Weird leadership and management mistakes

By Jeff Altman, Big Game Hunter

When what we call 9/11 happened, I was in a weekly meeting with 20 other people at a company in New York City. The company owner didn’t tell us what was going on around us. I couldn’t get home easily without a ride. The consultant who works for me is at the World Trade Center and cannot be reached by phone. I couldn’t talk to my wife because cell service in Manhattan wasn’t working. When I walk and walk with dozens of people Thousands of others, I saw the smoldering spots where the buildings once stood. Later that day, I received a call from my boss asking me to come to work the next day. He also told me that I was an idiot for not selling disaster recovery services to a nearby company whose building was destroyed, even though my company had no capabilities in the area.

This happened to me. Some of you may have experienced something similar during the early days of the pandemic, when you may have been encouraged to risk your life by going to work. I know my son has been through something similar with his employer, who put him at risk by requiring him to commute to Manhattan when more than 800 people were dying from the virus every day, and he had a history of asthma.

These can be extreme examples of terrible leadership mistakes that scare people away from working for you or result in mediocre performance from your employees. Even under normal circumstances, something you do may cause your team to hide or make you work for someone else. Here are ten terrible leadership and management mistakes you may be making.

1. You exaggerate jobs and opportunities. The interview process allows you to evaluate and evaluate people, talk to multiple people on different occasions, and then hire them. Unfortunately, you misrepresented the opportunity, the nature and abilities of your colleagues, and the job’s upside potential. Now they know. Everyone exaggerates during an interview—job seekers do it, and so do you. Statistics show that nearly 2/3 of hiring managers regret hiring an employee within 18 months of joining. Is there anything else you can do to be more honest when describing the job to potential employees? How do you improve your review of someone?
2. You try to hire the right person. Since everyone has good behavior, you want to evaluate people based on their best behavior rather than who they hang out with Flaws and warts. Most employers and job seekers are doing well. When you are together, neither of you see each other.

You are performing a play for each other. How can you possibly assess someone’s suitability when you’re both trying to deceive each other?

3. You hold a meeting that everyone has to attend, but only one or two people actually. There are many situations where you ask the department to attend a meeting because you think someone did something wrong, rather than discussing what happened individually with that person. You take everyone away from their work to hear what happened and why it shouldn’t be done, instead of talking to the individual to understand what happened and why they chose to do that. When you have a public event that is supposed to be a private conversation, you end up wasting the time of 5, 10, or 20 people. I remember going through so many of these and wondering why I was there and what I could have done differently.
4. You cannot or do not alleviate the institutional frictions that prevent people from performing well. Of course, friction exists in every organization. However, some resistance works against employee success. Unfortunately, you can’t (because it’s beyond your control) or don’t (because you don’t think it’s important) solve one or more problems for your employees. They can only choose to live with the situation or leave. They may accept it for a while, but eventually, the burden becomes too much and they leave. You might question their willingness to stick with it. What should they do? Keep fighting the system? Their job is to be successful, and like a good sports manager, you should put them in positions where they can win. It’s your fault that they left, not theirs.
5. you’d rather do it yourself. When you play their characters, you do a really good job. This is how you get promoted to manager, director, or vice president. Now that you’re in the position of someone reporting to you, it seems easier to do it yourself and explain how. Your direct reports will become frustrated because they aren’t learning anything, they understand, and because you won’t teach them, you either don’t trust them or think they are incompetent. That’s what your actions tell them. It’s scary to see how many managers, directors, VPs do this.
6. You provide feedback from time to time. When I ran a local business group, I met monthly with our leadership team. I know people don’t always come to me with what they want. They might tell a friend in a leadership position. So, I would start the meeting by asking, “What did we do well that we should continue to do?” Then, I would ask, “What should we do differently?” If all you do is give what you think is constructive criticism without giving any credit, they will accept every interaction with you when you criticize them again. You will destroy your confidence and desire to work for yourself.
7. You take credit from your employees without acknowledging their work. Many years ago a friend worked for a financial company and they sent out a newsletter to the entire organization about what was going on within the company. The company has launched a revolutionary product that attempts to use money to manage interview organizations. They have a photo of the people involved. Six men and women, dressed in expensive suits and ties, put their arms around each other in a smug pose. Next to him was an uncomfortable-looking young man in a white shirt and slacks. Obviously, he’s a programmer who did all the work to make this great product possible. Unfortunately, he was an afterthought to the reputation-robbing executives in the photo. The article includes a quote from the programmer expressing his gratitude for being chosen to work on the project. None of the executives acknowledged this in their comments. I saw this happen with someone I know who created a global marketing campaign for this company that helped it survive the pandemic and overall huge sales. His raises and promotions were ignored and his boss accepted them. He got the job done and they got the credit. Suffice it to say, he no longer works there.
8. You don’t understand the balance between friendliness and non-interference. The team wants to feel connected to you, but they don’t want you to be involved in their business all the time. They want to know that you are available, that you care, that you understand what is going on, and that you care about them all as their boss Their strengths and weaknesses. They may like to be “friendly” and you have to be their boss, taking on all the responsibilities and demands of being a boss. You have to hold people accountable for their commitments and hire people who want to do a good job while giving them the tools to get the job done. Being too friendly may make it difficult for you to make requests. Truly letting go may cause them to coast. Instead, you can encourage them to be great. I know that in American culture there is a custom of saying, “Don’t rush it.” Instead, I say, “Be great.” You should help your employees strive for excellence and give them subtle messages about what you expect of them.
9. you don’t keep your promise. I’ve worked at two companies, and the owners of each had a bad habit of committing to something, not following through, and pretending they never committed. “I never said that” is their way of justifying their failure to commit to something. If someone on your staff said that to you, how would you respond? Of course, you’ll tell them they have, which will adversely affect how you view them. Your trust in them will be broken. This affects their reviews and promotional opportunities. What you do to your team becomes their nightmare. You lied. You deny that you lied. You accuse them of making up stories. You attacked them. Your betrayal may leave their bodies intact on their desks, but you lose your soul. That’s what vampires do.
10. You overwork your employees/have unreasonable expectations of their work commitments. I recently received an email from a business owner complaining that two of their great employees only worked until 6pm and were unable to come to work after that. What should they do? I responded privately, were they told what was expected of them during the interview? If not, you have no reason to complain. You didn’t tell them. How can you blame them if you don’t tell them? Managers, senior leaders, and business owners often hire then tell them expectations of their time and energy. They were then told to come to their desk at 7 a.m. and work until midnight with a break in between. This is a version of slavery designed to create psychological chains. oh! I forgot to mention that this guy makes less than $100,000 a year and has a young child at home. Do you think this might be important?

These are the horror stories I’ve heard throughout my search career and now my coaching career. When attracting and retaining capable employees is challenging, it’s an expensive management/leadership lesson that needs to be learned the hard way. Becoming a monster or vampire who tortures people out of your organization through these and other cruel mistakes is an expensive management/leadership lesson that needs to be learned the hard way.

Jeff Altman, “Big Game Hunter,” is a career and leadership coach who works with people around the world. If you are interested in having him mentor you or your organization, you can schedule a free discovery call or visit www.TheBigGameHunter.us for mentorship

Ⓒ Big Game Hunter, Inc., Asheville, NC 2021, 2024

Decide

About Big Game Hunter Jeff Altman

People hire “Big Game Hunter” Jeff Altman to provide no-nonsense job coaching and career advice around the world because he makes your job search and career success easier.

You can find useful information and job search guidance to help you find a job at ⁠⁠Job Hunting.Community⁠⁠

Expert advice for senior leaders in transformation

Connected LinkedIn⁠

Schedule a discovery call to discuss one-on-one or group coaching with me during your job search: ⁠www.TheBigGameHunter.us.

15 questions to prepare for your next C-level interview

We allow this and other articles to be used on your site as long as they include a backlink ⁠www.TheBigGameHunter.us⁠ and states that it is provided by Jeff Altman of The Big Game Hunter as the author or creator. Does not acknowledge his work or provide backlinks ⁠www.TheBigGameHunter.us⁠ Subjects you to a $1,000 fine, which you voluntarily agree to pay. Please contact us to discuss using our content as training data.

Relevant