I'm spending the next few days running an Introduction to Management and Leadership course with a group of people who are fresh into management.  I love the discussion people at this level provoke, you get to hear ideas from people who are just begining to think about the approach that they will take when it comes to leading and managing people.

We had a fantastic discussion today about what poor leadership looks like and the impact that it has.  Although I've heard it before from many other people, today was different as these were people who were begining to make some very clear choices, and I thought I would write about their responses.

The discussion was around specific things that they have experienced, or have seen that they would define as poor leadership, and added to this the impact it would have.  Here is a list of what they came up with:

Getting the big things right, but the small things wrong.  Being to task focused and concentrating more on getting the job done.  They said that it is the small things that make the big difference i.e. acknowledging people when they arrive at work or leave work (a simple hello or good morning).  Being ignored is one of the biggest things in their eyes that leads to a feeling of lack of appreciation.

Poor Communication.  Not having a clear view of what is going on, knee jerk reaction changes to things that have gone wrong, lack of forward thinking and communicating why things are changing.  They described a feeling of fear of the unknown i.e. just what is going to happen next and a feeling of de-motivation and resentment as things are constantly changing with no clear reason why.

Focusing too much on the negative.  'Its always negative feedback' they said, 'what about appreciation for the things that are done well'?  They weren't talking about financial reward or anything big here.  A simple thank you for a job well done or feedback on the things that have gone right.  One quote from a member of the group was 'If its always negative, I always feel negative'.

Admitting when you have done things wrong.  We are only human and can't be perfect all of the time.  Leaders and Managers do get things wrong, but if this happens they should own up to this and not brush it under the carpet, or worse still blame others.  They said that they would have more respect for someone who has the guts to admit when they are wrong.  If it happens often enough they said they would lose all respect and confidence in their manager.

Lack of constructive feedback.  Feedback is a gift I once was told, and this is so true.  But its not a gift when the feedback is unjustified or isn't backed up.  We heard examples of feedback such as 'you're not doing a very good job', but no clear examples of why.  Feedback must be backed up with specifics.  How can people change if they don't know what they have done wrong.  They said feedback with no specifics is almost a personal attack.  A manager must have specifics, or if the feedback is third party, be clear of the specifics before they provide the feedback as this can be so de-motivational.  They also said feedback should be timely.

Practice what they preach.  If you do give feedback to someone about an element of behaviour or a task completed incorrectly, the manager should be seen to do exactly the same.  If this doesn't happen, then it clearly shows the feedback was un-substantiated or a personal attack on the person.  A manager should be fair and not expect the team to do anything they wouldn't do themselves.  

Make sure everyone is treated fairly.  We heard some real examples of favoritism where certain team members got all of the nice jobs, and there was a perception that others were given an'easier life'.  One quote from a team member was 'I understand that its not a popularity competition, but at the same time things have to be fair.  At the end of the day the team has a job to do, and everyone needs to do their bit to ensure that the task gets done.  If there is a sense of favoritism in the team, those who feel less favoured are less likely to carry out their task and will resent the other team members or the manager leading to conflict.

Speak to me like a child and I'll respond like one.  This was a great comment as we will be looking at Transactional Analysis tomorrow.  But, they said that if you talk to me like your my parent, I'll respond like your child.  They described a compelling feeling of wanting to 'throw their toys out of the pram' when they are not communicated to effectively.  They described wanting to go away and sulk because they are being treat like children.  They simply said, 'treat me like an adult, and I will act and show you the respect of an Adult back'.

Delegate effectively, don't abdicate.  So true, delegating is a skill.  Its not a given that we can all delegate effectively.  Sure we can all tell someone what they have to do, this this isn't delegation.  Delegation is about helping the person to understand what the task is, what the end result looks like, why that person has been chosen and what the boundaries are.  Dumping work on people can be described as abdication of work, and one of the group described a manager who delegated everything and done nothing and how he felt unfairly treated by his manager.

I could have spend the whole day talking the group about this subject, but unfortunately we did have to move on.  We have more conversations to come and I'll post some of these to this site.

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