Lousy Leaders Archives

Effective Leadership: How Do You Know When You Are Getting It Right?

If you’ve spent time in a leadership role, you know that it is remarkably difficult to get good quality feedback on how you are doing and for that matter, how everyone else is doing under your leadership. If you haven’t wondered about this, you are either naïve or you are caught up in all of the nice things that people say in your presence. Newsflash: almost no one tells the boss he stinks, when he’s in the room. Some of the worst leaders that I’ve had the displeasure to cross paths with, plied their evil practices with glee, protected by the cheering throngs around them.

By Art Petty|2016-10-22T17:12:06-05:00July 10th, 2009|Leadership|5 Comments

Why Do Evil Leaders Flourish Inside Some Organizations?

It’s always been a mystery to me why so many arguably evil managers and leaders not only last but seem to thrive inside certain organizations. You know the type. Hey, maybe you are one. If so, chime in. I’ve never actually heard from an evil leader that was willing to talk openly about why he is the way he is. Evil leaders tend to fit one or more of these profiles...

By Art Petty|2016-10-22T17:12:08-05:00June 3rd, 2009|Leadership|22 Comments

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.

By Art Petty|2016-10-22T17:12:10-05:00May 5th, 2009|Career, Leadership|5 Comments

Your Customer Service Tells Me All I Need to Know About Your Management Quality

Of my many quirks, one that I actually enjoy is my unceasing study of customer service. I love to observe customer service interactions and I’ve made it a habit to try and figure out why the good ones are good and the bad ones so miserable. Here are a few thoughts and few light-hearted examples to for managers everywhere to learn from.

By Art Petty|2016-10-22T17:12:14-05:00February 3rd, 2009|Leadership, Leading Change, Marketing|3 Comments

A Rave Against Miserable Customer Service, Lousy Leaders and Protectionist Policies

One of my favorite, provocative business thinkers, Gary Hamel, says what we’ve all been thinking about in his Wall Street Journal blog post, “Too Many Industries Suffering from Detroititis.” Hamel appropriately skewers the U.S. Airlines as suffering from this malady of poor customer service and short-term thinking, all propped up by the government's artificial protectionist policies. I offer a few of my own thoughts on the "delightful" experience of flying U.S. carriers and what you can do in your organization to avoid the dreaded new disease, "Detroititis."

By Art Petty|2016-10-22T17:12:16-05:00January 14th, 2009|Leadership|0 Comments

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