When Leaders Fail to Lead

Have you ever played follow the leader? Well it is a simple children's game where a leader is elected and as the leader moves around all the other players mimic their movement. Why do I share this? Well this is the same in any company. We tend follow and mimic that of our leadership and when they fail to lead, we fail to be successful. In this article I will address failed leadership and how to combat it.

What does failure to lead look like?

A leader is someone who should be setting an example for those who report up to them. This example is set in the way they communicate with people of all levels, their approachability, their openness, their transparency, their ability to create clear strategy and

vision, and their support in organizational efforts.

Failure to do the above mentioned would result in a leader who is failing to lead. But what are some real world examples of this happening?

Examples:

1. Organizational Effort

   1. Leaders request the teams to be Agile but constantly ask for artifacts that are anti-Agile, like status documents.

   2. Leaders don't work with HR to update job descriptions to ensure the company is actively seeking the right people to fit the future of the organization.

2. Communication

   1. Leaders demean or belittle employees by assuming they lack experience or knowledge rather than asking someone's experience or abilities.

   2. Leaders treat employees like a number rather than a person by not getting to know them or sharing any details about themselves personally.

3. Create Clear Strategy and Vision

   1. Leaders across the organization do not align strategy or vision to a larger picture leaving pockets of disconnection throughout the organization.

   2. Leaders provide ambiguous strategy and vision which makes impossible to attain or feel connected to.

Why do leaders fail to lead?

If you are anything like me, you realize this failure to lead isn't necessarily due to an intentional effort. But rather, this is due to a lack of training for leaders. As we all move up the corporate ladder we get new titles and job responsibilities with very little training in the new role. So we are left guessing and hoping we are meeting expectations. We imitate the predecessors we replaced and emulate the things that we feel are most important.

Long gone are the days of extensive training and onboarding as you move up the ladder within an organization. Yet this oversight this negligence is the very reason leaders fail to lead.

How do we create leaders in leadership?

Training is essential. Training is essential at all levels within an organization. The level of effort an organization is wiling to put into their employees will directly reflect on the success or lack thereof.

If you want hands on training for leadership, please reach out.