Companies
rise and fall on leadership. Period. And there are five areas that the
best senior leaders tend to focus their attention. It’s no surprise that
these same areas are where unsuccessful senior leaders make critical
mistakes.
These
are the most critical mistakes, because by the time the leader or other
senior managers can understand what has happened, there is massive
momentum heading towards a discouraging future.
The Research
Robert
S. Hartman, a Nobel Prize Nominee, devotes his efforts to helping
people maximize their leadership potential, understand their thinking
and prioritize team dynamics. Through his study of The Science of
Axiology (a scientific approach to how people make value judgments in
leadership situations), Hartman has developed a valuable assessment
tool.
Throughout
his research, he noted that high-performance leaders selectively place
importance on some information while neglecting other information. The
result is criteria for decision-making. After surveying and assessing
over 1000 top leaders worldwide, he found a pattern of consistent
attention and regular lack of attention to vital areas of leadership.
What
follows are The Five Most Common Mistakes Of High Performance Leaders,
inspired from the research of Robert Hartman, and from decades of my
performance consulting, coaching and leadership training.
Five Critical Mistakes that Thwart High-Performance Leaders
1. Lack Of Consistency And Conformity
Although
most senior leaders will profess that consistency and conformity are
top priorities for the growth and scaling of their company, in practice
many leaders demonstrate and/or embody a different message. Conformity
is usually a paradox in growing corporations, where thinking outside the
box is heavily encouraged. And consistency could even be a joke –
depending on how much rapid growth is occurring at an organization – it
is not uncommon for a trend of “fire fighting” to take hold as the
company culture.
To
avoid this mistake: Messaging how important systems and procedures are
to your team, even in rapid growth, is essential. Systems and procedures
maintain brand, product, customer service and other departmental
consistency to the customer. Internal attention to having growth spurts
be individual stages that get gelled back into the corporate structure
will pay huge dividends.
2. Lack Of “Strategy Follow Through” Discipline
It
is tough to choose a strategic direction, see less then favorable
results, and stay the course. The innate human instinct is to jump ship
quickly before the ship goes down!
However,
more often than not that the problem is not the strategy, but the
tactical execution of it. Top leaders often look for the “right”
strategy, and although there are likely stratospheres of probability for
strategic outcomes, world class leaders focus on execution and
course-correction of a strategic direction before abandoning ship.
Having the discipline to continue the course-correction process,
particularly through the ability to ask probing questions, results in
solutions. This is how we solve problems that are real versus solving
problems that are an extrapolation of a probable outcome.
To
avoid this mistake: Consider the best case, worst case and possible
unexpected forks in the road ahead of time. Work with your team to
create the expectation of long-term commitment to a strategy – even
through tough times. Focus on the execution of a strategy chosen and
avoid the temptation to keep returning to the drawing board!
3. Lack Of Mission, Vision, Values
There
are very few companies where one could walk into a random office, ask
team members to recite the Mission, Vision, Values of the company, and
have them actually recall something even similar to the document
prominently displayed in the lobby. Yet, this offers the most compelling
barometer for all decision-making and emotional engagement of your
team. The No. 1 reason the team is not related to the company Mission,
Vision, Values is because the leader is not connected to it.
When
a leader is disconnected from, not embodying or not presenting the
Mission, Vision, Values of the company frequently – in meetings, emails
and at corporate events – the entire culture begins to slide. Team
cohesion and focus wane, perhaps not all together but surely from the
optimum state, and you end up with disengagement and dissatisfaction in
the company.
To
avoid this mistake: Create a daily habit that connects you with the
Mission, Vision and Values of the company. As the leading beacon for the
company, this is the leader's primary driver, and should be consistently
present in both physical and psychological form all day long. If you
find that your documented Mission, Vision and Values no longer ring
true, make it a priority to update them to ones that you and your entire
company can get behind.
4. Lack Of Instilling Responsibility And Integrity
There are two common mistakes that thwart the interest in increasing self-ownership and high accountability in companies.
The
first is “Leadership by Friendship.” We all know that a leader who
interacts with their team by being the “best buddy” or friend will often
fail to make good judgments, hard decisions and key shifts at important
inflection points. Most Senior Leaders ask themselves, “How can I get
my team to take higher levels of Self Ownership and Accountability?” but
often sacrifice what they want most in an attempt to avoid upsetting
the “culture.” Once the leader has allowed accountability to drift and
get sloppy, the rest of management follows and results inevitably
suffer.
The
second common mistake that thwarts instilling responsibility and
integrity is “Leadership by Fear.” Commonly taking the form of
passive-aggressive or simply aggressive interaction, communication and
actions, this model requires constant attention and energy by the
leader. This model primarily inputs scarcity into the culture – leading
to a “good enough to not get your head bitten off” model. The carrot and
the stick are only part of the equation that causes self-ownership and
high accountability:
Clear Expectation + Owner Agreement + Rewards & Consequences = Ownership And High Accountability
To
avoid this mistake: Setting an example of clear, actionable
expectations, soliciting agreement from your team and having a published
and clear set of Rewards & Consequences will instill
responsibility.
5. Little Fostering Of Innovation, Innovative Thinking And Change
How
does this jive with Mistake No. 1? Well, along with the need for
systems, procedures, conformity and consistency, a company will also
need a high level of innovation, innovative thinkers and a drive for
constant change.
From
a politically correct standpoint, every leader will tell you that they
encourage out of the box thinking, or innovative thinking. In practice,
many company cultures instill a sense of fear for stepping too far out,
really being a true innovator, or creating change. Even if some
innovation is allowed, the leader must decide how far down the chain of
command there is willingness for innovation and change.
To
avoid this mistake: Top companies and leaders have designed systems
that support innovation and for employees and key execs to have the
experience of their input actually impacting the company (and possibly
strategic decisions). A top leader can avoid a stagnant company by
fostering innovation from every person at the company and openly
rewarding those that contribute.
