3 Things You're Screwing Up (and Why Nobody Tells You)
Sure, you're a great leader and you always ask for feedback. But there are three mistakes you're making that nobody has the guts to tell you about.
Given
the ubiquity these days of 360 assessments, rounded feedback, and executive
coaching, you'd think that there would be little room for unexposed flaws in a
business leader.
You'd
be wrong.
Due
to a combination of taboo, sensitivity, and downright fear, there are many
things that business leaders screw up regularly, and which they rarely get
called on--however open, honest and transparent the company culture.
Here
are the three subjects which I see business leaders most commonly screw up on,
without anyone ever telling them:
Family. Whether it's harmless Uncle Joe who
has managed the warehouse since time immemorial; the brash son-in-low Juan who
thinks he's god's gift to sales; the niece Effie who passive-aggressively rules
the roost in accounting; or your spouse who has a de facto veto over every and
any decision of import: whoever it is, you can bet no-one has told you straight
just how horrendously incompetent your family's contributions to the business
are.
Of
course, this doesn't apply to you, because you know your family members are
doing a bang-up job. Which, of course, is why no-one dares tell you the
truth.
Arrogance. There is one trait that assessments
and other tools seem to rarely catch in a leader: arrogance.
Its
near-cousins, "Aggressiveness" and "Drive" often make an
appearance, but rarely does a 360 report state the truth. You're an arrogant
son-of-a-(let's say)-gun. Maybe it's the bare-facedness of the word, the force
of it, the implication that not only are you this thing, but I don't like you
for it, that makes people turn away from using it.
Being
aggressive or driven can be interpreted positively, as attributes that help one
succeed. Being arrogant is pretty much an out and out negative, which is why so
few people will say it to your face.
Worried
this might be you? That what you think of as aggressiveness and drive is
actually arrogance? Just ask a few people, "Am I arrogant?" If you
are, they won't need to say anything--their face will tell you all you need to
know.
Over-staying. You sit around in meetings way
longer than you should. After a certain point, your team would really prefer
you to leave and let them get on with it. You remain stolidly attached to a
certain project long after it has any real hope of being successful. Because
you grew up in sales, you still manage every sales meeting yourself. Or,
perhaps, you simply won't vacate the seat you're in and let a younger, or more
qualified person take it.
Nobody
ever tells leaders when they are overstaying their welcome. (And not just in
small and medium-sized businesses, either--corporate America is rife with
boards that don't have what it takes to push out directors and CEO's who are
long past their sell-by date).
Don't
be that leader. Watch for glassy eyes--the more people glaze over when you talk,
the more likely it is that you're not contributing much anymore.
Oh,
and one last tip: The people who will most
quickly tell you you've overstayed your welcome in the business? Those
incompetent family members. Ironic, huh?
By: Les McKeown
Source: Inc.
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