Do You Make These Leadership Blunders?

“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.” This quote from Jack Welch really made an impact on me.

We often focus more on everyone’s opinion of the right leadership qualities. But here are behaviors to avoid to enhance your leadership.

Adam Grant, Wharton professor and a New York Times bestselling author, interviewed Jack and Suzy Welch about their book, The Real-Life MBA. The book is based on decades of experience leading and writing about companies. Their discussion highlighted 6 common leadership blunders—all of which are backed with considerable research and evidence.

Leadership Blunders

Here are the 6 leadership blunders:

They don’t invest in developing their people.
They reward people who have great results but bad behavior.
They don’t provide meaning.
They don’t let people know where they stand.
They only hire from elite schools.
They don’t give people the confidence to try new things.

More importantly, there are videos embedded in the interview – with Jack and Suzy Welch discussing their perspectives on these leadership blunders. Take several minutes to read the article, and scan through the details and the pragmatic research results, especially for #5 (yes, I’m not from an elite school). Then watch the short videos embedded in the interview – they are really worth your time investment.

This is a great topic of discussion at your next leadership team meeting. Even smart leaders make these mistakes.

Flip the Coin. Check Out these Quotes on Great Leadership.

How many times have you been asked to define leadership? And how many times have you thought you had clarity on leadership until you had to write or verbalize exactly what it is? I have been there myself. So I always keep an eye open for different perspectives. Such as “Leadership is the ability to hide your panic from others” by Lao Tuz! Here are more of my favorites:

A lot of people have gone further than they thought they could because someone else thought they could. – Zig Ziglar
Tend to the people, and they will tend to the business. – John Maxwell
Leaders think and talk about the solutions. Followers think and talk about the problems. – Brian Tracy
The smartest thing I ever did was to hire my weakness. – Sara Blakely
You manage things; you lead people. – Admiral Grace Murray Hopper
Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others. —Jack Welch
Leadership is the art of giving people a platform for spreading ideas that work. – Seth Godin
Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate and doubt to offer a solution everybody can understand. – Colin Powell
Leadership is the ability to hide your panic from others – Lao Tuz
The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but not folly. – Jim Rohn
The most dangerous leadership myth is that leaders are born-that there is a genetic factor to leadership. That’s nonsense; in fact, the opposite is true. Leaders are made rather than born. —Warren Bennis
People buy into the leader before they buy into the vision. —John Maxwell