9 Leadership Don’ts

I spend a lot of time coaching leaders in large organizations, and I never cease to be amazed at the leadership actions they take that totally discount the importance of human behavior.

Always surprised by the latest performance fail, these leaders try to push a product, or project, or initiative without taking into consideration the heart and/or emotions of the people they lead.

Based upon my experience, here are my 9 Leadership Don’ts:

1. Don’t expect employees to believe in a company. Those days are over. People join leaders and leave leaders. Be the kind of leader that they trust and respect, and they will believe in you.
2. Don’t assume that  every performance breakdown is a training issue. Most performance breakdowns are due to a lack of clarity and communication. Throwing training at it only provides a new scapegoat when performance fails again.
3. Don’t assume that one training program establishes a lifetime of skills. If employees don’t have someone to help them implement the skills, they won’t stick. Put a motivated, freshly trained group in an environment without coaching and they’ll be less motivated than they were before the training.
4. Don’t assume that the current environment is ready to support your latest initiative. Too often employees are told to “go forth and implement” a new program that is foreign to the current culture. Maybe a new sales training program is plopped into a service-only culture with no clear incentives for sales. This is no fertile soil for planting.
5. Don’t spin the truth into some demented, cotton candy version of itself. Pollyanna-ish are immediately suspect in any environment. Overly positive messages that avoid obvious issues demean the people to whom you are speaking.
6. Don’t punish your entire team for one rogue direct report. If you have an issue with an employee, have the courage to address it one-on-one with that direct report rather than providing a blanket warning that demotivates your strong performers.
7. Don’t push around popcorn carts and assume you have an engaged workforce. Popcorn is effective in an environment where engagement fundamentals like constant communication are in place. Without an honest, transparent environment popcorn is accepted because it’s the best employees can hope for.
8. Don’t assume that relationships don’t matter. Unless you have the genius of a Steve Jobs, you’re going to need powerful relationships. People work with leaders they trust who try to add value to them. If you can’t build relationships, you are ultimately screwed.
9. Don’t assume that more meetings with the same people will solve a problem that has not been solved in the first ten meetings. Research shows that the more people you have in a meeting the less likely you are to walk out with a good solution. If you haven’t gotten the solution you need, put a few top performers on it and let them go. Hand it to them. Give them credit for the solution when they come up with it.

Those are a few of my “don’ts.” What would you add?