What Bad Leaders Can Do To An Organization

Jim Collins in his book Good to Great shares that we need to get the right people in the right seats on the right bus. As leaders, we know this is crucial.

What we often forget is that we can place the wrong leaders in the wrong seats on the wrong bus and this creates more issues than having the wrong team members.

Bad leaders are dangerous

I recently came across a great quote and I don’t know who said it. The quote is

A bad leader can take a good staff and destroy it, causing the best employees to flee and the remainder to lose all motivation

Ouch, that stings. Especially for those of us in leadership.

There’s a huge responsibility that comes upon us as we accept the mantle of leadership. We are now in charge and we are responsible for what happens.

How To Destroy Your Organization

Let’s get to the point. Bad leaders destroy organizations. Plain and simple.

Bring poor leadership into your organization, you’re going to have issues.

And, if the ship isn’t righted in time, you will see your company come tumbling down.

Too often, those in charge look to place blame on the wrong people.

They’ll seek to place blame on those beneath them. They’ll look at those outside of the business. They’ll even blame external factors that have no bearings on the company’s success.

All the while, they’re missing the point. They’re missing the true issue at hand.

The organization has ineffective leaders steering the ship.

Signs You Have The Wrong Leaders In Place

You now know you may have a problem. You may have brought bad leaders on board. Heck, you might even be a bad leader.

But do you know there are warning signs leaders need to be aware of?

If you think you or one of the leaders in your organization may be destroying your organization, look for these telltale signals –

Sign 1: Getting rid of people who disagree – We see organizations begin to tank when leaders won’t listen to opposing viewpoints.

The truth is, not everyone is going to agree with you. Take it one step further, not everyone who disagrees with you is wrong.

There are a lot of great ideas out there. Many of these will go against what you believe.

Don’t get rid of people who promote ideas that are contrary to the way you think things should go.

Rather, examine what is being said. See how it can apply to your organization. Begin implementing those strategies and see how it goes.

Sign 2: Taking care of #1 – Our culture is one that promotes self. We demand that we’re taken care of with no care what it does to others.

As a leader, it is easy to fall into this trap. You are one of the top dogs, right?

But taking care of yourself first can be detrimental to your team, and your organization.

Your staff notices things.

They notice the fancy cars. They notice the expensive artwork. They notice classy digs.

They also notice when the building is falling apart. They notice when their wages have stayed stagnant. They notice an attitude of superiority.

When your staff begins to suffer, it’s not the time to take care of numero uno. It’s time to take care of them.

Sign 3: Having a good old boys club – You may also notice a good old boys club forming. The top dogs in your organization spend more and more time together and leave, what they consider to be, the peons behind.

They quickly listen to the ideas tossed about by those in the group only to dismiss anyone else’s ideas.

These bad leaders will exclude others from decision making. You’ll also see them putting down other staff members.

Good old boys clubs are dangerous. Be wary when you see them form.

Question: Have you had any experiences with bad leaders? How did they damage your organization? 

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