What Becomes a Leader LEAST?

By Richard Russey

As readers of this blog know, I’m inclined towards the discussion of leadership in terms that are considered positive attributes of leadership. But, there is power in pointing out some of the mistakes leaders make either willfully or benignly. Over the years that I’ve been led, or that I’ve served as a leader in a variety of settings, including both the public and private sector and non-profit organizations, I’ve observed a number of ways that leaders may deal with situations – specifically related to how they lead their team – that are not productive, and in fact serve to undermine the team and destroy esprit de corps of the staff collective. At other times some of these negative traits may zero in on an individual staff member creating problems ranging from disillusionment to extreme negativity.

Perhaps a meaningful subtitle for this article would be “How NOT to be a Good Boss.” So, with that in mind, I present my list of leadership behaviors to avoid:

Catch-22 Situations
Joseph Heller brilliantly coined the phrase and examined the seemingly unending Catch-22 situations people serving in the military face. But, it is not just military leaders who subject their teams to these no-win situations of contradictory options. Leaders of all stripes may inadvertently set up Catch-22 predicaments that fence their team in with illogical rules and regulations. The way to avoid Catch-22 situations where staff members find themselves in difficult, and often embarrassing circumstances is to strive to be logically clear in communications, provide appropriate and meaningful support, and to place yourself as a leader in your team member’s shoes regularly (at least as an exercise of the mind) to examine whether you have set up impossible Catch-22 situations.

Cavalier Attitudes
It is difficult to fathom that any leader would be cavalier, yet perhaps all of us can name a few we know who would fit that description, at least part of the time. I contend that it is not an option for any leader to be inattentive to staff needs, unconcerned with the welfare of their organization’s mission and their team’s ability to help them fulfill that mission, or exhibit any degree unengaged behavior. To allow a cavalier attitude to develop within oneself as a leader is strikingly dangerous – creating havoc within the organization, or apathy, or both. There is no time to waste in our march towards fulfilling the important goals of our organizations or to allow for the wasteland that a cavalier attitude may precipitate.

Amorphous Guidance
Confusion is the rule of the day whenever there is a lack of precise and well-articulated outcomes and goals to set the stage for team activity. Whether at the start of each day, or when commencing a project, a good leader will strive to provide direction that is not vague or poorly conceived. Without the direct and specific guidance necessary for the professionals on your team to move forward and do the work they are highly capable of doing, they are left to forge their own way towards a goal that is either not articulated at all, or is so nonspecific as to be virtually absent. Many actions taken by a good leader can ameliorate confusion. A solid strategic plan (that has been developed with the input of the team) is a beginning. Regular team meetings to discuss short, mid, and long-term goals will help to keep the team on track, and will allow for an airing of questions and concerns as they arise. A feedback loop is essential too, so that a leader is not cut-off from important issues that may come up during the course of the team’s work.

Querulous Demeanor
The idea of leadership is to motivate a team to move in the same direction towards the successful accomplishment of a set of goals or mission. All too often leaders, being the human beings they are, allow a querulous demeanor to intrude on their otherwise effective leadership style. To be specific – avoid small and petty complaints about your team’s style, work habits, or personality traits. Unnecessary nit-picking will lead your team in exactly the wrong direction – away from you and your organization’s mission. Of course it is important to have standards in place for workplace behavior, dress, and allowable actions and customs. But, it is important to remember that people who work under you leadership are not robotic, and will have their own traits, quirks, and styles. To the degree that these attributes do not serve to block the flow of successful task completion and the realization of stated goals – do not let your personal preferences about the style, personality, and habits of your employees interfere with success. Remember that a team is a group of individuals, and some of the great strength of a team comes from the uniqueness brought by each participating member.

Narcissism
Being obsessed with promoting oneself as leader rather than giving ample credit to both the team as a whole and individual staff members for small and large successes may likely create a climate that engenders apathy, reticence, and lack of innovation. When a leader grabs credit for many or all the work performed by individual staff members, or the team as a whole, the result is usually a team that moves from high performance to mediocrity. Team members will gradually learn that it doesn’t “pay” to give their all, to perform at top capacity. Staff will be reticent to bring new ideas to the table for fear that their leader is all too ready to grab the credit and attention. There is a simple fix to this narcissistic leadership trait: give credit where credit is due; give credit as publicly as possible; and praise the team for successful accomplishment of goals. Previously in other blog postings I’ve stated that positive attention accrues to a good leader naturally, as the world is set up to understand that the success of a team requires a good leader. So let the credit go to the team. Not to worry, the public, your board, or other’s that you are responsible to will notice the good work being done and will credit you, as leader, ultimately for that success. But they will understand, too, that as the leader of the team you have created an atmosphere for success.

Unilateral Vacuum
It is true that from time to time a critical decision must be made quickly and in a vacuum, that is without the benefit of advice and counsel and information provided by the team. However, a leader should strive to minimize those situations where decisions must be made unilaterally. Unilateral decision making by a leader should, in my opinion, be the gross exception. One of the reasons I use the term “team” more frequently than “staff” or “employees” is that it connotes collaboration and consultation among a group of individuals who all have their eye on the same goal. Of course it may be necessary to consult with different groups around different specific content – in one instance it may be the officers of the board, in another instance it may be a specific work team, and in yet another instance it may be with the entire employee group of an organization. But, to make decisions unilaterally is risky business unless the leader considers oneself as all-knowing (and that leads back to the trait of narcissism.)

Spurious, How Curious
One of the most important traits of a leader is authenticity. A leader must be squeakily genuine in their interactions with their team as a whole and with each individual member of that team. Truthful, honest communication is one of the benchmarks of authenticity. Acknowledging one’s idiosyncratic qualities and behaviors and being open about working to keep those behaviors from working against the greater good of the organization and the team’s purpose is another path towards genuine interaction with the individual’s in your employ. As every employee of an organization of any size knows, a spurious leader can be smelled a mile away! Authenticity rules the day!

By examining some of the more negative traits of leaders, I hope to have brought attention to a few of the pitfalls of leadership that may not be conscious and intentional. It does require strong initiative and drive to be an effective leader. Lacking the ability or the will to look at one’s leadership style or traits that may not be as productive as they could be is to be on a sure path of eventual leadership failure. The good news is that leaders of ability, energy, and openness can self-correct. It only requires honest self-reflection, and the desire and willingness to amend behaviors that may be preventing you from becoming the best leader you can be!