7 myths of leadership ebook

Avoid Black Magic Leadership and Save the Day

BY RANDY GREGGauthor of Building Trust and Credibility in Uncertain Times, Jumpstart Leadership and Blindspots of Leadership

7 Leadership Myths: Avoid Black Magic Leadership and Save the Day RANDY GREGG

Anyone Got a Magic Wand? Good leadership can be a transforming, magical experience…or at least it can appear to be. Get past some commonly-held myths of good leadership, and you’re on your way to pulling the proverbial rabbit out of the magic hat. Give into them, and, well… you’ll need another lesson or two from Merlin’s Academy of Leadership Magic.

Instead of asking, “Where is the magic?” maybe we should be asking, “How have these myths cast such a powerful spell over our organization?”

Here is a light hearted look at 7 common leadership myths. These myths continue to hold many organizations hostage to outdated and ineffective leadership practices.

To continue your leadership studies, download additional e-books and Web-based courses on my website at www.1cpr.net.

Happy magic!

C. Randy Gregg, PresidentCorporate Performance Resources

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Myth #1 Entrenched, long-time employees make the most magical leaders.

Myth #2 No need for leadership support–it’s all sleight-of-hand.

Myth #3 Employee feedback is mere pixie dust.

Myth #4 Ouija board message: T-E-A-M-W-O-R-K is a no-brainer.

Myth #5 More is magical.

Myth #6 One annual performance evaluation does the trick.

Myth #7 Forget leadership development…it’s all hocus pocus.

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Myth #1

Entrenched, long-time employees make the most magical leaders. Time after time, I have watched effective, dedicated, and very talented employees get promoted to leadership positions only to see them fail within a short time. There are several causes for this breakdown:

While some people make good employees, even long-time experienced ones, they are not good leaders. It takes a completely different approach and mindset to be a leader.

Untrained leaders are often too eager to put their own personal mark on the way things work – it’s a vanity issue. They start making changes before they have had time to establish trust or build relationship support.

The bottom line: Some employees should never be leaders and those who are given new, elevated positions require training and support to adjust to a new role, to understand interpersonal relationships, and to clarify responsibilities. No magic to it.

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Myth #2

No need for leadership support– it’s all sleight-of-hand. Current research (Manchester, Inc.) indicates that 30-50% of leaders who move to new positions fail within the first 18 months. These studies include both those promoted from within a company, and those recruited from the outside.

The reasons most often cited for failure are: Lack of ability in forming effective relationships with boss and/or team members; Lack of clarity on expectations; Lack of savvy in navigating the new culture; Failing to learn fast enough; Failing to build a sense of teamwork.

This isn’t sleight-of-hand as much as it is business plan. Leaders need help when moving to new positions.

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Myth #3

Employee feedback is mere pixie dust. In their book, Contented Cows Give Better Milk, Bill Catlette and Richard Hadden focus on a very clear principle. They state, “From the start, the truly excellent organizations have differentiated themselves as employers of choice.” You may wonder, “What does this have to do with employee feedback?”

Well, your people are your most important asset. If you don’t ask them about their work environment or conditions, you will never discover ways to tap into the potential and talent that is available to you.

Often, organizations spend more time and energy maintaining buildings and equipment than they do their most valued asset…their employees.

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Myth #4

Ouija board message: T-E-A-M-W-O-R-K is a no-brainer. If you were to ask most leaders if they believed in magic, you would receive a resounding response of “No!” Yet, in day-to-day operation you would begin to wonder if they were being honest.

All organizations want and expect employees to work as a team. What does that mean? Cooperation. Commitment. Focused on a common goal.

Yet, very few ever give employees the training, support, and skills needed to function as a team.To move from a disparate group of people working together into one of becoming a cohesive team requires training, resources, and plan that will allow them to realize their potential.

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Myth #5

More is Magical! In working with one state agency, I noticed posters plastered on every bulletin board and taped in all elevators. The PA system blasted announcements non-stop. You couldn’t schedule events because of the number of meetings being held.

When a survey was given to employees on organizational challenges, the number one issue identified was communication. You can have more meetings, make more announcements, and send out more emails, but it doesn’t mean communication has improved.

Effective communication isn’t a one way flow of information. It is an intentional effort to ask questions, listen to ideas, and solicit input.

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Myth #6 One annual performance evaluation does the trick. Feedback on what is working successfully, what is not needs to be given on a regular basis with specific information shared when it’s needed.

Without effective feedback employees may wonder if they are on track or not.Give them the information they need about performance so that they can dogood work.

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Myth #7

Forget leadership development.. . … it’s all hocus pocus. Business authors Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman state in their book First, Break All the Rules that employees don’t leave organizations; they leave their supervisors. Spending time, energy, and money to help develop good leaders within your organization is one of the best investments you can make.

Leaders set the tone and create the positive, energized atmosphere for everything that takes place at work. To a large degree, your employees will never perform any better than the level of effectiveness of your leaders.

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2010 by C. Randy GreggAll text contained within this e-book is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/us.

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About the Author C. Randy Gregg

Randy founded Corporate Performance Resources to offer a consulting and training company with a different focus. His inside-out approach to leadership offers individuals and organizations solutions that create alignment between internal values and external actions. Having watched an endless number of “band-aid” or “quick-fix” approaches to deeper issues he developed a different strategy.

He has authored three books; Jumpstart Leadership: A Fast Track Guide for New Leaders, Building Trust and Credibility in Uncertain Times, and The Blind Spots of Leadership: How They Help and Hurt Good Leaders. In addition, he has authored e-books and leadership training courses for corporate and non-profit clients. Randy has earned degrees on the bachelors, masters, and doctoral levels.