I heard this on the radio on my way home last night:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29022694/
Apparently, we've gone from "Change (I) can believe in" to "change we can delay to a later date." We want to update the infrastructure of this country and create some fantastic New Deal, but we can't commit to doing a conversion that is already 9 years delayed. What's funny is the FCC site isn't updated yet, but they may be waiting for the President to sign the bill. NPR made is sound like it done.
I guess you could say I've had my ear to the ground lately, in regards to picking up bad leadership traits. I'm willing to bet most people see these on a daily basis in various combinations.
- The combat rule. I picked this up after watching Band of Brothers. It answers the question "Would I follow you into combat." It is comprised of a number of things. Are you cool under pressure? How do you handle chain of command? How do you relate with your team? Is there such a thing as acceptable losses? I really like this one because for the most part the answer is binary.I don't think there is anyone I work for currently that is a "yes" to this question. But I have worked for/with several people in the past that would be.
- Me First. Pretty simple, who is first priority wise you or the team. Are you a buffer between external things are your team, so they can get work done or do you avoid "all the hassle" and let disruptions roll down to the contributors? Do you have to handle everything that is critically important or can you delegate. I would say I have a tendency to want to control the important things so they "get done right." I think strong leaders build trust and knowledge in other people by distributing the work. I'm not promoting giving someone a task they cannot do but if "everything important" is done by the leader, what happens when the leader is not available?
- Blood Gods. Getting results by demanding them. The name is based on the saying "You can't squeeze blood from a turnip." Blood Gods believe they can. There style of motivation is creating unrealistic and or impossible schedules and then expecting contributors to meet it. Usually done without any contributor input. In college we had a professor that assigned a ridiculous work load and at one point a guy yelled out in class "How many hours are supposed to be in a week man?"Blood Gods typically reward good work with more work.
- The Passive Aggressive. This comes in a lot of forms and I usually can't stand it. If you can't be direct, open and honest you probably shouldn't be leading anything.
- Leading By Committee.I'm guilty of this one especially when dealing with friends. I want as many people to be happy as possible. This just doesn't always work. Games have winners and losers.Leaders are there to make the tough calls. That's what it is all about.
There are a lot more but these are the ones I'm seeing most often. I'm sure many folks feel them too.
