7 mistakes most leaders make

7 Mistakes Most Leaders MakeAnd how to avoid them...

www.leadingedgeperformance.org

http://www.leadingedgeperformance.org

http://www.leadingedgeperformance.org

7 Mistakes Most Leaders Make

Let’s face it, it’s hard being a leader

Most days being a leader is the most joyful, rewarding experience you can imagine. On other days the only thing you’re imagining is jumping out of the window (first floor of course) to escape the madness and frustration.

You’re scratching your head. What more you could do? Exactly how many more times do you have to explain what you are and are not looking for? How hard can it be?

While there is no magic formula, there are some very common, very impactful and very easy to overcome mistakes that I’ve seen so many leaders make over the years.

This report is for any leader wishing to take big leaps in performance, both for themselves and their team.

Love leading again.

Louise MallamLeading Edge Performance


1. They lead everyone else but themselves

You have to earn the right to lead others. Before you can expect excellence from people, you must first and foremost exhibit it yourself; not on the odd day, but consistently. Your consistent behaviour and emotional responses overtime become the culture, the prevailing ‘pulse’ that others look to emulate.

If you are experiencing persistent issues with people or teams in your organisation, you must first ask yourself, ‘what part am I playing in enabling or colluding with this behaviour?’ The environment you lead in is a reflection of your leadership. That’s a tough message, but also an empowering one, because now you can change it.

You don’t get to choose whether you’re a role model or not, just whether you’re a good one or not.


Ask yourself the following questions:1. How do you respond to interruption?2. How do you respond to change?3. Are you consistent and fair?4. Do you meet your deadlines?5. Are you humble e.g. admit mistakes and ask for help?6. How do you justify your story to yourself to paint yourself in a better light and

others in a worse light?7. What boxes have you put people in?8. What are you doing/saying or not doing/saying that’s role modelling poor

performance and behaviour?

“Example isn’t the best way to teach, it is the only way”Albert Einstein

When overcoming this mistake you must hold the mirror up and take an honest view of your own behaviour; the good, the bad and the ugly!

Don’t expect excellence from others until you exhibit it yourself. A 360 assessment is a powerful way to see yourself and send a signal to others that it’s important to you.


2. Focusing only on the negatives

Poor performance and behavioral issues are usually downstream impacts of people not feeling valued, respected, appreciated or understood, especially from the leader, who is always an important role model.

In an ideal world these emotional drivers wouldn’t play a part in the work environment, but in the real world they do, big time. We don’t stop being human, with our deep rooted needs and fears, when we turn up at the office, factory or boardroom.

This isn't to suggest we treat people like children, nor protect them from the tough messages they need to hear to be effective and develop, that’s the role of any leader, but first there must be trust and confidence built on a solid platform of self-belief.


A Two Week TestThe following may make you a little uneasy. Trust me, it works.

With the exception of issues that would constitute negligence, law breaking, business risk, misconduct or other serious issue, for a short period (a few weeks is usually enough), you need to overlook underperformance. To repeat, not if it puts your business at risk in any way, you need to exercise good judgment. But mostly, under performance doesn’t fall into these buckets, it’s usually annoying frustrations.

During this time, and of course beyond, make it a part of your daily activity instead to actively look for examples of positive behaviour, however small; an overheard customer call, a positive and creative input into a team meeting, staying behind a few minutes after a shift to finish up a query etc. If you’re looking for it, you’ll find it. As quickly as is practical, call it out. Deliver a genuine and authentic ‘well done’ or ‘thanks’. It doesn’t need to be a big song and dance, they just need to know that you noticed and that you appreciate it.

When you have 1:1s or more formal meetings, say again how much you appreciate whatever it was. You won’t always need to do this stage, and of course it needs to be genuine, not ticking a box to satisfy this list, but as you try to establish trust and show that you value the person, reinforcing it again is very powerful.

“I have yet to find the man, however exalted his station, who did not do

better work or put forth greater effort under a spirit of approval than

criticism.” Charles Schwab


3. Time and effort spent on under performers

I rarely come across a bigger waste of leader time then this. Not to imply that under performers should receive no attention, but in my experience when the focus is on under performers, middle performers start the slip backwards and top performers start to look for other jobs.

Think of your team as a convoy. If you’re focused on the under performers it has to travel at the speed of the slowest vehicle, causing the entire team to slow down. Manage underperformers and lead the rest, they will soon catch up, or leave, either way it’s their responsibility.

“The human race is fixed, not to prevent the strong

from winning but to prevent the weak from losing.”

Earl Nightingale


“If I had six hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend the

first four hours sharpening the axe.”

Abraham Lincoln

The most effective teams have as a minimum an equal weighting of where the leader's attention flows, and ideally more time and focus on the top performers.

Engagement filters down, not up. If you hyper-engage the top performers, there is a waterfall effect through the team, done the other way around there is not. Spend your time wisely.

◆ Manage under

performers

➢ Don’t let performance fall➢ Be clear on expectations

and consequences➢ Follow through and be

consistent

◆ Stretch high performers

➢ Delegate stretch assignments

➢ Empower decision making➢ Strengths Finder tool➢ Act as mentors to others


4. Team not consulted to shape plans

As the leader you can and should set the ‘what?’ and the ‘why?’ for the team. You set the course and have a clear understanding of why you, the team and the business needs to get there. If you can explain your vision and rationale most people will be on board. Where you can and should leverage the power of the team is in shaping the ‘how?’.

The power of the team...I hate to burst your bubble, but the team can answer ‘how?’ better than you can. If you’ve made great hiring decisions why wouldn’t you consult them? It shows trust, respect and humility and gets better outcomes than you alone.

“The leader sets the ‘what?’ and the ‘why?’ The team shapes the

‘how?’” Louise Mallam


Ask your team to help you shape the ‘how?’1.Who has faced this before?2.What risks are we overlooking?3.What will have the quickest impact?4.What advice would our customers give us?5.Who else is this dependent on?6.Who/which team will align and support this?7.Who/which team will oppose this?8.How can we overcome that?9.Who in our team has these skills?

10.Who in the team wants or needs to develop these skills?11.How can I help?12.How will I get in the way?13.Who is leading on this?

“When you were made a leader, you weren’t given a crown, you were given a responsibility to bring out the best in others.” Jack Welch

“Great plans come from many minds working together towards a

shared goal”


5. Leading through authority and power

This works in the short term, or in a crisis, but not in the long term as people struggle to feel appreciated, valued or understood and instead feel like 'a number'.

If you want a brilliant read on this, I highly recommend 'Turn The Ship Around‘ by David Marquet.

Leaders who lead through authority and power aren’t even leading, they’re managing, and not fulfilling their responsibilities in the role.

“You manage tasks and children, you lead people.” Louise Mallam

Environment is a direct reflection of leadership.

People choose to elevate their own performance if you stay out of the ‘combat zone’. You can still land very difficult messages, only in a way that invites change and improvement.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Turn-Ship-Around-Building-Breaking/dp/0241250943/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481796871&sr=8-1&keywords=%27Turn+The+Ship+Around%E2%80%98+by+David+Marquet.




Authority Influence…

‘I’m the boss, I’ve got the title, you do as I say’. In practice, it’s usually a lot more subtle than this (although sadly, not always). The leader wants a last minute report, a project update, to change the shift patterns, new business targets etc. – the report may or may not provide their own insights, inputs or maybe objections, but in the main, what the leader wants gets done because s/he is the leader, not necessarily because they have the best ideas or biggest priority. It blocks the best outcome.

Relationship Influence…

‘We’ve known/worked with each other for a while and I like and trust you’. It may have taken some time, but you’ve gotten to a stage where there is mutual trust and respect. You’ve ‘scratched each-others’ backs’ and the likability factor has grown as a result. At this stage, neither party wants to damage the relationship. As a leader, you seek out, listen and respond to inputs and look to come to mutually beneficial outcomes. The relationship supports you. It also distorts the best outcome.

Resonant Influence...

‘I’m looking for win/win outcomes. I’m prepared to see things from your side as well as mine. I will adapt my communication style to match yours so we’re on each others’ wavelength.’ It’s the key to getting on people’s wavelength no matter who they are in relation to you (with or without authority), how long you’ve known each other (may even be the first time) and how your styles match or mismatch that makes resonant influence the way high performing leaders get the best outcomes.

“The key to successful leadership today is

influence, not authority” Ken Blanchard


The problem with annual goals

1.There’s too much time to ‘take things easy’. 31st December feels a long way off on 1st February

2.It’s harder to predict the whole year, so the planning, the ‘how?’ is less clear

3.The illusion that in September something magical will happen and results will somehow improve

4.The mad dash in Q4 is stressful and manic

5.It’s just not engaging

6. Setting annualised goals

Most organisations set annual goals, metrics, KPIs etc.

Have you ever stopped to think why? Or more importantly, does it work?

Let’s assume the end of year is 31st December. What are October and November like compare to January and February? Is there the same sense of urgency? Do small slips in performance get the same attention? When is there a sense of ‘there’s time to catch up ’ versus ‘we need to really focus on this’?


‘The 12 Week Year’ by Brian Moran & Michael Lennington was one of the most important books I ever read.

I applied the thinking of setting 12 week goals to my teams and to my personal goals with big impacts. A must read for any leader.

12 week goals aren’t simply annual goals sliced into four, they stand alone as goals for that period. They drive ownership and responsibility and urgency which is very compelling.

This approach also leads to greater teamwork and pulling together, just as teams experience in the Q4 dash for the line, but everyday.

Harness the energy and focus of the usual Q4 ‘mad

dash to the line’ all year round in a way that’s

engaging and delivers bigger results

https://www.amazon.co.uk/12-Week-Year-Others-Months/dp/1118509234






7. Not prioritising coaching

Coaching is the silver bullet for any leader. It ticks every box from a human needs and drivers perspective. It demonstrates the value the leader places on the individual, allows the leader to recognise and appreciate the individual and to highlight areas of development that leads the growth and mastery.

“If you don’t already have a coaching

culture in your team, it should be your full

time job until you do.”

Coaching for Success

● Make coaching a priority and daily activity● Hold the coachee accountable for the commitments they make to you● Make cancelling a coaching session the very last resort, not the first thought● Plan your coaching sessions at least 4 weeks in advance● Good coaching leads to self-discovery of solutions and resources – ask smart

questions, limit advice● Ask another coach is he/she can observe you and give you feedback,

you can reciprocate● Coaching can be in the moment and ad hoc, or formal and

planned, both are powerful● Good coaching sets the tone for a solutions

oriented team, rather than a problem oriented team


Louise Mallam © 2017 All rights reserved.Under no circumstances should this document be sold, copied, or reproduced in any way except when you have received written permission.

The author does not accept any liability or responsibility for any loss suffered from the reader’s use of the advice, recommendation, information, assistance or service, to any extent available by law.

www.leadingedgeperformance.org

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