Lust for Skittles and Other Bad Habits
Wouldn’t it be great if lust for humility was as strong as lust for Skittles?
Bad habits:
Bad habits are like hungry babies screaming for attention. When you break a bad habit, you work to keep it from returning. But when you break a good habit, you work to restore it.
The truth about bad habits:
#1. Bad habits are more magnetic than good.
Bad habits come naturally and, left to themselves, rule the realm.
#2. Bad habits get worse as time passes. Negative impact accelerates with time.
#3. Bad habits have a life of their own. Good habits need constant attention.
Wouldn’t it be great if good habits pursued you like bad?
#4. Bad habits are like old jeans – they look like hell, but they feel like heaven.
#5. Bad habits are chain-makers.
Wouldn’t it be great if lust to get out of bed and exercise was as powerful as nicotine?
7 bad leadership habits:
- Adding tiny improvements to the ideas, plans, work, or behavior of others.
- Providing answers before asking questions.
- Focusing on fixing people’s weaknesses and neglecting their strengths.
- Intervening quickly rather than making space for people to work through their own issues. Jumping in to help is permission for others to jump out.
- Interrupting.
- Getting bossy when stressed.
- Correcting but seldom congratulating.
Bad habit replacements:
- Curiosity. Go on a curiosity walk-about every morning at 10 a.m.
- Humility. Let others be right. Jettison your need to have the final word. Just stop talking.
- Gratitude. Go on a thank you tour at 2:30 p.m.
- Silence. Smile, nod, and say less.
“We can never free ourselves from habit. But we can replace bad habits with good ones.” Steven Pressfield
What bad habits do you see in leadership?
What small thing might you do today to develop a good leadership habit?
Thanks, Dan,
I read a book about habit last year ( maybe Charles Duhigg, but I think actually it was Brendon Burchard, High Performance Habits)…. that taught me to tie coffee –which is my version of Skittles/cigarettes– to my morning exercise.
I fill my travel mug, and can’t have a sip until I am in motion. This trick works for me like nothing else! Your post gets me thinking about ways to bring this wisdom into my leader & manager actions with people. Thanks for this gem.
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Thanks Sophie. Yes, Duhigg’s book is great. I just started Mini Habits by Stephen Guise.
Love your “trick” it’s awesome! .. No skittles until you do 10 push ups. 🙂
This is a very informative article. We don’t often think about what goes into creating habits whether good or bad. As I reflect on the information from this article it makes perfect sense but it’s just not something we focus on. It is so easy to do something bad but to do good is like pulling teeth. This helps me to be more conscious about the habits in my life whether good or bad and strive to do better when releasing bad habits in my life. Thank you for this article.
Thanks Regina. For some reason, while reading your comment I thought about the importance helping young people and children develop good habits. The reason is that the negative consequences of bad habits may takes months or even years to manifest. (Where that comes from, I have no idea.)
Cheers
Bad leadership habits have followed me into consulting. One thing I constantly work on is interrupting. I have a tendency to do that when I am passionate about something and it can be very off-putting to others. I am going to have to think of a “trick” I can use to keep myself from doing it. Great article and resources that I am going to have to explore.
Dear Dan,
An interesting post with good analysis of bad habits that few leaders have and how they can develop good habits.
Per my view, many leaders are tempted to overload good performers with important priority work deviating from the defined job role! This results into an imbalance in their work: life style! It’s certainly not a good habit. Also, remaining authoritative with less empathy for people working under is undesired. Loosing anger and frequent shouting is a sure sign of a disrespectful leader!
Leaders can bring required corrections in their operating styles with a humanitarian approach. They need to be considerate enough in assigning work knowing the current workload and providing a reasonable good time to complete the new priority work.
Good habits can be having good readings on business news and developments, participating in international symposiums and exhibitions, grooming potential subordinates as future leaders, practising appreciable behaviour in front of subordinates and listening to the new ideas and suggestions from anyone within and outside the organization to grow business innovatively.
What bad habits do you see in leadership? Having limited sight, unable to see the big picture therefore reacting instead of being proactive.
Humility is one thing indignation is another. Where the spirit of the Lord is….. There is balance. If fill my plate with just the right amount of this and other nutritious words I am healthy, strong and free. Liberty and justice for all. If I do not understand a little leven levens the whole good or bad I am not free