In my last blog, Failure of Leadership, I vented about issues I had with a company. Some of these issues are all too common in American business, but it only scratches the surface of issues with corporate leadership in America.
As I stated last time, upper management in the afore mentioned company does not know what they actually produce. Because the upper management has such a limited understanding of the company’s purpose, there are people who have been working in their positions for many years, yet still do not understand the position they are supposed to be performing.
Because the leadership is so poor, the workmanship is also poor. It’s a cascading effect. Unfortunately for people who understand their role (as well as the role of others in the company) there really is no solution. They are either blocked by people who cannot do their jobs properly, or end up doing someone else’s job as well as their own.
The simple solution would be to leave a company like that. The problem is, there are more companies with these kind of issues than we would like to admit. The other problem is, it can sometimes be difficult to tell if you have a bad CEO. Liz Ryan has given us some guidelines to help us figure that out:
Ten Signs Your CEO is a Leader 1. Your CEO is the visible face of your company. His or her views and philosophy are well-communicated to your team and your clients. 2. Your CEO holds him- or herself to the highest standards and is a role model for employees. 3. Your CEO interacts with employees at every level, and acknowledges and rewards extra effort and performance. 4. Your CEO surrounds him- or herself with ethical, smart and competent leaders who embody the same values the CEO does. 5. Your CEO knows the importance of corporate culture and focuses on creating a workplace that inspires and reinforces innovation, collaboration and fun. 6. Your CEO shows his or her human side at work. He or she isn’t afraid to take responsibility when things go wrong — rather than blaming a lower-level employee. 7. Your CEO is more interested in spotting and praising great work than finding fault or placing blame. 8. Your CEO invests time and energy in listening to employees. 9. Your CEO leads through conversation, not spreadsheets. 10. Your CEO is someone you and your fellow employees can look up to. Ten Signs Your CEO is a Loser 1. Your CEO has little to no interaction with regular employees, spending most of his or her time with a few senior executives. 2. You have heard your CEO’s name but don’t know anything else about him or her. 3. Your CEO doesn’t seem to know about or care about the company culture — his or her interest is strictly in the numbers. 4. Your CEO hires and promotes people who are not qualified for their jobs, and doesn’t seem to value leadership abilities in his or her senior staff. 5. Your CEO spends more time in front of the media than dealing with his or her own teammates. 6. Your CEO manages through intimidation, threatening to fire people when they goof up. 7. Your CEO blames other people for mistakes rather than taking responsibility for them. 8. Your CEO doesn’t seek input, but makes decisions in private and announces them as done deals. 9. Your CEO takes credit for successes, rather than sharing the limelight. 10. Your CEO doesn’t seem to care about anyone except him- or herself. You work for a CEO who isn’t running the company but also isn’t stepping aside to let somebody else run it. That’s your cue to exit! You deserve a company with a real leader at the helm — and you only need one. Liz Ryan, Forbes Jul 20, 2017 Is Your CEO A Leader — Or A Loser? Here’s How To Tell https://www.forbes.com/sites/lizryan/2017/07/20/is-your-ceo-a-leader-or-a-loser-heres-how-to-tell/#6e5f48e32c7d
One of the main things that keeps C-suite executives aloof and distant is this illusion that leaders are meant to be above their followers-untouchable. This illusion goes hand-in-hand with the illusion that keeping employees busy, no matter how miserable those employees are, will ensure that the company will continue making money. The truth is, the happier and more invested employees are in a company, the more productive they are. In fact, when employees are happy and invested, they produce for more in less time.
I have a saying that I really like: the best leaders are the ones people choose to follow. One CEO found the right formula for successfully inspiring others to follow him by investing himself in his people and his company. Alan McLenaghan of SageGlass has a very “people centric” focus that empowers every person in his company. According to him:
Too often CEOs expect their teams to serve them, but that’s not my philosophy. I firmly believe it’s the primary responsibility of a CEO to be humble and serve the needs of their team in order to empower the individual, and I bring this attitude to work every day. This approach creates an environment where we can all feel comfortable creating something better than what we have. Alan McLenghan IndustryWeek Jan 08,2019 Why CEOs Don’t Matter (A People First Approach) https://www.industryweek.com/leadership/article/22026953/why-ceos-dont-matter-a-peoplefirst-approach
So how does this help us solve the issue of so many not-so-good CEOs? Since we are not CEOs ourselves, that is a difficult task. Attempting to resolve the issue of people with more power than we have not doing their jobs properly poses a lot of risk. The first thing we need to do is make our voices heard. If there are things that need to be addressed, follow the proper channels and let people know about. Of course, be polite, and focus on important matters.
As a community, we need to make sure that information is available. Many CEOs have been in their positions for many years or have passed the position down to heirs, so the company has been run the same way for a very long time. Tradition is stagnant. Companies are dynamic. CEOs need to understand the changing needs of their customers, their employees, and their companies as a whole.
We as people need to remember that CEOs are people, too, just as capable of mistakes as anyone else. Those mistakes are far more prevalent when the CEO does not have the information necessary to make the proper decisions. According to Nicole Lipkin, leaders require feedback from many sources, especially their employees, to make sound judgment calls. She urges CEOs to:
Get feedback from the people most deeply affected by your decision…fight your urge to explain away the feedback. Nicole Lipkin, 2013 What Keeps Leaders Up At Night: Recognizing and Resolving Your Most Troubling Management Issues
So as employees, our most effective tool is our voice. Let our leaders know what is going on-both good and bad. Let them know what is going well, and let them know what can be improved and why. Eventually the business world will make the connection between happy, healthy, productive employees and a healthy, profitable business. When that happens, we will all be happy.
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