Why Leaders Fail
by Michael Diercks
Managing Partner, LMI
Managing Partner, LMI
FAILURE!
It's every leader's greatest fear. Whatever the reason for a career
fall, it's considered shameful and causes scarring. Yet, nearly every
leader trips as he or she moves along in life. In a study of nearly 200
executives, virtually all had suffered "hardship experiences," from
missed promotions or opportunities to firings and business failure.
What causes the problems - why DO leaders fail? The prime reasons --
1. Unable to Get Along Poor
interpersonal skills - relationships and communications - was the
single largest reason for failure, and the most crucial flaw to
recognize and remedy. Leaders can't inspire and keep loyalty with their
"underlings" because they aren't good listeners, don't give and take
criticism well and view conflict as something bad instead of something that is inevitable that has to be handled to succeed.
2. Failure to Adapt Times change and
those who don't change with them fail. Clinging to a once-successful
management style long after it stops producing results -- what worked in
the 80's and 90's -- is
another fatal flaw. Failing to "keep up" has caused scores of leaders
to fail and led to organizations restructured, acquired -- or closed
companies.
3. The "ME ONLY" Syndrome Every
leader wants to recognized and rewarded for his or her efforts. BUT
some are too preoccupied with the themselves. Their overriding concerns
are much credit they're getting, how much money they're making and how
fast they're moving up the corporate ladder. Leaders have to be authentic team players in today's lean environment.
4. Fear of Action Halfhearted
leaders may be limited by their inability to put themselves on the
line. They be diligent workers with great new ideas, BUT they lack the
passion or conviction to sell them to their superiors or workers.
Underlying this commitment is fear of failure. Such leaders try to
prevent a fall by avoid action, but actually hasten their own demise by
doing so.
What causes the problems - why DO leaders fail? The prime reasons --
1. Unable to Get Along Poor
interpersonal skills - relationships and communications - was the
single largest reason for failure, and the most crucial flaw to
recognize and remedy. Leaders can't inspire and keep loyalty with their
"underlings" because they aren't good listeners, don't give and take
criticism well and view conflict as something bad instead of something that is inevitable that has to be handled to succeed.2. Failure to Adapt Times change and
those who don't change with them fail. Clinging to a once-successful
management style long after it stops producing results -- what worked in
the 80's and 90's -- is
another fatal flaw. Failing to "keep up" has caused scores of leaders
to fail and led to organizations restructured, acquired -- or closed
companies.3. The "ME ONLY" Syndrome Every
leader wants to recognized and rewarded for his or her efforts. BUT
some are too preoccupied with the themselves. Their overriding concerns
are much credit they're getting, how much money they're making and how
fast they're moving up the corporate ladder. Leaders have to be authentic team players in today's lean environment.4. Fear of Action Halfhearted
leaders may be limited by their inability to put themselves on the
line. They be diligent workers with great new ideas, BUT they lack the
passion or conviction to sell them to their superiors or workers.
Underlying this commitment is fear of failure. Such leaders try to
prevent a fall by avoid action, but actually hasten their own demise by
doing so.
5. Unable to Rebound Leaders
who succeed early in their careers but then are unable to weather a
setback aren't that much different than those who reach the top. Both
groups are incredibly bright and ambitious and make many sacrifices.
BUT those who don't rebound from failure tend to become defensive,
trying to conceal their failure or blaming it on others. But the
successful leaders admit where they've erred and work to correct the
problem.
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