At Least 3 Reasons We’re Still Raving About Lousy Leaders
Filed under: Leadership, Management Innovation, Performance, Surviving Lousy Leaders, Values
Note from Art: As I approach my 500th post here at Management Excellence in the next few weeks (that’s in the neighborhood of half-a-million words on management and leadership) my writing mood is shifting to one of, “let’s get this leadership thing right people.” The blueprint for effective leadership is not carefully guarded like the secret formula to Coca Cola. It’s on display for all of us to see and to apply. Why then are there so many exceptions? Read on for my wildly speculative and hopefully provocative thoughts.
Spend any amount of time reading or engaging with the many remarkable individuals that write, speak, teach and coach leaders, and you’re to be excused if you quickly conclude that we’re all in violent agreement with each other.
The principles behind what a reasonable person would agree represents effective leadership are practically universal truths that support an unarguable argument.
I’ll wager a month’s worth of coffee that if you asked everyone that you know to generate a list on what makes an effective leader, the output would be nearly identical. While preferences in styles might vary, (and there would certainly be differences across cultures,) core attributes and behaviors generally remain constant. The only differences will likely be due to memory lapses such as, “Oh, I forgot that one, but you’re right,” versus true differences of opinion.
So if this construct of an effective leader is so readily apparent, why is there a nearly endless supply of disgruntled workers capable of describing lousy leader horror stories to anyone that will listen? Importantly, why doesn’t this intuitive and common understanding of what an effective leader acts like manifest itself with more frequency in our workplaces?
3 Reasons Why We’re Still Raving About Lousy Leaders:
1. As humans and workers, perhaps we’re happy being miserable. While I would be saddened to adopt this viewpoint, it’s easy to see that “the boss” gives us something to work for and rail against and his/her actions and utterances serve as a source of bonding with peers.
Is it possible that we could work for someone with the presence of Washington or the authenticity of Lincoln or Gandhi and be unhappy? You bet! OK, that’s a bit sad, but there’s at least a kernel of truth in there somewhere.
Possible conclusion: we need to accept our own propensity to enjoy our misery. While it’s not as bad as being chased down by a sabre tooth tiger or consumed by the last remaining group of cannibals on the planet, the boss being a jerk gives us something to occupy our minds and mouths.
2. Humans are inherently preoccupied with their own survival and leading effectively requires one to sublimate that core drive. Hmmmm. Some good psychobabble here, but it’s worth thinking about. Good campfire fodder when the talk on “are we alone in the universe” runs out.
Possible conclusion: We’re screwed and all of this noble talk is wasting time that could be better spent lamenting our plight and beefing about the boss.
3. Perhaps the predominant management system in use in most of society is horribly flawed in terms of values, motivations, expectations and enabling structures. OK, I’m warming to this more than the “evil” or “predominantly miserable” theories expressed earlier.
Maybe, just maybe, we’ve not licked this management thing yet. Deming did us a great service in crying B.S. on the Deadly Diseases that he viewed in most organizations. And while his 1980’s view to the purity of the models adopted by Japanese companies may be a bit naïve, listen to the Great Doctor describe these 5 and tell me if they’re fixed in your organization yet. At least a cup of coffee that the real answer is no.
Possible conclusion: Fix the flipping management system. It’s time to move beyond the practices of the industrial revolution and build success, effective leadership and enabling systems into our approach. Oh yeah, and that values part is the foundation to build upon!
The Bottom-Line for Now:
I’ll opt for the fact that it’s time to move management forward and build the new systems around the emerging realities. If innovation, creativity, speed, ability to execute and adaptability are all table-stakes attributes of the new winning organization, then it’s time to move management forward and create systems that breed leaders at all levels and for all types of situations. Note to top leaders: ignore the need to breed and build people that will help you navigate this strange, fast and foreign new world at your own peril. It starts with you at the top creating the right foundation. And hint: the foundation is built upon meaningful, actionable values.
Your thoughts?
What Leadership List Are You On?
At the beginning of my leadership workshops, one of the ice-breaking activities is to have the participants think about and jot down the characteristics and behaviors of great and lousy leaders that they’ve experienced in their careers.
It’s always fun to watch the small groups attack this task with relish. Some groups immediately move towards the “lousy” leaders column and literally burn through the ink in their markers. Others gravitate towards the “great” leaders column and often lose track of the assignment as they start describing to their group members why so and so was such a great leader.
One element of this exercise that is very predictable is the listing of the items that make it into each column. In class after class and by now with several hundred data points, the words and behaviors are consistently the same.
The Lousy Leaders:
- Don’t pay attention
- Actions don’t match words
- Self-serving agenda-all about them
- No coaching or feedback/focuses on weaknesses
- No developmental support
- Disrespectful
- Micromanages
- CYA style of leading
- Not approachable
- Won’t make a decision
- Supported my professional development
- Treated me with respect at ll times
- Honest
- Gave me feedback/coaching
- Makes decisions in a timely manner
- Pushed me out of my comfort zone
- Didn’t throw me under the bus when I made a mistake
- Acted as a mentor and teacher
- Easy to approach
- Gave me room to grow and learn
The Hubris of Leaders
It takes a strong reserve of self-confidence to be an effective leader. It’s also remarkably easy to get comfortable crossing the fine but dangerous line between self-confidence and arrogance. The best leaders are conscious of that boundary and walk along it but resist the lure to cross into this self-gratifying but credibility destroying country.
Being an effective leader requires the self-confidence to deal with constant ambiguity, to put faith in people and to recognize that success comes through others. Unfortunately, all too many leaders get the formula wrong. They begin to believe their own press clippings. They convince themselves that they are in a leadership role because they are better than others, and they begin to lead and manage according to that premise. When times are good, the positive results reinforce this behavior and feed the out-of-balance level of self- confidence of these individuals. When times are bad, the debts created by this leader’s hubris come due, and like many of our struggling financial institutions, they do not have the currency (=credibility) to make the payments. They default on their role as leaders.
Suddenly it appears that times are challenging. That’s OK. Great things and great people emerge from difficult times. In particular, challenging circumstances are proving grounds for leaders of all ages and all levels, and those that emerge will be those that understand the difference between self-confidence and arrogance.
The effective crisis leader exudes confidence, not based on a false view that all will be alright, but based on a genuine belief in the ability of smart people to work together to solve any problem. Imagine Winston Churchill at the peak of the Blitz when enemy bombs were dropping all around London, and he had to summon the will to believe that the British people would persevere to survive and win. His self-confidence fed the nation for a time, and the actions of his countrymen under his leadership won the day.
If you are a leader facing tough times, check your hubris at the door and remember your job as a leader is to get things done by appealing to the hearts and minds of others.
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