EADERSHIP- 10 Mistakes Leaders Should Make

1-30-2012

I was driving to work the other day and the morning show hosts were doing a bit on a list someone created called ?10 Mistakes Everyone Should Make Before They Die?. While it was a lame bit, that, along with an email from reader Tim Eyre, gave me the idea for this blog post. Here are 10 mistakes every leader should make - and learn from - before passing on.
It?s been proven over and over again leadership development is all about experience. We learn from job changes, stretch assignments, other people, and other more formal ways (courses, books, blogs, etc?). It?s those experiences that are the hardest ? those ?developmental challenges? ? that we can learn the most from. Lominger calls it ?developmental heat?.
A great way to assess someone during an interview is to ask about mistakes they?ve made. You?re looking for signs of self-awareness, humility, resiliency, and learning agility. The most successful people ? those ?A players? ? can be remarkably candid and insightful about their mistakes and failures. However, the thing that sets them apart from those that just have a history of screwing up is that they always learn from their mistakes. They take a risk ? fall down ? pick themselves up and dust themselves off ? reflect on what they?ve learned ? learn new skills and behaviors, and incorporate them into their leadership repertoire.
They don?t point fingers, place blame, or make excuses ? they own up and learn how not to do it again. Of course, it helps that they have a nice healthy track record of accomplishments to off-set those occasional mistakes.

I once heard an experienced manager call this ?earning your scars?.

OK, so when it comes to leadership mistakes, mistakes are good, right? The more the merrier!
Here?s 10 that every leader should make and learn from:
1. Take too long to fire a problem performer. This is probably the number one regret I hear the most, from seasoned executives to new team leaders. They waited too long to take action on a poor performer. They had their head in the sand in denial, thought they could perform a miracle and save the employee, or were aware of it and just didn?t want to face it.

2. Putting too much emphasis on credentials and experience in a hiring decision and not enough on personality and cultural fit. Been there, done that. It was my very first hiring decision. Candidate A has a Master?s degree and 10 years? experience. However, former manager warned me about a ?little temper problem?. Candidate B had no degree and limited experience ? but great relationship building skills and was seen as high potential. I hired A ? and it was a disaster. B was later promoted to department manager. Lesson learned.
3. Not having a vision. Without a clear and compelling vision, it?s hard for teams or organizations to have a clear sense of purpose, priority, or mission. It?s just day-to-day, business as usual, and reactive. Too many new leaders overlook ?the vision thing?, perhaps because it?s too intangible or misunderstood. It?s also hard to connect the dots of operational problems back to not having a vision.
4. Not managing upwards. A lot of leaders operate under the assumption that ?no news is good news?, or ?my performance speaks for itself? when it comes to their relationship with their hands-off or busy boss. While the autonomy may be nice, it?s important to keep your manager informed of your team's accomplishments, and to build a solid relationship that can be leveraged when needed. It?s a bad assumption to assume your boss is aware of your good work and will be an advocate for your function when the going gets tough.

5. Overrelying on a few strengths and not paying attention to development. It?s all too easy to continue to fall back to the same handful of strengths that got you to where you are. However, without continuous development, you?ll soon stop growing and fall behind. The best leaders are always aware of their deficiencies and are always working to learn and get better.
6. Not listening. This one?s often a blind spot for leaders, and sometimes takes a two-by-four across the side of the head to get them to realize it?s a problem. Usually it?s a major screw-up as a result of not paying attention to what people are trying to tell them, some strong 360 data, turnover of key personal, or some kind of other pain that will turn them into a reformed poor listener.

7. Trying to be liked by everyone. Leaders can?t be their employee?s friends, and leading change usually means ruffling someone?s feathers. Being a leader means requires developing a thick skin and being able to take the heat without taking it personally.

8. Not asking for help. Driving around lost for hours because you?ve got too much pride to ask for directions might make a funny beer commercial, but as a leader, it can have disastrous consequences. At a minimum, it?s incredibly annoying when a leader just can?t admit when they don?t know how to do something.

9. Ignoring your peers. Some leaders make the mistake of only paying attention to their boss and employees (looking up and down), but fail to look sideways. The inability to build coalitions will prevent a leader from getting the cooperation and support needed in order to solve cross-functional problems or lead change.
10. Not seeking or being open to feedback. Two of my favorite ?Good Things Bosses Believe?, from Bob Sutton: ?I have a flawed and incomplete understanding of what it feels like to work for me? and ?Because I wield power over others, I am at great risk of acting like an insensitive jerk ? and not realize it?.
Wow, that list was way too easy to write! I have no idea where they came from??

However, I?ll bet it?s incomplete. What are some other mistakes that every leader needs to make in order to ?earn their scars??

Dan McCarthy has been in the field of leadership development for over 20 years. He is currently the Director of Executive Development Programs at the University of New Hampshire's Whittemore School of Business and Economics (WSBE). Reach Dan by e-mail at daniel.mccarthy@unh.edu
Dan's website is www.greatleadershipbydan.com

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EADERSHIP Creating Conditions For Innovation

by Rich Wellins
In the past year, innovation has risen to the top of the business agenda. With the recession out of the way, corporations are refocusing on looking for new ways to grow. It seems not a day goes by that the major media writes (or broadcasts) stories in innovation. And, it has become more than just an imperative for our corporations, it has become a matter of national pride?or not.

Some research shows that the U.S is losing its innovative edge to emerging economies. China, for example, is pouring a ton of state funds into programs, investments, and technology that foster innovation. Just coming back from Singapore in mid November, I read an article in The Straits Times where the CEO of IDEO, a leading innovation consulting firm, blames the lack of Singapore?s progress on risk-aversion leadership. He felt that the emphasis on having KPI?s (Key Performance Indicators) for just about everything was taking ?the breath out of innovation?.
The question we want to address here is the role of leadership in innovation. In speaking on the topic around the world, I often ask audiences if the role of leadership is to innovate. The answer is usually no, but to foster a culture of innovation. They are partially wrong. It?s hard to imagine an organization with a team of leaders who are innovateless (a new word!). Imagine Apple without Steve Jobs. I just interviewed Carlos Goshen, Nissan?s CEO. He is leading the charge on zero emission technology.
But they are right that innovation cannot flourish without leaders creating the conditions to make it happen. From 3-M sticky pads to Gillett?s Five Blade shaving system, most new ideas do not originate from the top. The type of leader who can create the right environment is part ?personality?. Risk aversion, lack of receptivity to feedback, and arrogance are not the type of personality patterns we need for innovation leaders. However, our belief is that it also can be a skill. Innovation leaders must inspire curiosity, constantly challenge the status quo, create the freedom to explore and experiment, and finally help drive the execution of the most promising new ideas.
In a new research report, ?Creating the Conditions for Sustainable Innovation,? (read the summary HERE) we recently asked 513 leaders around the world, to rate their own skill level on 20 separate innovation behaviors. If you believe these leaders, we have nothing to worry about. The majority of leaders feel they are darn good at:
? Urging their employees to stay close to their customers
? Being open to new ideas from their employees
? Frequently sponsor brainstorming activities with their teams
? Help employees learn from mistakes and failures.
But before we get too happy, a totally different picture is painted when we ask 514 employees the very same questions about their leaders. In almost every one of the 20 items there is a 20-30% agreement gap between leaders and employees. In other words, the majority of employees feel their leaders are not doing a very good job at all at inspiring a culture of innovation.
There is a happy ending to this story. While it can be tricky, but not impossible, to teach leaders to be more innovative, it is probable we can develop the skills to make them innovation culture changers. We can teach leaders how to help their employees learn from mistakes. We can teach leaders a whole range of techniques to foster generation and evaluation of new ideas. We can teach leaders how they reinforce and recognize bottom-up innovation. If corporation can get every leader using these skills their innovation hit rate will sky rocket. And, if we can get every leader in our respective economies using these skills, it will likely be a lasting source of national competitive advantage.

Rich Wellins, Ph.D. is senior vice president of Development Dimensions International (DDI), and is an expert on leadership development, employee engagement and talent management. He is responsible for launching DDI?s new products and services, leading DDI?s Center for Applied Behavioral Research (CABER) and its major research projects and developing and executing DDI?s global marketing strategy.

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