Good Boss vs Bad Boss - Changing Bad Habits of Leaders

A great deal of my executive coaching work with leaders focuses on leveraging strengths. I truly believe that this is the best approach to leadership development.

However, I receive a number of coaching referrals from Human Resources because a company leader needs to stop doing a specific behavior. The executive might be arrogant, disorganized, angry, controlling or any one of an number of behaviors that is disruptive in the workplace. The executive's bad habits can have a deleterious effect on the morale of employees. Employees can become disengaged causing a retention problem for the company.

Are you aware of any bad leadership habits you might need to change?

Good Boss, Bad Boss - Bad Habits Leaders Should Stop Doing Now

“We spend a lot of time teaching leaders what to do. We don’t spend enough time teaching leaders what to stop. Half the leaders I have met don’t need to learn what to do. They need to learn what to stop.”

—Management expert Peter Drucker, as quoted by Marshall Goldsmith in What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, 2007

Almost all of us delude ourselves about our workplace achievements, status and contributions. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it can certainly mislead us when we are told we need to change.

It can be challenging for high-level executives to improve their interpersonal skills. We tend to believe the habits that have helped us rack up achievements in the past will continue to foster success in the future. But as the title of his recent book asserts, What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, according to executive coach Marshall Goldsmith.

The more frequently you are promoted to higher levels of executive responsibility, the more important your interpersonal relationship skills are to your success—and the more challenging it is to change bad habits.

It’s natural for successful people to believe that what contributed to their past accomplishments will continue to work for them. They also assume that they can—and will—succeed, no matter what. “Just give me a goal, and let the games begin!” they think to themselves.

But when it comes to changing the way we interact with our peers and direct reports, we often fail to recognize the steps required for ongoing results. Part of this stems from healthy denial, while part may be sheer ignorance. Only when confronted with performance or promotional issues do we begin to open our minds to change. This usually triggers emotional hot buttons of self-interest.

Four Hot Buttons of Change

Four common values motivate people to change:

1.    Money
2.    Power
3.    Status
4.    Popularity

These are the standard payoffs for success. Having achieved many of these goals, high-level executives focus on leaving a legacy, becoming an inspired role model or creating a great company as their motivation to change. But the hot buttons of self-interest remain embedded.

What bad leadership habits do you need to stop doing to be more successful?