It takes more than good character to be a trustworthy leader. Don’t trust leaders who can’t get the job done, even if they are wonderful people.
An incompetent leader – who tells the truth – is an untrustworthy leader.
7 sources of untrustworthy leadership:
- Inexperience.
- Ignorance.
- Neglect.
- Incompetence.
- Selfish intent.
- Lack of character.
- Immaturity.
Untrustworthy leaders:
- Don’t trust themselves. They change their mind when they should stay the course.
- Minimize difficulties.
- Don’t know when to quit or change course. They lead into dead ends and failure.
- Run around with their finger in the air, seeing which way the wind blows. There’s a difference between listening to follow and listening to lead.
- Dangle carrots. They promise promotions but don’t deliver, for example.
- Lack compassion.
- Are ungrateful and bitter.
- Never apologize.
- Lack emotional control.
- Don’t trust others.
- Keep you guessing about what they really want.
- Lack transparency and candor. Don’t trust leaders who won’t tell you what they think.
- Get lost in the weeds and lose sight of long-term goals and purpose.
- Disconnect. Don’t trust isolated leaders who keep others at arms-length.
- Bury their head in the sand. Don’t trust leaders who won’t confront brutal facts.
- Reject feedback.
- Defend rather than explore.
- Hold others accountable but let themselves off the hook.
- Don’t stand up for others.
- Act like they didn’t screw up when they did.
5 ways to deal with untrustworthy leaders:
- Establish if they are a know-it-all. There’s no hope for someone who thinks they know when they don’t.
- Determine if the issue is character or competence. Remove leaders who lack character.
- Maximize their strengths.
- Compensate for their weaknesses.
- On a personal level, continue doing a great job, but protect yourself.
You might be a good person, but, are you a trustworthy leader?
How do you spot untrustworthy leaders?
How do you deal with untrustworthy leaders?
Thanks to my friends on Facebook who got my juices flowing on this topic.