Hello, and welcome to the Leadership Done Right Podcast, Episode 49: Top 10 Causes of Leadership Failure. Every day is a gift so I hope you are doing well and enjoying life wherever it is that you are listening to this episode!
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Sneak Peek
I really enjoy watching ESPN’s Sports Center and my favorite part is the Top 10 and Not Top 10. So, for this week’s episode, I am going to do the Top 10 Causes of Leadership Failure. But first…
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Top 10 Causes of Leadership Failure
Alright, leaders and businesses fail due to a number of reasons, but there are some common contributing factors. Today, I am going to share the Top 10 Causes of Leadership Failure that I gathered from fellow leaders, friends, credible leadership websites, and my own experiences.
10. Talk More Than Listen
At number 10, leadership fails when leaders talk more than they listen. Have you ever been around someone that talked and talked and talked some more? That person seems to have a story for every situation, experience, or background that is discussed, AND they tell everyone what they know and how they feel about everything.
At first this starts out as a small annoyance, but it can eventually become a big frustration. When leaders talk more than they listen, their followers often disconnect from them and become less responsive to their recommendations.
Additionally, when leaders don’t listen to others, they fail to learn what they don’t know. This creates blinds spots because they can’t learn what they don’t know.
9. Have All the Answers or They are a Know-It-All
Number nine, leaders fail when they have all the answers and are a know-it-all. Nobody wants to be around people that think they know everything. Know-it-alls seem to have an answer for everything and they are always right, even if they are not right. That know-it-all mentality is very annoying and even a put-off to those they lead.
I remember someone like that when I was in high school. I would tell him about everything I could think of that he shouldn’t know about, and he magically knew more than me about it. Even if it was something that was personal to me. That was super annoying!
8. Slow or Can’t Make Decisions
Every follower wants a leader that can make decisions. They want someone they can count on to be quick on their feet. For number eight, leaders fail when they are very slow to make decisions or just flat out can’t make them.
This is really a key to being a good leader. Often leaders think they need to know everything before they can make a decision. No leader, regardless of their experience or background can know everything. It just isn’t possible.
I was talking to someone recently and he asked me, “How much must a leader know to guarantee the outcome of their decision?” Well, think about that for a moment… No leader can guarantee the outcome of their decision because there are always variables. No plan can account for every single possible variable and be right.
When leaders get paralysis of analysis, it just frustrates all those they lead and stops progress. Leaders must make weigh out the consequences of their decisions based on the risks and make the decision.
7. Focus on Themselves and NOT the Team
Every great leader knows that there is no I in team. Number seven is that leaders fail when they focus on themselves and not the team. I’ve seen this when leaders brag about their own accomplishments, focus only on their own success, and put their own needs first by focusing only on what’s best for them.
Great leaders focus on their team. When the team succeeds, they succeed. When the team fails, they fail. They know that their success or failure is dependent on the success or failure of the team.
6. Tell People What to Do Without a Clear Why or They Micromanage
We’ve all probably had an experience where we were asked to do something and we didn’t know why, but we did it anyway. We did it to be a good follower and because we trusted the leader. Number six, leaders fail when they tell people what to do without a clear “why” or they micromanage. Every once in a while it is fine to not have a clear why, but when that is the norm AND the leader micromanages, it can be unbearable. It is so much easier to be a good follower when we know why, we’re given trust to act, and then we return and report.
Break
Now, we are going to take a quick break for our sponsors and when we come back, we will go through the top 5 causes of leadership failure.
5. Don’t Promote Ideas That Aren’t Their Own
Alright welcome back! Have you ever come up with a great idea and took it to your boss, only to get shut down? When you dig more into why, you don’t get a clear answer. Instead, you hear a bunch of reasons that don’t make sense or add up. For number five, leaders fail when they don’t promote ideas that aren’t their own.
I had a great leader in my late teens/early 20’s that always said his focus was on getting the best solution, not the credit. That’s the best mentality! For leaders to be great, they must identify and promote the best idea regardless of whether or not it was originally their idea.
4. Don’t Set Clear Expectations or a Vision
Number four, leaders fail when they don’t set clear expectations or a vision. I really like the verse Proverbs 29:18 that says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” When leaders don’t have clear expectations or a vision their followers will follow them for a time, but not for long. People follow others when they have a clear vision, purpose, and resulting expectations.
When I was younger in my career, I had a leader that always said let’s do, “XYZ.” I would ask questions to clarify and his response was always, “Go give it your best shot and we’ll go from there!” I would then go and do my very best to create a great final product. When I would bring it back to him, he would ask me to change almost everything. This was very disheartening because I always felt like all my hard work was a waste of effort. Since there was no clear direction at the start, I would go in what I felt was the best direction and then got shut down at the end. This is not a good way to lead.
3. Blame Others For Failures and Take All Credit For Successes
Number three, leaders fail when they blame others for the failures and take all the credit for the successes. If you’ve ever worked under a leader like this before, you’ll know that it is really easy to spot this type of leader. They do everything they can to leave themselves an out if things don’t go well. They are very non-committal and don’t take responsibility for their actions if there is even a chance of a negative outcome.
These types of leaders lose their team very quickly because each team member realizes they will likely be the fall person in the future when things go wrong. And, no one wants to be the fall guy in a bad situation.
2. No Integrity
Coming in at number two, leaders fail when they have no integrity. This is manifest in several ways. For some, it is a small lie here or there. For others, it is unfairness. There are also many other ways this is manifest. At the root of it though, is the desire to deceive or cheat others so they can get gain.
This shows up a lot in the news when leaders get caught doing something immoral, unethical, or just flat out wrong. The first example that comes to mind is Scott Thompson who was the CEO of Yahoo for a little while. He lied on his resume and said he had education that he didn’t have. When Yahoo found out, they fired him as the CEO. To try to save face, he blamed the headhunter firm for the mistake. They didn’t like that so they published the resume that Scott provided. It was clear they received his resume with the incorrect educational information. Since that time I haven’t heard or seen him in the news, but I imagine that with those two big errors in judgment, no one is going to want to hire him.
More recently, when I lived in Victorville I knew a lady that worked for a boss that was a fraud. Unfortunately, she didn’t know it until she was wrapped up in his scheming and it was too late. Because she worked for him, she unknowingly was an accomplice to his fraud and ended up spending a year in prison.
Ultimately, leaders without integrity will likely bring down themselves, their organizations, and others through their unethical behaviors.
1. Disrespect For Those They Lead and Those They Represent
Now for the number one cause of leadership failure. Drum roll please… the number one reason why leaders fail is because of disrespect for those they lead and those they represent.
There’s a saying that people don’t leave good companies, they leave bad bosses. People may stick around for a little while when they are disrespected by a leader, but they will actively try to find something different until they can get out.
Similarly when leaders disrespect those they represent, they damage the organization’s reputation. Often, this can go on undetected for a long time.
Disrespect can be manifest in many ways. Rude comments, mean treatment, and bullying are just a few.
Wrap-up
So there you have it, the Top 10 Causes of Leadership Failure! Just to recap, they are:
10. Talk More Than Listen
9. Have All the Answers/Know-It-All
8. Slow or Can’t Make Decisions
7. Focus on Themselves and NOT the Team
6. Tell People What to Do Without a Clear Why or They Micromanage
5. Don’t Promote Ideas That Aren’t Their Own
4. Don’t Set Clear Expectations or a Vision
3. Blame Others For Failures and Take All Credit For Successes
2. No Integrity
1. Disrespect For Those They Lead and Those They Represent
Now, I know none of us are perfect, but we should all do our best to avoid these causes of leadership failure.
Conclusion
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