By Jack and Suzy Welch
Being a
leader is perhaps the hardest challenge any of us will ever face. No
matter how long we work at it, practicing the right behaviors is a
never-ending task. Knowing – and avoiding – the wrong ones is too. Thus,
we offer the following six common leadership pitfalls:
1. Not Giving Self-Confidence its Due.
Self-confidence is the lifeblood of success. When people have it,
they’re bold. They try new things, offer ideas, exude positive energy,
and cooperate with their colleagues instead of surreptitiously
attempting to bring them down. When they lack self-confidence, it’s just
the opposite. People cower. They plod. And they spread negativity with
every word and gesture.
But all too often leaders ignore (or
neglect) this very basic fact of the human condition. Why is anyone’s
guess. Perhaps they just don’t understand that it is part of their job
to instill self-confidence in their people. It may even be said that
it’s their first job. You cannot unleash the creative power of
individuals who doubt themselves.
Fortunately, some people seem
to be born with self-confidence. Others gain it from life and work
experience and come to a company fully loaded. Regardless, leaders can
never stop pouring self-confidence into their teams. The ways to do so
are myriad. Make sure goals are challenging – but achievable. Give
effusive positive feedback. Remind your direct reports of what they do
right.
We’re not saying that leaders should blindly extol and
exalt. People know when they’re being gamed. But good leaders work
relentlessly to find ways to instill self-confidence in those around
them. They know it’s the gift that never stops giving.
2. Muzzling Voice.
Perhaps the most frustrating way that leaders underperform is by
over-talking. That is, they act like know-it-alls. They can tell you how
the world works, what corporate is thinking, how it will backfire if
you try this or that, and why you can’t possibly change the product one
iota. Sometimes such blowhards get their swagger from a few positive
experiences, but usually they’re just victims of their own destructive
personalities.
Ultimately, the company ends up being a victim
too, because know-it-alls aren’t just insufferable, they’re dangerous.
They don’t listen, and that deafness makes it very hard for new ideas to
get debated, expanded upon, or improved. No single person, no matter
how smart, can take a business to its apex. For that, you need every
voice to be heard.
3. Acting Phony.
Can you spot a phony? Of course you can – and so can your people.
Indeed, if there is one widespread human capability, it is sniffing out
someone who is putting on airs, pretending to be who they’re not, or
just keeping their real self hidden. Yet too many leaders spend way too
much time creating personas that put a wall between them and their
employees. What a waste.
Because authenticity is what makes
people love you. Visibly grappling with tough problems, sweating the
details, laughing, and caring – those are the activities that make
people respond and feel engaged with what you’re saying. Sure, some
people will tell you that being mysterious grants you power as a leader.
In reality, all it generates is fear. And who wants to motivate that
way?
Now, obviously, authenticity is unattractive if it’s
coupled with immaturity or an overdose of informality. And organizations
generally don’t like people who are too emotionally unbounded – i.e. so
real that all their feelings are exposed. They tend to tamp that kind
of intensity down a bit. And that’s not a bad thing, as work is work
and, more than at home, allows us to maintain some privacy.
But
don’t let convention wring all the authenticity out of you, especially
as you climb the ladder. In time, humanity always wins. Your team and
bosses come to know who you are in your soul, what kind of people you
attract and what kind of performance you want from everyone. Your
realness will make you accessible; you will connect and you will
inspire. You will lead.
4. Lacking the Guts to Differentiate.
You only have to be in business a few weeks to know that not all
investment opportunities are created equal. But some leaders can’t face
that reality, and so they sprinkle their resources like cheese on a
pizza, a little bit everywhere.
As a result, promising growth
opportunities too often don’t get the outsized infusions of cash and
people they need. If they did, someone might get offended during the
resource allocation process. Someone – as in the manager of a weak
business or the sponsor of a dubious investment proposal.
But
leaders who don’t differentiate do the most damage when it comes to
people. Unwilling to deliver candid, rigorous performance reviews, they
give every employee the same kind of bland, mushy, “nice job” sign-off.
Then, when rewards are doled out, they give star performers little more
than the laggards. Now, you can call this egalitarian approach kind, or
fair – as these lousy leaders usually do – but it’s really just
weakness. And when it comes to building a thriving organization where
people have the chance to grow and succeed, weakness just doesn’t cut
it.
5. Fixation on Results at the Expense of Values.
Everyone knows that leaders deliver. Oratory and inspiration without
results equal…well, a whole lot of nothing. But leaders are committing a
real dereliction of duties if all they care about are the numbers. They
also have to care about how those numbers came to be. Were the right
behaviors practiced? Was the company’s culture of integrity honored?
Were people taken care of properly? Was the law obeyed, in both letter
and spirit?
Values are a funny thing in business. Companies love
to talk about them. They love to hang them up on plaques in the lobby
and boast about them to potential hires and customers. But they’re
meaningless if leaders don’t live and breathe them. Sometimes that can
take courage. It can mean letting go of a top performer who’s a brute to
his colleagues, or not promoting a star who doesn’t share her best
ideas with the team. That’s hard.
And yet if you’re a leader,
this is a sin you cannot squint away. When you nail your results, make
sure you can also report back to a crowded room: We did this the right
way, according to our values.
6. Skipping the Fun Part
What is it about celebrating that makes managers so nervous? Maybe
throwing a party doesn’t seem professional, or it makes people worry
that they won’t look serious to the powers that be, or that, if things
get too happy in the office, people will stop working their tails off.
Whatever the reason, too many leaders don’t celebrate enough. To be
clear here, we do not define celebrating as conducting one of those
stilted little company-orchestrated events that everyone hates, in which
the whole team is marched out to a local restaurant for an evening of
forced merriment when they’d rather be home. We’re talking about sending
a team to Disney World with their families, or giving each team member
tickets to a show or a movie, or handing each member of the team a new
iPod.
What a lost opportunity. Celebrating makes people feel
like winners and creates an atmosphere of recognition and positive
energy. Imagine a team winning the World Series without champagne
spraying everywhere. You can’t! And yet companies win all the time and
let it go without so much as a high-five.
Work is too much a
part of life not to recognize the moments of achievement. Grab as many
as you can. Make a big deal out of them.
That’s part of a leader’s job too – the fun part.
This content was originally presented as a lecture at the Jack Welch Management Institute.
Jack Welch is Founder and Distinguished Professor at the Jack Welch Management Institute at Strayer University. Through its executive education and Welch Way management training programs, the Jack Welch Management Institute
provides students and organizations with the proven methodologies,
immediately actionable practices, and respected credentials needed to
win in the most demanding global business environments.
Suzy
Welch is a best-selling author, popular television commentator, and
noted business journalist. Her New York Times bestselling book, 10-10-10: A Life Transforming Idea,
presents a powerful decision-making strategy for success at work and in
parenting, love and friendship. Together with her husband Jack Welch,
Suzy is also co-author of the #1 international bestseller Winning, and its companion volume, Winning: The Answers. Since 2005, they have written business columns for several publications, including Business Week magazine, Thomson Reuters digital platforms, Fortune magazine, and the New York Times syndicate.
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