Leadership Mistakes

Leadership. It's an accidental career.

And like every profession, the highest performers emerge to positions of leadership. Yet, too many leaders are leaving their leadership to chance. They have not sought out the skills to lead intentionally and confidently. Some show up with a “This is who I am; if you don't like it, too bad” approach. Many are too busy with their own stuff to help others. Most have not figured out that this assignment is not about them. It is about the people they are in a position to serve. And, because they just don't realize this, well, they make mistakes.

Why does this matter? If you're a leader, why even care? Let's take a look at a few recent statistics: 1) 23% of new hires leave their jobs within the first year (Allied Workforce Mobility Survey, 2012); 2) 65% of U.S. workers say they'd rather have a better boss than better pay (McQuaid Bosses Survey, 2012); 3) Out of more than 32,000 workers surveyed, only 35% are highly engaged (Towers Watson Global Workforce Study, 2012); and 4) Employees who know their managers as “people” are more likely to be engaged (BlessingWhite Employee Engagement Report, 2013).

Also important to keep in mind is that emerging professionals have higher expectations of their leaders and of their organizations than prior generations. Here is just a partial list of what they're looking for: to be valued, to do meaningful work, to have structure, to have opportunities for growth, to have clear expectations, to have feedback, (both when they're on track and when they're not), and to have flexibility. In short, employees today are looking for intentional leaders ' leaders who are doing the right things.

Six Common Mistakes Leaders Make

The purpose of this article is to heighten your awareness. This does not include a “how-to-fix-it” guide. As you read the information below, you may want to hone in on one mistake you would like to think about. Let's get started!

1. Avoidance of Key Issues

The number-one response to unmet expectations is avoidance. Whether we're talking about a performance issue or conduct issue, leaders are often not equipped with the tools to address difficult issues. Often, their strategy is to hope the issues will just go away. Usually, they don't.

2. Too Much Negative Feedback

This mistake is kind of like a default button. Human beings have an innate tendency to look for what is wrong. Many leaders have said to us, “I guess I just always saw this as my job. I thought this is what I was supposed to be doing.” And employees repeatedly say, “the only time I hear from my boss is when I do something wrong.”

3. Not Enough Positive Feedback

Imagine that every person has a flashing sign on his or her forehead, in bright, neon colors. It's flashing, “MMFI.” What is this? This stands for “Make Me Feel Important.” It is a fundamental need that people have. Positive feedback has a powerful impact. Studies show that “what gets rewarded gets repeated.” In fact, 82% of American workers report that getting recognized for their efforts at work motivates them on the job (Globoforce Workforce Mood Tracker, 2013).

4. Disrespectful Treatment

This is one of the most common and debilitating mistakes we see leaders make! And over and over again, this mistake has significant impact on employee engagement, morale and productivity! We share with leaders that every day when they go to work, they have an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of people they work with and they get to choose if the difference they make is positive or negative. Unfortunately, we see mistreatment of employees all the time, and the disrespect often comes in the form of public humiliation, profanity, name-calling, yelling, misuse of power, and so on.

Let us just summarize this mistake by sharing a great phrase in Daniel Goleman's book, Emotional Intelligence. He says, “Out of control emotions make smart people stupid!” Don't allow yourself to make this mistake.

5. Leaders Not Leading

The vast majority of leaders we work with are referred to as “working managers.” That is, they have tasks to complete, results to produce and people to lead. What we find is that often, leaders get so consumed by their own assignments that the “leadership of people” gets pushed to the wayside when, in fact, the very thing leaders are getting paid to do is grow and develop others to be as effective and high-producing as possible. This illustrates the difference between self-centered leaders and those who are not. Our experience shows that the leadership component of your job has to be a planned part of what you do.

The message of this mistake is, don't get so consumed by your own “to do” list that you do not give attention to the leadership of others that they so deserve. Schedule leadership.

6. Lack of Humility

When we say humility, we mean valuing others beyond yourself.

After more than 20 years of feedback collection, observation and work with leaders and employees, we see over and over the power of humility in the best leaders. Even Jack Welch, whose leadership has been very controversial over the years, spoke about his career mistakes in his book, Winning! For the first time, many readers saw him as human, real and honest.

Conclusion

We recently had a leader say, “I admit my mistakes and shortcomings to my people because I want them to trust me.” As you rate yourself on this mistake, be humble and recognize the value of humility in your leadership and relationships.

Six mistakes to choose from: How are you doing?

---

Aleta Norris is Partner and Co-founder of Living as a Leader. She may be reached at 414-708-1472 and [email protected].

Leadership. It's an accidental career.

And like every profession, the highest performers emerge to positions of leadership. Yet, too many leaders are leaving their leadership to chance. They have not sought out the skills to lead intentionally and confidently. Some show up with a “This is who I am; if you don't like it, too bad” approach. Many are too busy with their own stuff to help others. Most have not figured out that this assignment is not about them. It is about the people they are in a position to serve. And, because they just don't realize this, well, they make mistakes.

Why does this matter? If you're a leader, why even care? Let's take a look at a few recent statistics: 1) 23% of new hires leave their jobs within the first year (Allied Workforce Mobility Survey, 2012); 2) 65% of U.S. workers say they'd rather have a better boss than better pay (McQuaid Bosses Survey, 2012); 3) Out of more than 32,000 workers surveyed, only 35% are highly engaged (Towers Watson Global Workforce Study, 2012); and 4) Employees who know their managers as “people” are more likely to be engaged (BlessingWhite Employee Engagement Report, 2013).

Also important to keep in mind is that emerging professionals have higher expectations of their leaders and of their organizations than prior generations. Here is just a partial list of what they're looking for: to be valued, to do meaningful work, to have structure, to have opportunities for growth, to have clear expectations, to have feedback, (both when they're on track and when they're not), and to have flexibility. In short, employees today are looking for intentional leaders ' leaders who are doing the right things.

Six Common Mistakes Leaders Make

The purpose of this article is to heighten your awareness. This does not include a “how-to-fix-it” guide. As you read the information below, you may want to hone in on one mistake you would like to think about. Let's get started!

1. Avoidance of Key Issues

The number-one response to unmet expectations is avoidance. Whether we're talking about a performance issue or conduct issue, leaders are often not equipped with the tools to address difficult issues. Often, their strategy is to hope the issues will just go away. Usually, they don't.

2. Too Much Negative Feedback

This mistake is kind of like a default button. Human beings have an innate tendency to look for what is wrong. Many leaders have said to us, “I guess I just always saw this as my job. I thought this is what I was supposed to be doing.” And employees repeatedly say, “the only time I hear from my boss is when I do something wrong.”

3. Not Enough Positive Feedback

Imagine that every person has a flashing sign on his or her forehead, in bright, neon colors. It's flashing, “MMFI.” What is this? This stands for “Make Me Feel Important.” It is a fundamental need that people have. Positive feedback has a powerful impact. Studies show that “what gets rewarded gets repeated.” In fact, 82% of American workers report that getting recognized for their efforts at work motivates them on the job (Globoforce Workforce Mood Tracker, 2013).

4. Disrespectful Treatment

This is one of the most common and debilitating mistakes we see leaders make! And over and over again, this mistake has significant impact on employee engagement, morale and productivity! We share with leaders that every day when they go to work, they have an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of people they work with and they get to choose if the difference they make is positive or negative. Unfortunately, we see mistreatment of employees all the time, and the disrespect often comes in the form of public humiliation, profanity, name-calling, yelling, misuse of power, and so on.

Let us just summarize this mistake by sharing a great phrase in Daniel Goleman's book, Emotional Intelligence. He says, “Out of control emotions make smart people stupid!” Don't allow yourself to make this mistake.

5. Leaders Not Leading

The vast majority of leaders we work with are referred to as “working managers.” That is, they have tasks to complete, results to produce and people to lead. What we find is that often, leaders get so consumed by their own assignments that the “leadership of people” gets pushed to the wayside when, in fact, the very thing leaders are getting paid to do is grow and develop others to be as effective and high-producing as possible. This illustrates the difference between self-centered leaders and those who are not. Our experience shows that the leadership component of your job has to be a planned part of what you do.

The message of this mistake is, don't get so consumed by your own “to do” list that you do not give attention to the leadership of others that they so deserve. Schedule leadership.

6. Lack of Humility

When we say humility, we mean valuing others beyond yourself.

After more than 20 years of feedback collection, observation and work with leaders and employees, we see over and over the power of humility in the best leaders. Even Jack Welch, whose leadership has been very controversial over the years, spoke about his career mistakes in his book, Winning! For the first time, many readers saw him as human, real and honest.

Conclusion

We recently had a leader say, “I admit my mistakes and shortcomings to my people because I want them to trust me.” As you rate yourself on this mistake, be humble and recognize the value of humility in your leadership and relationships.

Six mistakes to choose from: How are you doing?

---

Aleta Norris is Partner and Co-founder of Living as a Leader. She may be reached at 414-708-1472 and [email protected].