Dan Rockwell provides a list of twenty-five dumb mistakes leaders make.
- Creating complexity.
- Losing sight of vision while focusing on details.
- Using the same relational-methods with all employees.
- Assuming people know what they’re thinking.
- Giving conclusions without explaining thought processes.
- Interrupting.
- Relying too heavily on email for communication.
- Blaming.
- Lying.
- Listening to critics that don’t share organizational values.
- Talking while in the heat of emotion.
- Creating urgency and then not following through.
- Focusing on problems rather than solutions.
- Hiding in the office.
- Wasting time in unfocused meetings.
- Intimidating.
- Not managing others emotional energy.
- Neglecting their energy.
- Postponing tough conversations.
- Paranoia.
- Partiality.
- Not providing timely feedback.
- Preaching teamwork while rewarding individual performance.
- Focusing on low performers while neglecting high performers.
- Tolerating behaviors that create office drama.
I think the writers of The Office use this as a checklist for Michael Scott’s character every episode!!