What are the big leadership sins?

Two questions could be describing the same problematic relationship:

1. My manager is hopeless – constantly interrupting, always telling me how to do things (the inefficient way he does), never listening to me and rarely, if ever, acknowledging the work that I do.

2. One of my staff is unresponsive, moody and despite a great CV, is turning out to be unsuitable for the job.

There are some common sins managers make that disempower staff and make them seem moody and unresponsive, and this is often the case with baby boomer managers and Gen Y or Gen X staff, but not always.

Here are the classic sins that too many leaders don’t realise can turn a fabulous employee into a frustrated poor performer. If you manage others, can you honestly go through this list and be 100% sure you’ve never committed any of these sins?

1. Failing to agree on how manager and staff will work together

A lot of managers feel they’re being really helpful, making suggestions, coming up with ideas. The mistake here is that they haven’t sat down in the first place and said: “Okay, how would you like me to give feedback? Would you like me to make suggestions?” And even more importantly: “What do you know about this?”.

2. Not empowering staff to do their work effectively

Managers need to recognise how annoying it is to continually interrupt someone when they’re focused on their work. Micro-managing is very disempowering.

3. Not recognising and acknowledging good work

A lot of managers and leaders fail to recognise good work. They need to say something like: “Thanks for the great work. Gee, you did a really good job here”.

4. Not respecting the personal space of others

One of the really big leadership sins is to invade somebody’s personal space. This may be standing behind somebody, watching them work on the computer, getting too close to them… even searching through things on their desk.

5. Being rigid and inflexible

Avoid being rigid about the way things are done… just because that’s the way it’s always been done. Managers need to be open to the way that people do things. They may have a new way of doing something that is an improvement.

6. Not understanding body language cues, so not recognising the impact of own behaviour on others

Many people are oblivious to the impact of their own behaviour on others. They see the negative body language of another person but are often unaware that it’s their own behaviour that’s causing the reaction.

7. Not listening and speaking in a patronising way

Not listening is one of the biggest mistakes a manager can make. And to be patronising, and talk over the top of somebody, makes it even worse. Managers need to show interest in what others have to say.

8. Assuming the reason for someone’s behaviour – not asking and checking

Making an assumption about why someone is behaving in a certain way can be problematic, as the assumption may be wrong. It’s important to ask questions about what is wrong, or why a person feels the way they do.

Eve Ash is author of Rewrite Your Life! and Rewrite Your Relationships! and producer of the DVD Leadership Sins, a 2009 release from the DIFFICULT PEOPLE & SITUATIONS series by SEVEN DIMENSIONS www.7dimensions.com.au

For more Eve Ash advice, click here.