A fantastic one-liner about leadership from Warren Buffett: “Only when the tide goes out do you discover who is swimming naked.” In times of adversity (when the tide goes out), the true character of a leader is exposed.
Though there is no perfect formula for becoming the perfect leader, there are definitely practices you should avoid. The most successful leaders strive to develop a positive management style while avoiding negative leadership characteristics.
There are many lists out there in the web whirlpool of assumptions but here are few things to avoid and few things to do, a long list compiled from decades of working with startups and growth company entrepreneurs.
Leadership is a journey, embrace the journey and make it a point to apply the tips outlined here to your professional life.
Start With The “Five C’s”.
Calm, Candor, Communication, Concern, and Courage.
Stay calm, never forget how many others take cues from you. Be candid but provide reality and hope. Over-communicate, because in the absence of communication your partners and employees will fill in the blanks with worst-case assumptions. Take the time to thank the firefighters fighting on the front lines. Be brave in times of crisis.
Inflated Ego And Lack Of Humility. Vanity And Arrogance.
Weak leaders use their position of power to inflate their ego and bolster their self-esteem. They are quick to point out other people’s shortcomings but are unable to recognize their own flaws.
Effective leaders solicit input from employees of different ranks. They go the extra mile to make others feel appreciated and recognized for their work. But most importantly, humble leaders are successful because they have an accurate perception of their strengths and weaknesses.
Ego can be considered as the identification of the ‘I’ with an idea; ‘I am successful’, for example. The nature of our egos is determined by the particular ideas we identify with and the strength of the identification.
The energy invested in the egos of some leaders can be very much more intense than the general population. When that is the case, the individual can exhibit very low levels of empathy and compassion accompanied by more extreme displays of arrogance and vanity.
When your identity is invested in knowing what you are talking about – being successful, being the expert and being right – any challenge generates an existential crisis. Your very being is threatened, triggering the fight response characteristic of some leaders.
A humble leader gets the best out of organizations.
Humanity.
A sense of humility is vital to great leadership because it authenticates a person’s humanity. We are all human, and therefore, all flawed and vulnerable in our own unique ways. Great leaders have a depth of understanding, garnered from their experience, as to where their inherent strengths and weakness lie. This type of self-awareness is paramount to the development of humility. When leaders come off as perfect, people aren’t nearly as drawn to follow them because they feel they could never be authentic, vulnerable or accepted by someone of such high status. Being self-revealing is what brings people into connection. It is what makes people feel safe and accepted, and it is the part of each person that is open to guidance, coaching and self-improvement.
Balanced Authority.
We are the most repulsed by loud, egotistical authority figures who lead from narrow mindedness, my-way-or-the-highway fear tactics, shame, threats and intimidation to get the results they want. Rank certainly brings status and power, but humble leaders do not use their rank as a platform to abuse. They use their position to encourage others, and to delegate authority and responsibility to those capable of doing the work. When humility is present, leaders act more like a “player’s coach.” Their position of authority is used to establish order and discipline between team members. These leaders are on the front lines helping their team to know, understand and pursue their individual and collective goals.
Be Visible Up The Chain And On The Front Line.
Your leaders want to know how things are progressing. Pull on that chain of command to help–chains exist to provide added strength in times of need. That’s why it’s not called a “thread of command”.
Grateful.
We live in an overly entitled narcissistic world today with many leaders falling short of possessing the powerful character trait of humility. The most impactful way to lead others is to be mindful of inclusion, and in the dropping of prejudices. Those who lead with humility welcome differences. They value what each person brings to the table, and are thankful for the diversity each person adds to the team. They are grateful for all the resources provided to them, and the opportunities they have with their team to compete with the best of the best. When it comes to accomplishments, humble leaders are always more grateful than prideful.
Integrity.
Leaders who operate from humility did not build their reputation on a set of false, loud, flashy pretenses. They do not seduce others with fancy words not backed by subsequent action. These are leaders are people others can depend upon. They do what they say, and say what they do. There is no falsity to their word. Their word is as strong as oak. Their Yes is a Yes and their No a No. They are community oriented and believe the best way to lead and bring people together is to do so with high levels of integrity; where each person is clear on their roles, duties and goals of the overall team.
Powerful.
Leaders who possess humility have developed this character trait through much success and much suffering. Through both trial and error, they have developed into resilient, intuitive, hard-working, and incredibly experienced people. They honor their knowledge and experience and do not fail to put themselves, or more importantly the ideas of their team, forward. Great leaders do not allow themselves or their team members to get overlooked. Being humble does not, in any way, equate to being a pushover. One can be kind and still be immensely effective and powerful.
Collaborative.
Success is better gained from a mindset of collaboration rather than competition. Collaborative leadership views team members from a place of equality, with each possessing their own set of skills. Each player is coached to best serve their specific purpose, role and assignment on the team. When there is too much emphasis on competition between team members it creates chaos, dishonesty, and a lack of fairness. An overvalued competitive mindset destroys cohesion because each team member feels insecure. When team members aren’t constantly vying for a position, they work much smarter, life becomes much freer, and succeeding more joyful.
Acknowledge Others.
We all need to feel a sense of our own significance from a genuinely respected source. Humble leaders focus on the strengths in their team members and acknowledge them with an unwavering belief. The more a leader acknowledges the strengths of their team members, the more motivated team members will be to succeed. Criticizing and cutting people down to drive success may show short-term results, but will later prove to produce high levels of burnout and employee turnover. Leaders who operate from humility would never consider bullying their team members to produce fear-driven successes. When people feel acknowledged they feel successful. Further, humble leaders understand the importance of acknowledging when something didn’t work. They coach their team members individually and collectively on what went wrong, they develop new strategies, and send their team back into the field to try again. If the team went wrong, humble leaders know they were a part of that equation. Humility breeds humility.
Lack Of Vision.
Dysfunctional leaders lack vision. They are unfocused and uninspired, and will fail to grow and progress in their leadership skills.
Vision is absolutely critical to a strong leader, and no leader is successful without it. Vision helps a leader set expectations and goals for the organization, and holds team members accountable for reaching those targets. Successful leaders help define their organization’s unique mission and move their business forward by finding ways to create greater value. As a leader, make sure you understand your organization’s strategies and goals.
Get Clear On Reality.
Slow down and simplify the situation. Cut through confusion and don’t underreact or overreact. Your team will step up if they know exactly what the State of the Union is. Too many leaders jump from action to action just for the sake of doing something–often losing sight of what’s really happening/what’s really needed.
Reactive Instead Of Proactive.
Reactive leaders don’t plan ahead or anticipate problems. Their lack of forward thinking causes them to miss valuable opportunities. They react to situations as they occur, so they aren’t prepared to handle crises; nor do they embrace favorable circumstances to help them advance or progress.
Ultra-successful leaders know where they want to go, and they design their lives and their businesses to get them there. They prioritize what’s important and say no to things that don’t support their overarching goals.
Disregard Advice And Mentorship.
Poor leaders rarely seek the advice of colleagues or see the value in mentorship — either finding a mentor for themselves or being a mentor to others. They believe they have the answers and they don’t care to share their knowledge.
Smart leaders understand the importance of building a support system. Mentorship and seeking peer advice will help strong leaders gain insight into best practices and deal with day-to-day challenges and stresses. Successful leaders understand the importance of having multiple mentors to rely on, so they can gather differing points of view.
Think They Know It All.
There is nothing worse than working for a boss who believes they know it all, and thinks everyone under them is there to do their bidding. The most successful leaders never assume they know more than the people they lead. They don’t claim to be experts in everything. Instead, they leverage the skills and knowledge of their workers
They encourage their employees to contribute ideas. The best leaders know they must engage their employees and find ways for them to meaningfully contribute. They know that a team’s combined expertise and insight far outweighs any individual’s know-how.
Foster a Talent for Listening.
Like we said just now, knowing when you don’t have the answers is vitally important if you want to maintain credibility as a leader and you want your objectives to stay on track. Maintain a literal and figurative open-door policy so your team members know they can bend your ear anytime they want to, to share ideas or just check in on a personal level.
Underestimate The Importance Of Communication.
Many leaders fail to inspire their colleagues. This is largely because they lack good communication skills. They don’t effectively convey important messages. Or, worse, they say one thing in a meeting and something else in a company-wide email. The result is confusion and turmoil.
Teams won’t cohere if no one is on the same page. Great leaders are good communicators because they’re genuine when they correspond and connect with others. Successful leaders say what they mean and mean what they say. They take time to communicate clearly.
Underestimate The Importance Of Emotional Intelligence.
Many weak leaders lack emotional intelligence. They fail to see the damage they do when they fly off the handle and let their emotions get the best of them.
Successful leaders have learned to control their emotions and remain calm during a crisis. They pay attention to employee morale and their staff’s mood. They know how to give praise, and encourage others when faced with a setback. They recognize the importance of creating a positive atmosphere where employees are motivated. Emotional intelligence works hand in hand with communication to help successful leaders find ways to resolve conflict.
Promote Others.
Those who lead from humility understand the best way to prepare their team for success is to encourage, support and promote their team to believe in their own potential for success. Exceptional leaders are groomers of skill and talent, but more importantly they promote the value of hard work. The harder someone works, the more compelling it is for a leader to promote that person beyond their current level of success. Humble leaders will even promote those they’ve helped groom into higher positions than their own. Promoting others is done to better the person, and to enhance the overall effectiveness of the collective organization. Because they lead from humility they have a natural understanding of the bigger picture; the more successful the enterprise the greater its leadership.
Drive Out Fear.
Job number one is to steer the ship back on course. There will be time to constructively learn from who did/didn’t do what. And remember you and your team really are all in it together. Our mortal enemy is ignorance of the fact that the enemy is external.
Follow these rules and the only thing that will be exposed the next time the tide goes out will be your leadership talent.
Uninterested In Listening To Others.
One major cause of negative emotions from employees is feeling that they aren’t being heard or that their opinions or ideas aren’t being considered. This happens when poor leaders don’t engage in active listening. They fail to follow up on concerns or follow through on promises they made. The result is a loss of employee confidence, trust and loyalty.
Successful leaders know how to listen with empathy. They’re always willing to answer questions, clarify issues and respond to concerns.
Neglecting To Delegate Challenging Assignments.
Inexperienced leaders commonly take control of projects that they feel are too complex for their team to manage. While understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the people on your team is important, it is also important to give your employees an opportunity to grow by assigning them projects outside of their comfort zone.
Assign these projects with the full knowledge that you’ll need to carefully manage the project at every step of the way. And don’t hesitate to share feedback with the project leaders to ensure they learn from mistakes.
Micromanage And Never Allow Others To Shine.
Poor leaders are often micro-managers, never fully trusting their employees to do their jobs without constant oversight. They don’t understand the strengths and skills of their team members, and they don’t allow employees to grow.
Good leaders take the time to assess the abilities and skills of each team member. They involve their staff in goal setting and creating clear objectives so each person understands his or her role in the team’s ultimate success.
Fail To Give Useful Feedback.
Poor leaders tend to be stingy when giving accolades and positive feedback to others. They haven’t learned the fine art of giving constructive criticism in a way that acknowledges employees’ strengths while helping them improve weak areas.
Successful leaders know that everyone craves praise and recognition, and they take the time to generate useful and effective feedback. When done well and in a helpful manner, feedback can transform an average employee into a high-performing, exceptional worker.
Treat People Like Machines.
Power-hungry leaders treat employees as though they are cogs in the machine; as though their only use is to provide profit for those at the top.
The most successful leaders focus on empowering their employees. They understand the benefits of servant leadership, in which those at the top focus on helping employees do their jobs to the best of their ability. These leaders seek collaboration and participation by the whole group. Servant leaders affirm their team’s strengths and potential, which leads to high performance and overall success.
Expect Perfectionism In Themselves Or Others.
A bad leader believes that expecting perfectionism is a winning strategy for excellence. Successful leaders know that expecting a flawless performance every time can kill teamwork by holding employees to impossibly high standards.
Good leaders hold workers to high standards, but they recognize that problems are inevitable. They expect employees to keep learning and growing, and follow a simple work formula — launch, tweak and improve. They know a product isn’t going to be foolproof on the first try, and that improvements are an ongoing part of business. Successful leaders stay connected and listen to their customers and team members. They work through mistakes and setbacks.
Delegate And Use Other People’s Talents.
If you’ve surrounded yourself with people who can help you address your skill set blind spots, and who might have a different perspective than your own, it’s time you learned how to put them to work. You know your team’s strengths and weaknesses, and you know how to match people’s passions with the work that needs to be done. Talent is a strategic asset just like any other — so work with your team to make sure they’re finding lots of creative ways to put their own talents to work in pursuit of a shared goal.
Know When to Share Your Experience.
There are going to be times when leadership frustrates you because you won’t have the answers. And that’s sort of the way it’s supposed to work. But there are also certainly going to be moments you’ll identify as teaching opportunities. Use these sparingly so you don’t give the impression of being a micro-manager, but definitely spot them when they arrive and give tasteful constructive criticism when you see things might be going off-track.
Avoid Conflict.
Many leaders find it tempting to veer away from awkward and uncomfortable confrontation. Whether they mean to or not, their attitude minimizes the urgency of correcting mistakes.
Successful leaders accept that conflict is unavoidable and must be dealt with to keep it from festering. When performance or personality issues go unaddressed, they will only intensify over time. Successful leaders tackle problems head on. They know it’s best to address them quickly, when the situation is fresh.
Create A Unity Of Effort.
Set a big, bright goal that everyone can rally around to see you through the adversity. Assemble a small, nimble coalition of experts for broad problem-solving input but quick action. Roll up your sleeves and flow to the work. With a North Star goal in place, put a detailed plan in place, line up the resources needed, and stay flexible as things are likely to change.
Know How To Sub-divide Large Goals Into Smaller Ones.
There are lots of philosophies concerning how to divide tasks among a team and what’s the best way to track multiple tasks and goals. You can even use an app to do it or read a book about the psychology behind it. Call it Scrum or Kanban. Or maybe just use a whiteboard to break down everything your team is working on. The point is, using some kind of visual tool is a great way to get a clearer idea of what’s coming up next, avoid miscommunication and rework, and ultimately stay more organized as a team.
Settling For B or C Players To Fill An Open Position Quickly.
It’s a sentence that’s the unrelenting key to Amazon’s success, according to Bezos: “Setting the bar high in our approach to hiring has been, and will continue to be, the single most important element of Amazon.com’s success.”
Hiring is one of the most important responsibilities of any business leader. Finding smart people and helping them to communicate with one another to solve tough problems is what separates a business leader from a talented individual contributor.
Therefore, one of the gravest mistakes a young leader can make is settling for less-talented candidates in order to fill a position on time. Never make the mistake of settling for talent simply to hit a hiring deadline. Instead, work with your HR team or third-party recruiters to acquire only the cream of the crop.
In the long run, waiting a few weeks or months to find the right person will make it easier for you to succeed, and will help your organization to meet seemingly insurmountable challenges.
Failing To View Training As An Ongoing Responsibility.
It’s tempting to view employee training as a two- or three-week period during which you bring new hires up to speed as quickly as possible. But in truth, the first few weeks of training simply review the basic information that an employee will need to know to be successful.
Employee training must be an ongoing process through which you provide candid feedback to people on your team and give employees new opportunities to develop themselves professionally.
Yes, initial employee training is an important part of making your organization successful. But training cannot end there. Instead, take a page out of AT&T’s book. The organization continuously trains employees to ensure they have the skills the company needs to succeed in an ever-changing world.
Not Planning For Employee Development And Compensation.
A recent study conducted by Glassdoor found that among employees who said they are thinking of leaving their current job, 45 percent (a plurality) cited salary as the single biggest motivating factor for leaving their current company. A different study found that roughly 75 percent of all employees leave their organization when changing roles. Presumably these are instances in which an employee leaves for a more senior position.
Hiring great professionals is only effective if you are able to retain them. To ensure that employees feel valued and continuously motivated, create an employee development and compensation plan. While you don’t need to necessarily share this information with employees directly, it is smart to preplan in this area.
Know What Other People’s Talents Are Worth.
Finally, we come to the question of retention. When you, and the company you represent, look into the future, you likely envision growth, new hires, new products, and an ever-larger share of your market. You’re going to need a lot of talented folks to bring these visions to life. If you want people you can count on for the long haul, and you want to remain competitive in the way you attract industry-best talent, take another look at your rates, your compensation plans and your other benefits. Even if it’s just a more flexible approach to scheduling, take care of your people and they’ll take care of you.
Underestimating The importance Of Centralized?Coordinated Project Management.
Your job as a business leader is to bring smart people together to solve hard problems. Rather than being an individual contributor, your biggest responsibility is facilitation. By making it easier for your team to work together, you’ll increase the odds that your people will arrive at innovative solutions.
To aid cross-team communication and better understand what your people are working on, insist your team use a centralized workflow to manage projects. However, recognize that no single tool can solve team communication, though project-management tools like Trello, Asana and Jira can help.
What matters most is that you put a system in place that enables your people to keep their projects transparently updated. Doing so will aid team communication.
Obsession With Outcomes.
Outcomes are the last link in the chain of cause and effect. The focus of leadership needs to be at the causal end of that chain. Let’s consider an analogy:
To grow a pumpkin you need four elements – earth, air, fire (warmth) and water – and a seed. During its development, your attention is not on the pumpkin, it’s on the four elements that make growth possible – the environment.
Just like the pumpkin, you have absolutely no idea exactly how a business enterprise will turn out in terms of its form, size and impact. These are not predictable. The only thing you can control are the parameters of its environment.
So when leaders fixate on outcomes such as share price and profit, they do so to the detriment of the causal factors that will determine the quality of those outcomes.
The Machine Metaphor.
Many leaders instinctively think of their organizations as a ‘well-oiled machine’. According to Warwick University’s Centre for LifeLong Learning it is ‘By far the most common metaphor used to think about organizations…’
Yet both the environment in which organizations operate (the economy) and the fundamental building blocks of organizations (people) are VUCA: volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. The notion, common to many organizations, that even a highly developed and sophisticated algorithmic machine can thrive, when everything in and around it is the antithesis of order and predictability, is clearly absurd.
Leaders need to nurture a non-linear, non-deterministic dimension to their organizations that can respond to the realities of the complex systems that are intrinsic and extrinsic to them.
Meaningless Achievement.
Achievement, however grand, doesn’t always bring the fulfillment that we expect from it. Olympian Victoria Pendleton says: ‘People think it’s hard when you lose, but it’s almost easier to come second because you have something to aim for when you finish. When you win, you suddenly feel lost.’
At work we associate activity with success – the more we do, the more we achieve. Yet some businesses are discovering that by banning emails or restricting meetings, less means more.
The myth that the more time we spend working, the more we get done, still dominates organizational culture. But when we consider just how abundant the workplace is – just how much we will never get to finish, drawing the line between work and rest becomes critical.
When we strike the right work/rest balance, the activity we take on becomes intrinsically more measured, more meaningful and more fulfilling. It also leads to better mental and physical health.
The Australian National University is unequivocal that working anything over 39 hours a week is a risk to wellbeing.
A Deficiency of Self-Awareness.
Toegel and Barsoux, in How To Become a Better Leader suggest self-awareness is the key. Yet they miss a huge trick in limiting the concept to identifying personal idiosyncrasies.
Self-awareness needs to encompass so much more, bringing the leader to the point of being aware, and present to, their inner dynamics – the beliefs, mindsets, attitudes, feelings and emotions – that are conditioning their response to the world from moment to moment. Only then can they make intelligent responses rather than suffer conditioned reactions.
How can you pretend to lead others without understanding them first, and, by implication, yourself?
One of the most effective ways of developing self-awareness, endorsed by leaders such as Bill George, Jack Dorsey, Ray Dalio and Bob Shapiro, is meditation, which need have no religious or spiritual context and is effective with as little as 10 minutes daily.
Hold On To Anger Or Resentment.
Leaders who harbor resentment create an oppressive work atmosphere where workers are afraid to take risks or speak candidly for fear of aggravating the boss. Successful leaders can tolerate mistakes and see blunders as learning opportunities.
They hear out dissenting points of view and listen to criticism without blowing up or becoming offended. Great leaders certainly feel disappointed when others let them down, but they understand that reconciliation and forgiveness are crucial to long-term success.
Lie, Cheat And Gossip.
A negligent manager can create a toxic environment where nasty habits like lying, cheating or gossiping can thrive. Strong leaders understand that integrity is foundational to success. They conduct themselves in a respectable and honest manner, recognizing that they serve as role models for their staff.
This includes not engaging in gossip. Its one thing to hear out people’s concerns, but a good leader draws the line when someone begins to badmouth another person without justification or proof.
Neglecting Your Own Personal Development.
As a young leader it can be difficult to find time to invest in your own personal and professional development. But doing so will make you a better leader and will help you to advance your career. Find time to learn new skills, whether they are soft skills like negotiation and manager presence, or hard skills like learning about data science.
Set clear development goals for yourself, and share them with your manager. If your manager is good, he or she will be glad to hear you’re motivated to continue to grow, and should work with you to create a development plan.
Good Sport.
Business is a game of we win some and we lose some. Great leaders reframe losing to learning. There is no such a thing as a total loss. When being lead from humility, team members know that losing one battle is not indicative of losing the war. It is through great loss and sometimes even great tragedy that teams and businesses have the greatest opportunities to improve, grow and thrive. When it comes to winning and succeeding, humble leaders welcome each victory with a sense of grace and dignity and encourage their team members to do the same.
In summary, even though the above list is long, leadership falls into crisis because of 5 simple mistakes too many of our leaders make:
- They focus on outcomes instead of causes
- They believe organizations to be machines
- They fail to see beyond their egos
- They lack self-awareness
- They venerate activity