Editor's note: John H. "Jack" Zenger
is the co-founder and CEO of Zenger Folkman. He is a world expert in
the field of leadership development, and is a highly respected and
sought after speaker, consultant and executive coach. Joe Folkman
is co-founder and president of Zenger Folkman. He is a respected
authority on assessment and change, an acclaimed keynote speaker, and
best-selling author.
London (CNN) -- In 1989 Steven R Covey wrote a
business and self-help book titled, "The Seven Habits of Highly
Effective People." It became a chartbuster that influenced millions to
believe that those seven habits would make them better leaders. In fact,
these would make them highly effective leaders.
However, great leadership
isn't only about what you are doing right. It is also about what you're
not doing wrong. Just as there are habits that make leaders effective,
there are habits that cripple them.
From the first day we
published our research on strengths-based leadership, we have also
stressed the importance of fixing the terrible habits we refer to as
"fatal flaws."
Jack Zenger
We found that when a
manager possessed just one of these fatal flaws they had an extremely
slim chance of making it into the top tier of leadership in their
organization. Possessing two or more virtually guaranteed that they
would not be in the top echelon of leaders.
Joseph Folkman
We analyzed data from
more than 52,000 leaders to determine which habits frequently received
low scores. We sought to understand those behaviors that best
differentiated between the worst leaders (e.g. the bottom 10%) versus
all other leaders.
In other words, we
identified the habits that were millstones around the leader's neck and
were most likely to cause them to sink to the bottom of the heap. Then
we identified the items that had the most significant negative impact on
employee engagement and led to failure in their current job. What
emerged were 20 items that clustered in seven very bad habits.
Here's the list in order, from the least to the most fatal:
Failure to Coach and Develop Others
Ineffective leaders get
into the habit of focusing only on getting their jobs done. They fail to
show concern for the development of a group of people who can get the
job done in an ever more competitive world, and who will take over when
they are no longer around.
Bad Role Model
Less effective leaders
get in the habit of saying one thing and doing another. They firmly
believe that it is appropriate to have one set of rules that apply to
themselves and a different set of rules that apply to team members.
After all, they are the boss. But this has a greater consequence than
they think. Subordinates keep score of the number of times the leader
says one thing and then does another.
Less effective leaders get in the habit of saying one thing and doing another
Jack Zenger and Joe Folkman
Jack Zenger and Joe Folkman
Lack of Strategic Perspective
Ineffective leaders
develop the habit of only looking down -- they fail to look up or out.
They are less comfortable considering the bigger picture or peering over
a three-to-five year horizon. Having become comfortable in this small
arena, it is hard to break away from their myopic view. This
shortsightedness causes team members to focus only on the task at hand
rather than the vision and mission of the organization.
Prefer Working Independently Instead of Collaborating
Ineffective leaders get
into the habit of working independently. It requires less effort than
collaborating with their peers. They so much enjoy having their own turf
and building a silo in which to live that they fail to see the most
important work occurs horizontally in an organization.
Resist Goals and Improvement
The twin demons of
ineffective leaders are arrogance and complacency. These leaders develop
a terrible habit of avoiding any personal development. They believe
they must be wonderful or they wouldn't have been promoted into a
position of leadership. Worse yet, they conclude that they have reached
their "peak" and self-development or stretch goals aren't necessary, or
that they are beneath them.
Poor Communication
These leaders were not
skilled at communicating insights and understanding of the issues or
problems. Additionally, they struggled to provide others with any sense
of direction or purpose. They either didn't take the time or couldn't
communicate how their work contributed to the broader business
objectives. When they do communicate it is a one-way channel with a loud
speaker, but no listening device.
The number one most devaluing quality of ineffective leaders is their failure to motivate subordinates
Failure to Inspire and Motivate Others
The number one most
devaluing quality of ineffective leaders is their failure to motivate
subordinates. Most leaders now how to push to get results, but fewer
understand how to pull. Leaders with this bad habit of only pushing and
not pulling, were described as autocratic and micro-managing. Others
were described as unenthusiastic and passive. Energizing people and
inspiring them to high levels of performance is the most challenging
struggle for these ineffective leaders.
These sound like obvious
flaws that any leader would try to fix. Would it surprise you to know
that the ineffective leaders we studied were frequently oblivious to
their own bad habits? They consistently rated themselves more positively
in these areas than others did, and usually by a wide margin. They were
suffering from self-awareness deprivation.
Maybe it is time to take
a moment and analyze if you possess any of these fatal flaws or ask for
candid feedback on your performance in these specific areas. There are
many glowing habits that make a career successful, but beware of the
ones that can make you fail.
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