject of many of these responses; they are humans too,
and not out to deliberately destroy the lives of their followers. They should
be treated with grace, and also empowered to succeed with the proper
development.
BY MARCEL SCHWANTES
http://www.inc.com/marcel-schwantes/8-mistakes-managers-make-according-to-their-employees.html?cid=em01014week34a
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