“Leadership: the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.” – President Dwight D. Eisenhower This week, I am pleased to announce a new 9-part series entitled: “The Seven Deadly Sins of Leadership.” Thousands of readers pursued our most recent blog series “The 8 Steps to Sure Success”. It was so successful and popular to our readers that it motivated me to begin composing another multi-part series. This week’s article is a brief introduction to the impending series about the Seven Deadly Sins of modern business leaders. I’m confident in my opinion that most of us have, at one time or another, worked for a “bad” leader. I can recall several situations in which I literally despised my boss or “leader” at work! I employ a veteran of the US military and he once told me about a quote. One of his drill instructors barked at the recruits during recruit training. The drill instructor told his platoon, “A good leader never requires his troops to engage in work that he is not willing to do himself.” How many times has your boss given you a directive that you know deep down that they would never do themselves? I can think of countless times this has happened through the years! Nothing loses respect of subordinates like a boss that barks orders. Especially ones they’d never do themselves if the roles were reversed! Being a leader is probably the most difficult challenge any of us will ever face. At least during the course of our professional careers. It matters not how long we work at it, but practicing the proper behaviors is a never-ending task. Knowing and evading misguided behaviors is also never-ending. Therefore, over the next several months we will discuss the Seven Deadly Sins of Leadership and how to avoid them! Peter Drucker was once quoted as saying that “management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” Great leaders possess sensational social intelligence, the drive for change, and above all, a vision that grants them the ability to set their sights on the issues that truly merit attention. It would be irresponsible if we didn’t at least try to include these skill sets in our leadership quiver! So be sure to check in next week as we discuss the first Deadly Sin of Leadership – RELEVANCE. ...
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Most of you reading this are familiar with the phrase, “The Seven Deadly Sins” as they are commonly referred to. Such sins include: greed, lust, gluttony, pride, wrath, sloth, and envy. I do not wish to compose an article about those sins. Rather, over the course of the next several weeks, I am going to address another list of deadly sins – The Seven Deadly Sins of Leadership! Such pitfalls are ones that a great leader must avoid. There are many leadership mistakes that are worthy of mention but are survivable…and then there are the ones I consider “deadly.” We learned that General Motors was recently forced to issue a massive recall of hundreds of thousands of vehicles, yet, it’s stock is strong and there is no concern for GM’s or their CEO, Mary Barra’s future. Now, compare that negative news with Donald Sterling, the longtime owner of the Los Angeles Clippers. All of those years of successful ownership status were instantly washed-away by an indiscreet and undisciplined tongue during private conversation. Or, consider the former CEO of Mozilla, Brendan Eich. He was considered a smart and highly successful leader of his company. His mistake was writing a $1,000 check in support of California’s Proposition 8. No one knows, no one cares, right? Wrong. Once the mainstream media caught-wind of his fiscal support for Prop-8, he was forced to resign. The modern age of hyper-political correctness can be extremely toxic for today’s business leaders. Leadership in the modern business-world exists in quite a toxic environment. My goal is to help keep those toxins from poisoning your future, so let’s go! The first of seven deadly sins of leadership is RELEVANCY. General Motors CEO, Mary Barra’s position is safe and secure. She admitted to the faulty ignition switch that can inadvertently turn-off the passenger’s side airbag. It’s been reported that more than a dozen deaths have resulted from that faulty ignition switch. However, Barra was hailed as a competent leader and was even praised for her handling of the crisis. The recall will cost GM hundreds of millions of dollars and several dead costumers. Yet, she keeps her job with praise! Compare that to Brendan Eich’s sending $1,000 check to a cause he privately supported in which no one was killed or injured, yet he was tossed out of his job. So why the dramatic contrast? One word – RELEVANCY. Mozilla is not in the business to form or persuade public opinion with respect to gay rights or gay marriage. And the thousand dollar check revealed a breach in relevancy as perceived by the stockholders. You may wonder, how do you stay relevant? 1. Know your focus. Know your business, your customers, your bottom-line, and especially your job! 2. Stay away from the flash points that stoke the emotional fires on both sides of your...
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Whether you’re starting a franchise, a non-profit, a commercial retail store, a church or an ice cream shop, the one MUST word for your success is PASSION! Passion in the dictionary refers to a range of “feelings” and relates to our emotions: love, rage, anger, or affection. It explains the success of great leaders who are driven to pursue excellence within their business. Also, it explains why many of those successful leaders can be almost volatile in their anger at those who don’t see the vision or who perform poorly. If you are passionate about your work, you will find it difficult to calmly tolerate the poor performance of others! Our second deadly sin of leadership is the word “DISPASSIONATE.” This is not the absence of passion or the opposite of passion. Rather, it refers to one who is not affected by emotion. These kinds of people are usually much easier to work for, but they seldom are the key players in a business’ success. Weak leaders would rather be liked by others than be profoundly successful. Good leaders are passionate about succeeding regardless of the fallout from their passion. Great leaders are passionate both about their business AND the people who help them achieve success. It is my goal to help you become a truly GREAT leader. The starting point is that all-consuming drive to be the best or provide the best in what you do. If you are more passionate about anything else, do that instead. Do not enter business with second-class desire, you’ll get third-rate results. Now, to be fair there are those who entered business mostly because they needed money. But if they succeeded, it was the result of one of two things. Either they were VERY HUNGRY and saw their work as the means to feed themselves and their family, or they were VERY PASSIONATE and were baptized in desire to succeed. Both are related to each other. Hunger and passion are both powerful drivers. My father once took me grocery shopping in his new motor home. Dad took me grocery shopping and wanted to show off his new 38′ quarter-of-a-million dollar motor home. He asked me to pick out anything I wanted. I showed up with a few items, including some juice. He looked at the juice and said, “Put that back and get the generic brand.” I responded, “Dad, there’s only a few cents difference between the two brands, and this brand tastes better.” There in the shopping aisle, I got a 5-minute lecture about pinching pennies. I said, “But, Dad, you drove me here in an expensive motor home, and you’re quibbling about a few pennies?” He replied, “Yes, and that’s how I got that motor home, by watching my pennies.” If you have never felt that kind of emotion about how your business is being run...
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The word “HYPOCRITE” means “one who acts in a manner that is not in person“. In plain language, a hypocrite is one who says one thing but does another. Hypocrisy has to do with repetitious behavior, the “act“. An actor plays the entire performance as another person, never in their “own skin“, so to speak. In leadership, repetitious behavior – the “ACT”, is what the followers, employees and stockholders notice. There are three significant areas where we find these deadly sins of leadership: THE OFFICE MORAL CULTURE: Your private moral life should be YOUR business, not the company’s, but it’s not. What you do in secret, if discovered, will impact the business and the perception the public has of the company. Those are facts. Recently I spoke with five unemployed CEO’s. Four of them lost their jobs because of a climate of sexual promiscuity at the executive level. When your romantic interests get the most bandwidth among employees and co-workers, someone is out of focus. Again, someone has lost sight of the big picture. You were either hired to steer the business or you started the company to perform a service or produce a product. Unless your business is a brothel in Las Vegas, you had better keep your moral compass strong. Keep your focus clear of physical temptations. Now, your love life is YOUR business. I’m just telling you that office affairs are dangerous, divorces are expensive and reputations can get stained. FINANCIAL HYPOCRISY: In the corporate world, financial integrity is even more respected than private life morality. I suppose that’s partly due to the over-importance we tend to place on wealth. But as a leader you want people to be able to say that they trust you with their spouse, their kids, and their wallet! Cooking the books, double standards, outright lies and deception – all testify to the greed that is in our hearts. The headlines abound with even highly-respected financial institutions world-wide who have been victimized by greed. You must learn to view your business as an institution of trust. People know that underhanded things occur in nearly all businesses, even in trusted institutions as banks, churches, law-enforcement, and schools. But when hypocrisy is exposed, it is not so much the presence of wrong as it is the deception and cover-up that agitate the common man. Again, it’s understood that flawed humans run our businesses and institutions. It is also understood that hypocritically deceiving the public or attempting to deceive the employees is nothing but an exit strategy or a career killer. LOYALTY TOWARDS EMPLOYEES: The final hypocrisy is that of the boss playing “C.Y.A:” The disloyalty of a boss towards his employees in an attempt to blame or finger-point to draw attention away from his affairs, his financial failings, his inept leadership, or his plain old human mistakes....
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