Top 20 Stupid Leader Tricks
Never underestimate the potential and power of a good mistake.
Wisdom is acquired when you learn from your mistakes. James Joyce wisely observes, “A man’s errors are his portals of discovery.”
On the other hand, it’s less painful if you learn from another’s blunders. With that in mind, you’ll be wise beyond your years if you avoid these classic stupid leader tricks.
TOP 20 STUPID LEADER TRICKS
- Holding grudges
- Withholding an apology
- Demanding what you should earn
- Hording knowledge
- Refusing to delegate
- Delegating tasks without explaining vision
- Allowing weaknesses in one area of person’s life to obscure their strengths in another
- Clinging to Power rather than giving it
- Saying yes when you mean no
- Talking too much, deciding too slow, and doing too little
- Making statements before asking questions
- Adding minor corrections or improvements to another’s work
- Making assumptions without information
- Getting even
- Blaming others rather than taking responsibility
- Putting off tough conversations
- Failure to establish clear deliverables that include milestones and deadlines
- Accepting mediocrity
- Mistaking busy for effective
- Pretending you know when you don’t
Creating this list was fun and didn’t take long. If making mistakes makes us wise, I’m a genius!
There are many opportunities for conversation on this article.
What stupid leader tricks can you add to the list?
Can you explain, expand, or illustrate one of the stupid leader tricks I’ve mentioned?
Failure to quit your last job. People tend to continue the things that made them successful in the past. The consequence: instead of being a leader, they become super specialists with a private office.
Thanks AW,
I hadn’t thought about the possibility of continuing the things you did in the past as a point of “stupidity.” I can see where you are coming from. Conditions change, clients change, staff changes… so should methods.
Cheers,
Dan
Dear Dan,
What a classic stupid leader tricks. It seems that every tricks have been covered. Some of the stupid leader tricks come to my mind are; looking busy doing nothing, sitting late in office and making others to sit, always saying ” I know it”, making big statements and no execution, focussing more on external appearance than content, making promise and not meeting in time, not making complete sentences, making vague statements blob..blob…
I would like to explain about two stupid leader tricks because they are so common that it exists in almost every organisations. They are; making assumption before information and blaming others. These are the inherent and ingrained studip leader tricks I have seen. They make assumption based on wrong information given by their near and dear collegues. Their collegues know what stupid leader want to hear. And they do the same thing. They even twist truth and put spices before presenting to leaders. The common traits of stupid leaders are that they try to take full credit in case of success and blame others in case of failure. So, in case of failure, they say, it is individual responsibility. Why they blame. It is only the strategy where they can put others down before them. They do not want that someone should be superior to them. It is their perception that finding faults with others make them superiors. Their followers strenghten their beliefs by blaming and accusing others.
But the reality is that they can survive in particular kind of set up. Their boundary is usually short and small. They can not think big, can not dream big and can not do big. They only pass life, do not live life to the fullest level.
Dear Ajay,
I sense a deep passion in your response and appreciate all you added to the discussion.
Thanks for adding some meat to “Making assumptions w/o getting all the information.” You really fleshed that idea out well.
I’m thankful that you stopped in to share your insights.
Best,
Dan
Ajay is a featured contributor on Leadership Freak. His bio: http://leadershipfreak.wordpress.com/ajay-gupta
Dan,
Interesting post.
Folks who use the 20 may be managers. I don’t consider them leaders.
Hi Tracy,
Great seeing you again. I appreciate your distinction between manager and leader. It’s not unusual for me to blur the line even though I believe the skill sets and focus differs. I think companies expect managers to lead and leaders to manage.
Best to you,
Dan
1. Expressing disappointment that your people just can’t do it as well as you can.
2. Doing something after you asked someone else to do it but before they could.
3. Re-doing something you asked someone else to do.
Now if I could just think of some that I haven’t done (too many times) before.
Mike…
Mike,
Great stuff!
I love #1. What a self-defeating, demoralizing activity.
I’m thankful you took the time to add value to this conversation.
Best,
Dan
21. Taking credit for work you did not delegate.
I’ve just been promoted to peer status with someone who personifies this list. It is sad, really, because he has potential, he just stands in his own way.
1. Underestimating the power of longevity or leaving an organization prematurely.
I know of one who constantly tells ‘innocent lies’ to ‘protect’ people. Now I don’t believe anything he says and I have little respect for him.
Like this message and am sharing with the alumni from my university masters degree course on Leadership
Developing Cre8ng Communities Throughout Your Workplace Today
Alan
Great list! I would just add that a stupid trick is attempting to control the flow of information, even in a super small firm. People need information. Trying to control the flow is both counterprodutive and detrimental. People WILL get information, either from good sources or bad.
100% on target, John.
What would my number 21 be? PRESUMING THE RULES DO NOT APPLY TO YOU. Being a State Capital with all of the related political maneuvering and power hunger, we see this all the time here in Tallahassee. And one reason this is so incredibly stupid is that almost every move people make is documented these days, either by a bystander with a video recorder in their phone or by the sheer amount of data that our electronic lives generate. There is nothing more un-leader-like than hearing someone say, “I just didn’t realize I had to report my [insert obvious financial reporting requirement here]” when all of their subordinates know that and follow the rules to the “T”.
Now, which one to expand upon? It’s so hard to pick just one! Let’s go with “mistaking busy with effective.” I have had a supervisor who gave LOADS of positive feedback to the person who was most vocal about “working so many hours, who sent emails at 3 am, etc” while giving other employees lectures about “doing an honest day’s work for an honest dollar” while simultaneously NOT supporting many flexible work options. The effect on those of us who were led by the individual but who did NOT go on and on about being workaholics is to sort of feel like “why try?” In this case, if the leader were more focused on effectiveness than on how “busy” the employees were, the group as a whole may be more productive and more cohesive (less resentment).
I’d add: Taking oneself too seriously.
The one in your great list that I see most of in my coaching role, is when leaders put off difficult conversations. What I have seen is that by the time they get around to trying to communicate (if they do at all!), things have often escalated, any previous uncertainties have grown out of proportion, confidence is reduced and the message gets delivered ineffectively and even destructively.
I agree, Cinnie, putting off difficult conversations can create much worse problems downstream than is necessary.
21. Making organizational changes and not informing the person involved.
22. Openly admonishing people in a “reply all” e-mail.
Follow these 2 rules and you are sure to have a disengaged workforce. Just ask me, it’s happening to me right now.
Coming up with the insane policy of unemployed need not apply.
Not engaging with all employees at all levels on a regular basis
Making decisions without knowing the total impact on the company.
Destroying a company with no concern for those who work there.
Getting fired for sexual harassment
Asking for a major project to be developed only to kill is at the start.
Addition: 21. Caring more about how many hours someone’s butt is in their chair than the quality or quantity of their work.
I have so many examples of so many of these, I don’t even know where to begin.
Thanks, Dan, for a great post. Helps me remember I am not crazy! For seeing these things in supervisors, and for making these mistakes myself sometimes.
Thank you for chiming in, Karen. You and I had comments that were to some degree centered on the same theme (volume of work over quality of work). In so many years in Tallahassee, I have seen a great deal of that since so much of our town is involved in state government work. Productivity measures are often not linked to “revenue” or something concrete, and that makes it more likely for “someone who works hard” or “is there all the time” to be rewarded for that, regardless of productivity.
Like the addition of making org changes without telling anyone, but there’s one that goes before that. Making organisational changes without thinking about their consequences is 21 in my mind.
Sure we’ve all seen new “leaders” charge in and make proclaimations that sit 180 degrees to existing culture, strategy, practices etc. The chaos that then ensues is everyone else’s fault for not “getting with the programme!”
Absolutely a great list, and the variations of them along with others to be added are endless. As leaders, we all have done stupid things… or if we haven’t, we’ve never left our comfort zone which is something else altogether.
About #12, though… I agree that nitpicking is counter-productive. However, in some instances, I believe that if you work one-on-one with the individual to identify how minor corrections or improvements could help their work product (be it a process or product), and why, then you’re actually turning this into a teaching moment, which is something that all leaders should do. The key is having the relationship with the person that they know your feedback is non-malicious and genuinely meant to help them grow, and not to tear down or belittle what they’ve done.
But if you do #12 as a regular course of action, then it’s just a fail. I’m sensitive to this because I have a peer manager who does this to everyone (subordinate and peer), and he comes across looking like a jerk every single time. It pains me how perception of him reflect on our organization.
Great post!
I don’t know what number you’re at now :-), but here are a few more stupid leader tricks:
#never leave the rarified atmosphere of the C-suite, but if you do
#never ask for input or feedback, but if you do…
#just pretend to listen…but if you listen, and you do hear about a problem,
#just pretend you’ll do something about it…and if you don’t know what to do
#don’t betray yourself by seeking coaching, advice or assistance from someone who DOES know what to do…and last, but by no means least
#if the feedback/input is about you, ignore it completely – after all, YOU are in the C-suite and they aren’t, right?
Enjoyed this post immensely, and will definitely add the list & commenter’s additions to my resources.
Rusti
Beating around the bush, Not being straight forward with employees that need to be corrected or disciplined. Veiling necessary feedback with verbose statements.
Engaging yourself as the solution to others process of conflict resolution.
Being a flip flopper.
haha, yeah that’s right. If mistakes earned diplomas I’d have a PhD! Great reminders on this list.
#21 Not listening enough
#22 Hitting the send button too quickly
#23 Hitting the send button when you should be talking face to face
Your #23 hit the nail right on the head. I totally agree. At a company I worked at just prior to retiring, we disabled the internal email system the last 3 days of the month, every month. Managers, peers, everybody had to get up and walk over to discuss problems//situations//whatever. There had been the tendency to communicate only via email and ignore internal questions until it was just too late for valuable communication. Soon the situation self-corrected itself.
To expand on Doc’s #21 – how about Talking Instead of Listening!
Thanks Deanna
My greatest oops is not explaining my desires clearly. I often assume my staff knows my complete intention. Many times I know what I expect from them, but I fail to express it clearly. In the end, both of us end up disappointed. Let’s remember to take the time to express clear directions and not assume they know. Hope that helps!
61. When you don’t have a clue call in the consultants – because of course they will know what to do!
A good laundry list! More applicable to the operational managers. Good leaders can’t afford to be careless to all the points mentioned since they are responsible for bringing the planned results taking the team along. They have to be absolutely clear on their vision and the action plan with adequate delegation. Commitment at all levels with timely delivery is the success mantra that is never forgotten by the true leaders.
However, good leaders at times have an indifferent attitude. They just don’t notice or respond to controversial matters when asked to intervene. It’s again a shrewd behavior. Perhaps, they wouldn’t like to waste their time on tiny matters but it is demoralizing act.
Excellent checklist of attitudes and behaviors to put on my to-don’t list. There’s also a lot of great additions in the comments. As I read through the lists, I realize that these aren’t helpful behaviors in anyone, not just leaders. Unfortunately, when they’re expressed by the leader it has much larger ramifications and influence on a greater portion of the organization.
Lacking of emotional intelligence.
Practicing “BIG ME, little you”
Thanks for a great post. I’d perhaps add that secret belief that no one else can do the job quite as good as you can. 🙂
Great list – gives me faith that we can handle what we are given and learn lessons along the way. I have a blog called Leadership Not to Do – includes tips on handling the situations….http://leadership-not-to-do.blogspot.com – Check it out….would love your feedback and comments.
Number 17, fantastic. Without being able to clearly articulate what your objectives are, how do you expect to meet them?
Excellent blog and list. If I didn’t miss the same idea, here is a new one:
– Assuming that you are more intelligent than your staff as a whole.
A leader’s challenge is not to be the most intelligent one, but to lead the necessary change….
All the best to you and your readers. Please see my blog
http://www.samasu.de Best regards, Christoph
21) Don’t buy a dog if you prefer to bark yourself.
🙂
Dan,
You have quickly become my favorite leadership blog because of your pithy on the target no nonsense style.
thank you
Mike
Thanks Mike
Until I experienced it in a former team some years ago, it never occurred to me that someone would try this, but they did, so here’s one more:
– Using a divide and conquer strategy with your team (consciously or unconsciously)
Try this, and you will only create an unhappy, frustrated and dysfunctional team.