7 Dangerous Leadership Practices

 

Overtime, leaders can slip into practices  and habits that are downright dangerous  and can cause problems for both the leader and the people. Ron Edmondson shares 7 of these with us. Originally posted by Ron Edmondson I’ve seen it so many times. Most likely you have also. Dangerous leadership practices.  A leader can be doing everything else right and one flawed practice overshadows and jeopardizes all the good leadership principles we know. One constantly repeated action, trait, habit, mindset – one practice. Sadly, many times it’s not even the person isn’t a good leader – it’s one continued practice gets them off track. So, I believe leaders should constantly be working on bad practices, which keep them from being as successful as they can be. Allowing small details to overwhelm a view of the big picture. (In full disclosure, I’ve been guilty of some of these – sometimes for a season – sometimes until someone helped me discover I had a poor leadership practice. I can even know better and yet I allowed it to continue too long.) There will always be details, which have to be handled. Yet, the smaller a leader is forced to think, the less he or she can focus on the larger vision ahead. I can get bogged down in minutia which wastes my energy and drains me. Sometimes it’s a systems problem that requires too much of my time and sometimes its a failure to delegate. Ironically, I have found that when I’m free from the responsibility of handling as many details, I’m more likely to notice the smaller things which do need my attention. Always seeing the glass as half-empty. A consistently negative leader will seldom find success long-term, simply because people will not care to follow. Some people have a negative view all the time and about everything (and I don’t personally think leadership is their thing). Practicing this mindset can also last for a season – especially when there are numerous setbacks around us either in our personal life or where we lead. It could also occur in times of fast change, when the complainers seem to outnumber those offering compliments. If we aren’t careful – we can let a practice develop where we constantly have a negative mindset. That begins to carry over into every other area of our life – and we start to view our world this way. It’s very difficult to follow a negative-minded leader. Not enjoying the journey. Never taking time to celebrate will eventually derail good leadership. High achieving leaders can often fall into this trap. I get there at times and have to be reminded – either through personal discipline or when others speak into my life. I’m always seeing the next big opportunity ahead and striving for constant improvement. Also, I can fail to recognize current success while continually searching for future potential. The problem is a constant forward push isn’t sustainable long-term. It burns people out, makes them feel under appreciated, and leads to a very low team morale. People need disciplined plateaus where they can rest, catch their breath and celebrate the victory already achieved. Expecting more from others than you’re personally willing to give. I once worked for a leader like this. He had high expectations for everyone, not only in quality of work, but also in how many hours they should be working. The problem was this leader didn’t appear to have high expectations for himself. He would work just enough to bark out a few orders, but then he was gone. And because he was mostly an absentee leader, even if he was working when he wasn’t around (and I personally knew he was often working out of the office), no one believed he was. People following a leader with this mindset mostly stay for a paycheck. Assuming all the credit or all the blame. This is especially true if the leader’s mindset thinks he or she deserves all the credit or all the blame. There is no success on a team without the efforts of others. When a leader takes all the accolades or rewards for himself, the team becomes employees of a boss rather than followers of a leader. Work becomes a job, not a career. That’s true of the mistakes a team makes as well. It could be simply in the language of the leader. If “I” did it – if it was all because of “me” – “they” may soon, even if in only in their motivation – let “me” do it on my own. Shared success and failure is paramount for a leader’s long-term success. Never shutting down or turning everything off. You can’t do it. Don’t think you can. You may think you can always be on – do everything – be everywhere – but, you can’t. Superman couldn’t. Jesus didn’t. Don’t try. (Someone reading this still thinks they can – okay – you’ve been warned.) For me, this poor practice usually comes when I don’t discipline myself to say no, worry too much what people think – especially the ones who expect me to be everywhere or think I should know everything which happens in our church. Thankfully, I’ve matured enough I won’t let the season go long without an intentional shut-down. (For me, this usually involves me getting out of town. As a potential workaholic, there’s always something to do as long as I’m here.) Isolating from other people. The mindset which thinks a leader can’t let others too close to them is one of the most dangerous I’ve observed. Leadership can be a lonely job. But it shouldn’t be the job of a loner. We need people, accountability and community. All leaders need those who can speak into the dark places of our hearts and lives. W

3 WORDS THAT MAKE MEETINGS GREAT

Great Advice from Leadership Freak.

Good meetings:

1. Begin with chit chat before the meeting. Pre-meeting conversations set a tone for effective meetings.
2. Strengthen connections.
3. Provide safe environments to define challenges, explore unexpected solutions, and evaluate results. 
4. Achieve objectives that serve teams and organizations.
5. Leverage the talent in the room.

The person at the head of the table is responsible for the quality of the meeting.

Things to stop doing in meetings:

1. Complaining. Problem-solving isn’t complaining. The difference between complaining and leadership is solution-seeking.
2. Interrupting. The person leading the meeting should interrupt interrupters.
3. Blathering on and on.
4. Chasing rabbits.
5. Neglecting action items and accountability. Ask, “Who does what by when?”

3 words that make meetings great:

1. Specific

When choosing between broad meeting agendas or specific, nearly 75% choose specific.*

Two or three action items is enough for most meetings.

2. Shorter

We want meetings to end early because meetings get suck. When choosing between shorter or smaller, 80% of people choose shorter meetings.*

Good meetings are as long as they need to be and no longer.

If your meetings run too long, make them a little shorter than they need to be. Talk expands to the amount of time allotted for it.

3. Smaller

Once you’ve got 7 people in a decision-making group, each additional member reduces decision effectiveness by 10%.  Decide & Deliver!

Passive observers don’t belong at the table. Try the two pizza rule.

Tip: Delegate solution-finding to a small taskforce charged to return with recommendations.

9 HIDDEN THINGS THAT MAKE OR BREAK LEADERS

 

There are a lot of variables when it comes to what causes tiredness to become serious exhaustion, which can become deadly burnout. Some of them are well-known and others can be subtle and hidden from plain sight. Carey Nieuwhof shares 9 hidden things that can make or break you as a leader.

Originally posted by Carey Nieuwhof

So you’ve noticed something.

Your ability to lead well seems to fluctuate.

Some days (and seasons) you seem to be in top shape. You have energy and enthusiasm, a clear mind and your decision making is sharp.

But on other days (and in other seasons) you’re sluggish, fuzzy or so burdened down you feel like you can’t lead anything well.

What gives?

What I’ve learned in leadership is that on most days, there are hidden factors at work. These hidden factors can make you excel, or they can completely work against you.

Knowing what’s at work in the background can be tremendously liberating. Once you realize what’s helping or hurting you, you can deal with it.

So what hidden factors threaten to make or break you as a leader?

Here are 9 I’ve identified at work in my leadership. You’ll notice many have to do with a leader’s mind, while a few are more physical. You’ve likely seen them at work in the background of your life and leadership too. Understand them, and you’re ahead. Miss them, and you’re behind (again).

It should be no surprise so many of the factors are in your mind. Leadership, after all, is a mind game.

Work at the mental aspect of leadership and you’ll discover what many leaders have discovered: changing your mind about how you lead, feel and think changes everything.

And while not all 9 are critical issues, wise leaders know these are the factors that make or break them. So they make sure they leverage them to make them, not break them.

1. WEIGHT

Anyone who has led anything remotely significant is familiar with the weight of leadership.

The weight of leadership is the sense of responsibility you carry that goes with your job.

The problem is it never turns off easily.

It follows you home. It accompanies you to bed. It travels with you on vacation.

It’s hard to shake the weight of leadership. You feel it because you are the leader, and you’re likely the leader because you’re the kind of person who feels it.

So what can help lift the weight of leadership? A few things:

Naming it

Doing something fun (the power of distraction)

Prayer

Talking to a friend or mentor who understands

When it’s appropriate, the weight of leadership can spur you toward leading better.  But when it crushes you, all of the benefits of feeling responsible for what you lead disappear.

2. PACE

Many leaders run hard. But you can only run so hard so long.

For many of you, it’s been too long.

Any leader can run hard for a season, but even if you avoid burnout, eventually it becomes counterproductive to run hard all the time.

Why?

Your mood tanks. Your fatigue rises. Your productivity drops.

And—bottom line—it’s unsustainable.

Smart leaders ask themselves: Am I living in a way today that will help me thrive tomorrow? If not, why not?

3. LACK OF SLEEP

I’ve written about sleep before, and I’ve become a sleep evangelist of sorts over the last decade. (Here’s why sleep is a leader’s secret weapon in my view.)

Frankly, my conversion was involuntary. I used to pride myself on how little sleep I got. Now, most days, I unapologetically nap during the day and generally get 6-8 hours every night.

The truth is, before I started taking sleep seriously, I was awake, but I was a zombie. And despite being awake more hours, I wasn’t nearly as productive as I am today.

To say I’ve been 10x more productive since I started taking sleep seriously is probably not an exaggeration. I wanted to write a book all through my 30s. Never got a manuscript done.

I find when I cheat sleep now, it feels like my world comes crashing down. If I can call an audible and simply admit “Man, I’m tired” and get some rest, things come back into alignment surprisingly fast.

Not convinced being rested is a key component to great leadership? Gary Vaynerchuck and Arianna Huffington have a 

4. THE AMOUNT OF TIME SINCE YOUR LAST BREAK

Leaders are often famous for taking little time off.

Like missing sleep, you make a mistake when you don’t make the time to recharge.

I’ve discovered over the years that if I am going to operate at my peak, I need a break or a diversion every 6-8 weeks, if even for a day. An extra day off, a short trip or something that can refuel me (even if it’s somewhat work related) is often really restorative.

The longer it’s been since your last break, the longer it will take for you to feel truly great again. So take a break.

5. WHAT’S HAPPENING AT HOME

Too often leaders think they can separate what happens at work from what happens at home.

Leading poorly at home always impacts how you lead at work. Just like you carry the weight of leadership around with you wherever you go, you also carry the weight of a bad marriage or a fractured family with you wherever you go.

If you win at work but lose at home, you’ve lost.

6. CONSTANT CONNECTIVITY

You can leave work, but thanks to your phone, work never leaves you.

I’m a connected guy, but even I found the constant buzzing of my phone to be too much.

Last year I turned off all notifications on my phone except for phone calls and text messages. And I’m selective about giving out my cell number.

I no longer feel my phone vibrate every time someone emails me, tweets me, likes a pic on Instagram or interacts on Facebook or Snapchat.

This isn’t just a tip for home; it helps at work too. It’s very hard to do any thinking if your phone is buzzing every minute, which for a season of my life it was.

Since your work no longer leaves you, you need to leave your work.

Another change I made last year: sleeping with my phone in another room, turned off. Yep, I know that’s radical. I use an old school alarm clock to wake me up. Most of the time, I’ve slept so well I wake up before the alarm. Imagine that.

7. YOUR SPIRITUAL STATE

As a Christian, I believe everything starts and ends with God.

Your ability to give love is directly related to how deeply you receive love. Your ability to love is like a bank account: you can only withdraw what has been deposited. Make too many withdrawals, and you go bankrupt.

As you know, leadership is a series of withdrawals. So you better make some deposits.

There is no greater source of love than God.

So, if you want:

To love the people you lead, it starts with God.

Wisdom, it comes from God.

To exude grace, that also comes from God.

When you sever a limb from the tree, it’s only a matter of time until it withers.

8. NUTRITION

Almost all food is brain food. Not all of it is good, but all of it affects your brain.

And if you’re paid to think (like many who read this blog are), your nutrition is critical.

Skipping meals, loading up on sugar and otherwise eating poorly impacts everything from your energy level to your blood sugar levels to your ability to think clearly.

I know for me, eating well is essential. Sometimes when I’m getting upset or angry, I realize it’s likely due to the fact I haven’t eaten or I’ve eaten poorly.

9. CHANGE OF VENUE

I realized a long time ago that I am deeply impacted by two things:

Choice of venue

Being in a single venue for too long

Sometimes, you simply have to step away from the screen, get out of the office and change the scenery.

In fact, I find my best ideas come to me when I’m not behind a computer screen or I’m within the first hour of a fresh venue.

Ideas I love often come to me when I’m cycling, doing yard work, in a fresh place (or favourite place that isn’t an office), or doing anything that doesn’t require me to sit behind a screen and write.

As a result, I have 3 or 4 ‘offices’ I use regularly, ranging from space at our church to a home office to the back porch to our living room.

Sometimes all I need to do to get a fresh perspective is change venues.

Don’t be “Stupid”

A challenging post by Mac Lake. Why is it when we can’t get it all done, we default to adding hours to our work week? Hitting the “can’t get it all done” point should lead us to evaluate our schedule, not extend our hours. Jason Fried, the co-founder of 37Signals, says, ‘Long hours, excessive busyness, and lack of sleep have become a badge of honor for many people these days. Sustained exhaustion is not a badge of honor; it’s a mark of stupidity.” Wow! While I am not brave enough to put it that bluntly, I wholeheartedly agree. Hurried work increases mistakes Excessive work leads to diminished results. More does not equal more. (Don’t believe me? Stanford researchproved it) Long hours decreases morale Lack of sleep diminishes decision-making abilities Never feeling like you cross a finish line leads to disengagement from the mission. Wearing busyness as a badge of honor ruins spiritual health. So, next time you find yourself saying, “I just can’t get it all done.” Don’t be “stupid” (His word, not mine) by skipping your day off, working late, or  weekends. Do the wise thing. Evaluate why you “can’t get it all done.”

GENEROSITY MAKES YOU GREAT AND MUCH MORE

 A great post by Dan Rockwell.

No one stays up late waiting for the Grinch. But all the young at heart stay up waiting for Santa. His heart is warm and his hand is open.

With all the troubles in the world, you do well to follow Santa’s lead.  

Open hands and generous hearts go further than clenched fists.

Zig Ziglar appeals to self-interest when he says, “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.”

Zig is expressing a principle, not encouraging exploitation. But the law of reciprocity only works when you know what others want.

Hot dogs for vegetarians isn’t generosity.

5 benefits of generosity:

1. Expanded perspectives.
2. Strengthened hearts.
3. Deepened commitments.
4. Extended influence.
5. Increased happiness.

Do good, with a warm heart, and see what happens.

5 expressions of generous leadership:

1. Invest in people. Young people want development opportunities.
2. Tell your story. Include lessons learned from failure.
3. Don’t watch the clock. An open heart gives time to others. I know you have too much to do. Perhaps include others in some of your doing.
4. Notice. Positive attention reflects a generous heart.
5. Pour from your cup. Never let what you can’t do be reason to neglect what you can do. Just pour from your cup with a smile.

If you’re not sure how to be generous, look for a need and meet it.

Reciprocity:

Not everyone responds in kind. But leaders don’t let others set their limits.

Give value before taking it, AND welcome generous response.

You always need results, profits, sales, increased numbers, and solutions. But don’t allow your needs to blind you to the wants of others.

“Most people believe vulnerability is weakness. But really vulnerability is courage.” Brene’ Brown

How might leaders live with a warm heart and an open hand today?

Bonus material:

Forget Kindness – We Need to Talk About Generous Leadership – CMI (managers.org.uk)

Why Being a Generous Leader Can Make You a Great Leader – Mind Tools

Leadership Quote 1 by Alan Alda

“Real listening is a willingness to let the other person change you.” Alan Alda

    In the light of this:

1. I will enter conversations open to learning and willing to adapt.
2. The way I see things is ONE way of seeing them.
3. I’m willing to change my perspective.
4. My need to be right makes me stupid.

5 WAYS TO LEAD WITH A BIG HEART

'It takes leadership from the heart as well as the head to be successful with people.' Dave Kraft

I have a sense that many leaders operate too much  from their head and not enough from their heart. It’s 18 inches from your head to your heart, but it’s the longest 18 inches in the world. Here’s Dan Rockwell with a few great ideas on ways to lead with a bit  heart.

Originally posted by Dan Rockwell

I’ve always admired leaders who handle heavy responsibility with heart.

Some leaders put on masks and lose themselves to the expectation of others. But leaders with heart bear the load of responsibility with steely resolve and compassion.

Reject the idea that you have to be an ass to expect peak performance from others.

Doug Conant told me, “Be tough on standards and tender with people.”

5 ways to lead with a big heart:

#1. Show up to help more than to fix or correct.

“How might I help?” is better than, “You screwed up.”

#2. Open up more than close down.

You go further with vulnerability than defensiveness.

1. Take a few deep breaths.
2. Stop trying to make things go away.
3. Step into the mess with an open heart.
4. Acknowledge that you don’t know.
5. Work to make SOMETHNG better but give up on making EVERYTHING better.
6. Lock arms with another leader who goes into the mess with you.
7. Explore options. Seek AN answer, not THE answer. A person with THE answer has a closed mind.

#3. Pursue positive opportunities more than preventing problems.

The leadership question is how do you create something, not how do you prevent something.

#4. Practice compassion.

Acknowledge the pain of imperfect people. Smart people do stupid things. Honest people deceive themselves. Self-justification results in arrogance.

An employee gets caught stealing.

Compassion and consequences aren’t mutually exclusive.

Compassion says:

1. I’m so sorry this is happening.
2. This must be embarrassing for you.
3. We’re going to let you go.
4. How can I help you move forward?

Compassion isn’t confirmation.

#5. Practice self-reflection.

In order to bring your best self you must know who you are.

What makes leading with heart difficult?

How might leaders develop big hearts?

Bonus material:

Why the Best Leaders Have a Big Heart (Kevin Eikenberry)

Becoming a Heart-Centered Leader (Skip Prichard)

Lead with your Heart, not just your Head (HBR)