Leadership Derailers
Three keep leaders up at night.
Beyond the Idea
How to execute innovation
Negative Feedback
Don’t sugarcoat it when giving it.
Home-Grown Leaders
They build sustainable companies
Leadership Derailers
Three keep leaders up at night.
Beyond the Idea
How to execute innovation
Negative Feedback
Don’t sugarcoat it when giving it.
Home-Grown Leaders
They build sustainable companies
Bradley was failing, and failing badly. Not only did the members of his team avoid him, they had begun taping a target to his back every day—and everyone signed up for archery lessons. Bradley’s leadership style just wasn’t working.
Every person struggles with certain issues: Do I do what is right for me or right for us? Live for the moment or save for the future? Take a risk or play it safe? Show up as a strong individual contributor or a solid team player? Express what I truly believe or fit in with group norms?
Consider the similarities and subtle differences between politics and leadership. Politics is about power and any social situation, and any relationship becomes political the moment power is introduced.
Roger, a good friend and an ethical individual, was at a business conference last week with a co-worker, Sam, who decided to take a few of his subordinates out for an evening of entertainment not sanctioned by the company. The next day, Roger noticed that Sam was submitting the receipts for his prior night’s activities—and noticed that Sam’s description on the receipts was inaccurate. Sam flat-out lied on his expense report.
To become an effective leader, you need to understand what makes leaders behave badly. When we understand bad leadership, we learn how to be good leaders.
Effective leadership has undeniable business value. In one study, Jack Zenger and colleagues showed that “extraordinary leaders” actually double profits. They examined the best (top 10%) and worst (bottom 10%) leaders at a large commercial bank. On average, the worst leaders’ departments experienced net losses of $1.2 million, while the best leaders boasted profits of $4.5 million. Now, that’s bankable leadership!
Most HR and line leaders dislike their performance management process (PMP) and are convinced that a better solution exists. They say things like “throw out the performance review” or “only focus on development” or “eliminate ratings.” Often their search for new alternatives is an attempt to dodge the tough realities of making PM successful.
Maybe you recognize this situation: You’ve worked hard with your team, and you feel like a winner—until you see a team from the competition seemingly effortlessly surpass your numbers. Suddenly you are the best of the worst. You’re still winning at your own game, but someone has done something better, and jumps to the top of the league. What’s going on here? Escaping from being the best of the worst and becoming the best you can be has to do with leadership based on trust and cooperation.
Often I hear the lament, Loyalty is dead—and it is usually aimed at younger professionals who seem to hop from job to job almost annually. There’s truth to the perception that workers don’t like to stay put anymore, but the finger can also be pointed at their employers who don’t give them enough cause to stay.
You need a hierarchy to get things done efficiently. But hierarchies don’t always produce optimal solutions to complex and challenging problems. To be both efficient and effective, sometimes you need to flatten a hierarchy for a short time. You need to speak freely across and around prescribed channels, not through them.