Why learn from the best when you can learn from the worst?
According to research it’s not easy to preside over business failure because you need 5 of these 7 habits. [www.whysmartexecutivesfail.com]
The 7 habits of conspicuously bad --- though highly intelligent-- leaders are:
1. Bad Leaders see themselves as dominating the environment.
Smart leaders know that in business, circumstances always change and success is fleeting. Smart execs adapt to the environment; they don’t pretend to control it.
2. Bad Leaders confuse their personal interests with the company’s interests.
Smart leaders restrain their ego and stay objective. They’re not “Celebrity CEO’s” because that’s anathema to the company’s interests.
3. Bad Leaders think they have all the answers.
Smart leaders understand that nobody knows it all, especially them. Smart leaders are secure and therefore don’t need to pose as infallible, omniscient or the proverbial ‘smartest guy in the room’.
4. Bad Leaders ruthlessly eliminate anyone who isn’t 100% supportive of them.
Smart leaders understand that eliminating dissent deprives them of useful feedback. The best functioning Boards and management teams are heterogeneous (composed of dissimilar parts) not homogeneous (composed of similar parts). Smart leaders seek cross-pollination and aren’t afraid of dissent.
5. Bad Leaders are obsessed with being the company spokesperson.
Smart leaders focus on the business not stardom. They seek success not eminence. Smart leaders treat their fame and publicity as what it is, a distraction from their day job.
6. Bad Leaders underestimate major obstacles.
Smart leaders know that some problems are either insolvable or solvable at too great a cost. All resources are finite, especially your time and energy. Smart leaders distinguish between major and minor obstacles and assess accurately the costs of overcoming them.
7. Bad Leaders stubbornly ―and stupidly― rely on what worked for them in the past.
As Albert Einstein (a conspicuously smart guy) said,
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
Smart leaders realise that yesterday’s answer won’t fit today’s question.
Einstein also said
“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”
The good news is, you need 5 out of 7 to be highly unsuccessful. So you're probably safe and not about to join the ranks of the spectacularly unsuccessful leaders.
The really, truly, awful, bad news is that in many companies these 7 traits are often regarded as good leadership.
They’re not. They produce disaster when unchecked.