Lolly Daskal's Blog, page 114

The Best Leaders Are Humble Leaders

When we think of great qualities of leaders, the first things that come to mind are traits like charisma, bravado and vision.

You wouldn’t expect to see humility on that list—but you should.

Research shows the effectiveness of humble leadership: Humble leaders have more influence, they attract better people, and they earn more confidence, respect and loyalty than those who rely upon ego and power.

In my work as a coach, I emphasize not just the importance of humility but also the fact that it’s a skill.

Here are some key skills of humble leaders. Look through and see which you already have and which you need to develop:

They lead to serve. Humble leaders shift attention away from themselves and focus on the contributions and needs of those around them.

They have reserves of inner strength. Being a humble leader isn’t a sign of meekness or powerlessness but of great inner strength. The best leaders are humble on the outside and confident on the inside.

They admit to their mistakes. All leaders are human, which means they all make mistakes from time to time. When you are willing to share your own missteps and mistakes, it allows others to connect to you in a deeper way. Humility is a quality that lets others see your humanity.

They seek input from others. The first step of turning to others for input is being vulnerable enough to admit that you need the help and insight of others—which is a sign of great character on its own.

They know themselves. Humble leaders know who they are and behave in a way that’s consistent with that knowledge. They also recognize where there’s room for improvement.

They are genuine. Humble leaders know the importance of being authentic. They are the same person in private, in public, and in personal life, in every situation and with every kind of people.

They invite trust. Humble leaders know that trust—earning it, giving it and building it—is the foundation of great leadership.

They treat others with respect. Humble leaders are consistent and disciplined in their treatment of others. They treat everyone with respect regardless of their position, role or title.

They understand their limitations. Humble leaders have the confidence to recognize their own weaknesses. Rather than viewing their limits as a threat or a sign of frailty, they surround themselves with others who have complementary skills.

They model the way. Humble leaders lead by example. Their leadership isn’t expressed as “because I’m the boss” authority but in every one of their actions and words.

Lead From Within: There is always room to be a better person and leader. If you can cultivate humility as a skill, you will be strong when you are weak and brave when you are scared.

Additional articles you might enjoy:

Why Great Leaders Expect Everyone to Be Great

These 13 Things Will Kill Great Leadership


The Best Free Leadership Advice You’ll Ever Get


How to Tell You’re Dumbing Down Your Leadership


12 of the Most Dangerous Leadership Mindsets

For coaching, consulting, workshops, and speaking. Please feel free to contact us.  

Photo Credit: Getty Images

 

 

 

 

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What to Do When You Don’t Know What to Do

Some people are fine skating through uncertainty by the seat of their pants, but most of us in leadership prefer to feel in control.

We like having all the answers (or most of them, anyway), and seeing a clear path ahead. And in time, people come to expect those things of us, and we come to expect them of ourselves.

So for a leader to admit they don’t know is a big deal.

For some it feels like an uncomfortable vulnerability; for others, worry. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Here are some things you can do when you just don’t know:

Trust your intuition. Whether you call it intuition, your sixth sense or following our gut, sometimes when intellect fails you it’s time to rely on your subconscious. It’s a realm where you don’t need to explain or justify your actions or feelings. Just trust your inner guidance to know what’s best.

Make a bold move. In uncertain times we all feel tentative, but if you don’t take bold moves your leadership can’t move forward. Boldness inspires creativity, innovation, vision—exactly the things you need at such times. Let go of fear and remember that most people aren’t hoping to catch you in trouble but want to see you succeed. Whatever you send out always comes back to you, so let your actions set the direction of your leadership.

Let worry go. Worry won’t stop the bad stuff from happening; it just stops you from enjoying the good. The best thing you can do is let worry go and allow yourself to learn in the moment from the experience. Do the best you can do with what you have—beyond that, it’s outside your control.

Hire a coach. A great coach can ask the questions that can lead you to genuinely helpful answers, tell you the things you don’t want to hear and help you transcend your own point of view. The best coaches lead you past what you don’t know into possibility, and help you become the leader you’ve always known you can be.

Remember, feeling worried accomplishes nothing it only prevents you from moving forward, and stagnation is not an option for a leader.

Whatever the situation, do everything you can to keep yourself moving forward, either alone or with the help of a trusted advisor.

Make use of the wisdom you have within, and solicit as much knowledge as you can from those you trust.

Lead from within:  What you don’t know today will be something you can learn from tomorrow.

Additional articles you might enjoy:

Why Great Leaders Expect Everyone to Be Great

These 13 Things Will Kill Great Leadership


The Best Free Leadership Advice You’ll Ever Get


How to Tell You’re Dumbing Down Your Leadership


12 of the Most Dangerous Leadership Mindsets


For coaching, consulting, workshops and speaking. Please feel free to contact us.  

Photo Credit: Getty Images

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7 Superpowers That Will Make You a Great Leader

As leaders, we all wield significant power—but not the old-model version of bossing people around and yelling “you’re fired!” if they don’t make the grade.

True power calls us to connect with others and to connect them with their own strengths, encourage them and lead them toward places they wouldn’t normally go to on their own.

That’s the best kind of power, but it can easily fall through the cracks of day-to-day leadership.

As an executive leadership coach, I sometimes find myself having to remind my clients of how powerful they really are, and the ways in which they can exercise that power.

Here are 7 types of power so effective that they’re practically superpowers:

1. Persuasion. Your ability to persuade others—to win them over to your point of view and inspire them to action—is grounded in your relationship with that person and in your own integrity. When you carry out your own role with excellence and a commitment to serving others, you can persuade others with genuine authority.

2. Positivity. To stay positive in the worst times, when everyone around you has given in to negativity, automatically elevates your work and message. Positivity gives hope and purpose to others when they need it most and leads your team to the highest level of accomplishment.

3. Observation. Many people are too busy to even notice their surroundings or their circumstances. Sometimes the power of a great leader comes from the simple act of slowing down enough to take a look around and assess what you see. Observation allows you to pinpoint problems and issues—and their solutions—early on.

4. Decisiveness. While others pride themselves on being a great thinkers, great leaders understand the power of decisiveness. They observe and assess, then act quickly and confidently without second-guessing their conclusions. Even if you get it wrong once in a while, you’ll still outperform those who are slow to act.

5. Modesty. It may go against intuition, but modesty is a secret weapon of some of the greatest leaders. When you’re modest you stay teachable and humble, no matter how much you already know. You see yourself as a servant and a student more than a master, and you exhibit a willingness to engage with others that leads to respect.

6. Tenacity.  If you could have only one leadership superpower, this is the one you’d want. In many situations it’s the factor that determines your chances for success. When everything around you is falling apart and you respond with determination, courage, persistence, and strength, that’s character. And genuine character is the highest form of power.

7.  Insight. Vision is one of the most important factors in leadership, and insight is the highest form of vision. With insight you really can see around corners and through walls to know what’s really going on and gain a feel for the underlying issues. A single moment of insight can be as powerful as a lifetime of experience—but it’s a skill that has to be built and nurtured.

Lead from within: It may feel vain to consider your sources of power, but they’re the things you need to fulfill the responsibilities of leadership—and the more you understand them, the stronger they become.

Additional articles you may enjoy:

Your Leadership Requires You to Have Guts

This Is Your Starting Point for Leadership Growth


12 of the Most Dangerous Leadership Mindsets


How to Tell You’re Dumbing Down Your Leadership


Why Great Leaders Expect Everyone to Be Great


For coaching, consulting, workshops and speaking. Please feel free to contact us.

Photo Credit: Getty Images

 

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Your Leadership Requires You to Have Guts

Leadership is hard. It means making difficult decisions, stepping out of your comfort zone, standing on the edge of own greatness. It requires that you have guts.

There are many who have the title of leader. But the only ones who truly deserve the title are those who can weather the storms and stand in their struggles.

Because true leadership requires great men and women to bring all the courage, boldness, toughness, determination and audacity they can summon.

Here are some of the qualities of a gutsy leader. Cultivate them now to become everything you can be:

The COURAGE to change direction when things are on the wrong track. When something isn’t working, you need a leader who has the courage to see the need for change and bring up the benefits of going in another direction. It’s the kind of courage that shows up when you most need to shake things up and get back on the path toward something great. You’ll never do anything worthwhile in this world without courage.

The BOLDNESS to face reality when resources are strained. When money or another vital resource is dwindling, you need to be bold enough not to hide in the spreadsheets but to come out and share the hard truth. You can admit that things are not as they should be, but in a way that is unafraid and focused on solutions, with faith in your team’s ability to rally even at the last minute to turn things around. To be bold is to always be facing forward.

The TOUGHNESS to be more stubborn than your difficulties. When you’re facing obstruction and obstacles, handicaps and complications, you need to be the leader who says “Times are tough but we are tougher.”

The DETERMINATION to pursue new opportunities in the face of opposition. People don’t generally like change, so it’s up to the leader to push past the status quo and make things happen. It’s a job that takes tenacity and spirit. Some leaders succeed because they are destined, but most because they are determined.

 The AUDACITY to say no unapologetically. Some leaders want to say yes to everything—but when they do, they take away their ability to set priorities. Every great advance in leadership came from someone who found the nerve to simply say “no”—as a complete sentence, without any justification or explanation or apology. When you make judicious use of “no,” you set the priorities that allow you to say a bigger “yes” to the most compelling ideas and vision.

 If you’re serious about leadership, always remember that it has to come from deep inside. It takes courage, boldness, toughness, determination and audacity, as the saying goes: no guts, no glory.

Lead From Within: Great leaders aren’t always the ones who win, but those with the most guts.

Additional Reading:

How to Become A Leader You Admire
The Truth About Courageous Leadership
Courage Is The Key To Fearless Leadership
Leadership Begins at the End of Your Comfort Zone

For coaching, consulting, workshops and speaking. Please feel free to contact us.

Photo Credit: Getty Images

 

 

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This Is Your Starting Point for Leadership Growth

If you aspire to become a great leader, it’s important to remember that your leadership begins far before you have a leader’s title. The starting point of your leadership growth starts where you are today.

Great leadership is learned on the job; it is cultivated in the trenches of everyday experiences, and it comes from learning the ropes under every circumstance.

Who we are today will help us become better leaders tomorrow. There are always people who want the title just for showing up, but the rest of us know leadership is earned with hard work and dedication to the craft. It’s a lifelong process, one that we begin again every day. We have to develop from where we are to get to where we want to go.

Here are six ways to make it happen:

Learn from every experience. Take advantage of whatever surrounds you right now. Whether it’s positive or negative, every circumstance, conversation and connection holds lessons and principles and wisdom if you’re willing to learn. Never allow an opportunity to pass you by.

Focus on the collective. Don’t think only about your own advancement but consider how you can best interact with the others around you and how you can give credit to those who have put in great effort. Leadership means honoring others, and it is important to understand the value of the collective and learn that two is greater than one.

Make it a priority to get along with people. It is imperative that you learn to get along with people—those who are above you, those who stand beside you and those who look up to you. Make it a goal to build strong relationships of mutual learning and respect in every direction.

Work on communication every day. As you interact with people, learn to communicate concisely and clearly. When you speak, think of ways you can contribute that add real value, not just more noise. Ask questions, get feedback and let others know that you are open to dialogue. If you can remain curious there’s almost nothing you can’t learn.

Take on more responsibility. Even if the everyday requirements of your job keep you busy, the best way to truly stand out and learn from every experience is to take on more responsibility than most. Be the person who steps up and comes through as accountable and dependable.

Give your personal best. It’s not enough to speak if you don’t deliver, or take on a task if you don’t do it with excellence. In everything you do, give your personal best. Not only will it help your reputation but it will build your character.

Lead from within: Leadership growth begin with leading at your best today, wherever you are, is what prepares you to be a great leader for tomorrow.

Additional Reading:

How to Become A Leader You Admire
Let Your Leadership Speak For Itself
The Leaders We Remember Most
There Is No Significance Without Character

For coaching, consulting, workshops and speaking. Please feel free to contact us.

Photo Credit: Getty Images

 

 

 

 

 

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12 of the Most Dangerous Leadership Mindsets

Mindset is extremely important when it comes to great leadership.

Mindset is the set of beliefs or way of thinking that determines your behavior, outlook and mental attitude. If your mindset is negative, your attitude (and likely your behavior) is negative.

Mindset is everything, and learning to control it is a key to fulfilling your potential.

Here are some of the damaging mindsets I have seen in leaders. Don’t let them stand in your way:

1. Seeing the glass as half empty. Many leaders are guilty of this mindset. Some think that if they point out the bad, that will get people to improve—but we know a negative attitude will never lead to positive results. Nothing will slow your progress like a negative mindset.

2. Thinking you know people better than you do. There is a danger in labeling people and putting them into a box when you haven’t had a chance to take in their complexity. How can you truly get to know people if your mindset has already told you who they are? Give people a chance to reveal, and sometimes surprise you with, who they are really are.

3. Believing that perfect is a goal. Perfection doesn’t exist and perfect can never be a goal. When you aim to be perfect, you’re setting yourself up for failure—either by paralyzing yourself into inaction or by endlessly trying to reach an unreachable goal. Set perfectionism aside and focus on excellence.

4. Thinking that you never need to rest. I know leaders who take pride in being constantly on. But we all need some time off, opportunities to shut down for a while. It is impossible to keep going 24/7 and still be the best you can be. You may think you can do everything and be everywhere, but really you can’t. Get some rest.

5. Assuming that you accomplished great things alone. Anytime you think you’ve achieved something by yourself, you’re failing to give someone else the credit they deserve. There is no success on a team without the efforts of others, and when you as the leader take all the credit, it costs you respect. Make your language always US and WE, not ME and I.

6. Not staying present in the moment. If you’re always thinking of where you need to be next instead of staying in the moment, you lose out on precious time and valuable lessons. A constant forward push isn’t sustainable in the long term. It burns people out and will lead to low morale and low energy. Give everyone a chance to slow down and experience what’s happening now.

7. Expecting others to do what you’re unwilling to do. How many of us have encountered leaders with a mindset of entitlement—that things need to be about what others can do for them rather than how they can serve others? Entitlement is a dangerous mindset, one that disempowers and alienates people. If you want great people to stick around to serve you, you need to serve them.

8. Becoming so obsessed with details that you lose the big picture. There are always details that need legitimate attention. But great leaders know that to get bogged down in all the details and minutia is a waste of time, energy and productivity. Getting stuck in the details will cost you big-picture success.

9. Isolating yourself from others. Some leaders actually believe that leadership means immersing yourself in process and procedures instead of being among people. The mindset that a leader can’t let others too close is one of the most dangerous I have observed. Leadership is all about engagement and empowering others, and you simply cannot do it in isolation. Leaders need people and people need leaders.

10. Having different sets of rules. The mindset that you can have one set of rules for yourself and another set for everyone else is disturbing and goes against the principles of service and recognition that leadership should be based on. It leads to disdain and disrespect.

11. Holding an all-or-nothing orientation. Failing to recognize nuance and shades of gray leads to bias and distorted thinking. We need leaders who are flexible and agile, unafraid of what might go wrong and positive about what could go right. All or nothing is a dangerous and damaging proposition.

12. Believing that you have to do everything yourself. You probably became a leader because you’re really good at what you do, but the truth is you never have to do everything alone. Great leaders delegate—which not only helps them but involves other people. If you want things done your own way, teach others how it’s done, but bring them in.

Lead From Within: You are only going to be as good as you think you are. To create something exceptional, keep your mindset focused on greatness.

Additional Reading:

Reputation Matters But Character Leads The Way
6 Lessons Every Great Leader Learns on the Job
7 Things You Need To Stop Doing If You Want to Be Leading
90 Powerful Ways to Become a Highly Successful Leader

For coaching, consulting, workshops and speaking. Please feel free to contact us.

Photo Credit: Getty Images

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Chaotic Leader: How to Survive It

Have you ever worked with a leader who was always inviting chaos or a boss who constantly had to create drama?

The most effective leaders work to create an environment that will stimulate, motivate and develop people—who in turn will bring their best to work.

But many otherwise qualified bosses and leaders share a need to create chaotic cultures that keep everyone in a heightened state of anxiety.

They may believe that calm cultures mean a lack of activity or purpose—that stress and chaos lead to greater drive and energy.

Research may tell us that people are better motivated by accomplishment than stress, and that they can accomplish much more when they are at ease in a peaceful and secure environment, but what can you do if your workplace is governed by stress, chaos and drama?

You may not be able to change the culture, but here are some steps you can take to help yourself:

Know yourself. Before you can be an advocate for the processes that help you work most effectively, you have to know what they are. Think about specifics—everything from the noise level to workloads to the way project details are communicated.

Draw a line in the sand. Determine your bottom line in regard to what you can and can’t handle. Everyone needs to be able to tolerate some degree of stress and drama, but everyone has limits. When you know where your boundaries lie, you know when you have to speak up—or even walk.

Resist micromanagement. Except for leaders who are actually incompetent,  most workplace chaos stems from micromanagement. It usually originates with tremendous pressure to produce results, so if you want to shield yourself and advocate for an alternate work style, stay focused on results. There’s no more compelling argument you can make than “this works better.

Don’t let yourself be squelched. Leaders who tend to dismiss ideas with a “but” create not only chaos but also confusion and apathy. Eventually the bad feelings grow into dissent among employees and disregard for the leader. Learn to keep speaking up and speaking out, and find solutions to every “but,” one at a time.

Look for the best. Chaotic leaders invite us to see the cup as half empty instead of half full. Negative leadership leads to more negativity. Difficult as it may be, work to stay on the side of positivity. Try to always find something good to point out and something positive to contribute.

Be a role model. Lead by example and set a standard in light of unreasonable expectations. Maintain healthy boundaries for yourself: “I accept phone calls and emails only up to 7pm.” The more you give, the higher the expectation becomes. Step off the vicious cycle; create a balanced life for yourself and kept to it.

Acknowledge your own worth. Chaotic leaders tend to share a common trait: they’re quick to point out mistakes and shortcomings but slow to acknowledge even extraordinary effort or accomplishment. It’s not only devaluing but it’s the worst kind of leadership. Counteract it by acknowledging your own work and bringing attention to your (and your teammates’) contributions.

A chaotic culture is a disruptive culture—and not in a good way. Do what you have to do to survive a chaotic leader. Above all, don’t allow yourself to believe that it’s an acceptable way to live or lead.

Lead From Within: As with any challenge, do what you have to do. Rise above the dysfunction of existing leadership and be an example of the leadership that can work.

Additional Articles:

12 of The Most Common Lies Leaders Tell Themselves
The Wisdom Of Whole Hearted Leading
Why Do We Have To Make Others Wrong To Be Right
The Best Free Leadership Advice You’ll Ever Get

For coaching, consulting, workshops and speaking. Please feel free to contact us.

Photo Credit: Getty Images

 

 

 

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How to Tell You’re Dumbing Down Your Leadership

It’s important to realize that just because someone holds a position of leadership, doesn’t necessarily mean they should lead.

Leadership is complex.

For some leaders see it principally as the power to direct other people; for others, it’s about inspiring people so they feel they can do the impossible; and for some it’s centered on being a visionary.

But there are some leaders, that don’t try, don’t care, don’t see and don’t lead.

The dumbest thing you can do as a leader is to take your position for granted.

However you approach your leadership, recognize its complexity and resist the temptation to dumb it down

We must always remember, leadership is a privilege.

Here are six ways to keep your leadership smart and to stop dumbing it down.

Read every day. Don’t allow your leadership to become empty-minded or fall into a rut. Make a habit of daily reading that challenges you and has an impact on how you think, both creatively and logically.

Learn something new. There’s always something new to learn if you’re paying attention. Get to know the people around you and give yourself the benefit of their expertise.

Keep developing new skills. No matter how talented you are, your talent will fail you if you’re not skilled. Skill is achievement practiced, so work hard, and dedicate time for yourself to improve every single day.

Cultivate being a better listener. Everything around you holds answers if you learn to listen. When you speak you are only repeating what you already know, but if you listen you can learn something new.

Track your objectivity. Work to recognize and neutralize any bias you might have. We all have something we have to fight in this area, and it isn’t an easy task. But the reward is a level of credibility and respect that makes it a fight worth waging.

Work on developing foresight. If you want to see the future, look at the past. It will give you the insight you need to create the foresight for the future. Be a student of history—of the world, of your country and state, of your field, of your organization and your competitors.

Learn how to manage conflict. One study found that 10 percent of most conflicts are due to difference in opinion and 90 percent are due to someone using the wrong tone of voice. If you want to be an effective leader, conflict management is essential.

You can either play dumb or be smart. Fight to be wiser, smarter, better.

Lead From Within: Leadership is an opportunity to truly make an impact—not to dumb things down but to bring things up.

Additional Reading:

The Test Every Great Leader Must Pass
12 of The Most Common Lies Leaders Tell Themselves
Leadership: Claim Your Calling
The One Quality Every Leader Needs To Succeed

For coaching, consulting, workshops and speaking. Please feel free to contact us.

Photo Credit: Getty Images

 

 

 

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Why Great Leaders Expect Everyone to Be Great

Great leaders expect greatness from themselves and in turn they challenge others to be great too.

They challenge people to do better, be better and to meet a higher standard.

They do it because settling for substandard, low quality, second rate leadership is not an option.

Great leaders set high standards for their own performance, and for those around them.

Leadership is about service to others, being your best so you can offer your best.

The high standards of great leaders extend beyond the work they do include being a person of character, a leader of integrity and one who inspires the same in those around them.

Here are some of the ways great leaders elevate the standard for themselves and for others:

Establish clarity. Standards reflect values, so before you establish or change them you need to know with certainty what’s most important to you and communicate that with clarity. When you’re clear on values, making decisions becomes much simpler.

Show self-respect. Never lower your standards for anyone or anything. The self-respect that comes with firm standards is everything. Whatever everyone around you is doing, stay true to your ideals. Do what you need to do and do it with meaning and purpose.

Passionately protest mediocrity. “Good enough” are some of the most dangerous words a leader can hear. Nothing great was ever established on a foundation of mediocrity. Always demand more from yourself than anyone else could ever expect.

Never let anyone tell you your standards are too high. There’s nothing wrong with wanting the best for yourself and your team. When you shift your standards you create change—positive change when you raise standards, negative change when you lower them.

Protect your standards. Make sure people know what’s expected, and be consistent in enforcing those expectations. If you allow disrespect, that’s what you’ll receive.

Never apologize for demanding excellence. Never apologize for high standards. Those who rise up to meet them are the ones you want around you; those who try and need help are the ones you can work with; and the ones who reject it aren’t your people anyway.

Lead from within: When it comes to standards, one thing I’ve found to be true: However high or low you place your standards, that’s how far people will rise.

Additional Reading:

6 Lessons Every Great Leader Learns on the Job
10 Tests Every Great Leader Must Pass
It Takes Great Insight To Choose What Is Right
The Measure Of A Leader Gets Calculated In Greatness

For coaching, consulting, workshops and speaking. Please feel free to contact us.

Photo Credit: Getty Images

 

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These 13 Things Will Kill Great Leadership

Many people hold an oversimplified idea about what leadership means.

Some think it’s just a matter of guiding others to complete a task. Others confuse it with motivation.

In truth, leadership is a complex blend of competencies and capabilities.

It means communicating and empathizing, directing and modeling, teaching and mentoring—and, above all, trusting and serving.

With so many directions, it’s a practice that can stretch and bend to accommodate different strengths and skills, and even weaknesses.

There are a few qualities, though, that can kill even strong leadership.

Here are few of the deadliest—keep them far from your own practice of leadership if you want to advance and be successful.

1. Dishonesty. Honesty is one of the most important qualities in a leader. A dishonest leader cannot be trusted. A lie may take care of the present, but it has no future.

2. Revenge. Weak leaders seek revenge; strong leaders forgive; great leaders know the best revenge is to have enough self-worth not to seek it.

3. Arrogance. Arrogance is most often an unhealthy ego in need of repair. Great leaders know how to keep their ego in check, because ego is only about edging greatness out and doesn’t allow greatness in. Arrogance diminishes leadership.

4. Fear. Great leaders need to be too brave to be doubtful, too courageous to be fearful, and too determined to be defeated. Fear has no place in great leadership. Successful leaders experience fear, and then they fuel it into something bold and brave. The fears we don’t face, though, become our deadly limits.

5. Disrespect. Disrespect is the weapon of the weak, and it hurts people and organizations. The kind of people who make up great organizations don’t tolerate disrespect. Disrespecting others, or tolerating others who disrespect you, shows a lack of self-esteem.

6. Envy. Great leaders know who they are and take great pride in what they can accomplish. They enjoy watching others succeed and they make no room for envy. They know that if you’re always looking over your shoulder at what other people have, you can’t look forward to accomplishing great things.

7. Ingratitude. Great leaders value those around them and appreciate their hard work. They know they cannot attain success without others.

8. Favoritism. Leaders who practice favoritism in the workplace have no chance to build a trust or respect. Great leaders value all people and their gifts while understanding their differing needs, and they do their best to treat everyone well. This may sometimes look like favoritism on the surface, but those involved will always know the difference.

9. Laziness. Good leadership requires hard work. In fact, the leader should be willing to be the hardest worker on the team.

10. Poor communication. Communication is how leaders keep people and the organization healthy and on track as they fulfill their vision, goals, and objectives. The key to a culture of success is an environment where people can thrive without unnecessary dysfunction or confusion—and that means great communication. Great leaders know that clarity and communication reinforce human connection.

11. Conceit. A leader who always thinks they are the smartest in the room or they know best without even consulting others has fallen into conceit. Conceit almost always partners with arrogance, and great leaders know that it’s never compatible with compassion and understanding.

12. Rigidity. Some things are worth being rigid about—for example, you should never be flexible when it comes to your values and vision. But for most issues, leaders are called to be adaptable, because those who cannot change their mind usually cannot change much else.

13. Shortsightedness. The best leaders think long term, with big plans and even bigger dreams. They do what they can today to make the future—distant as well as near—successful.

Most of us in leadership struggle at some time with one or more of these issues. It’s best to keep a close watch, though, because even the smallest beginnings of these habits can be deadly.

Lead from within: Don’t allow negative qualities to kill your good intentions and your ability to lead.

Additional Reading:

Leadership Has To Be Earned
How Ordinary People Can Become Extraordinary Leaders
Lead From Where You Are And With All That You Have
10 Tests Every Great Leader Must Pass

For coaching, consulting, workshops and speaking. Please feel free to contact us.

Photo Credit: Getty Images

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