Three Signs A Leader Is Failing

“An important truth emerges when we explore the nature of motivation.  People are always motivated.  The question is not if, but why they are motivated.”

     –     Susan Fowler, in her new book:  Why Motivating People Doesn’t Work…And What Does

The subtitle of the book is “The New Science of Leading, Energizing, and Engaging.”  I’m not sure about the science yet (I’ve only just begun to read the book), but I like those three as definitional elements even if they’re not proven to be scientific.  Look, it is simple.  You can manage processes and “things,” but you have to lead people.  

So, how do we know when it’s going bad — or worse, that it’s gone bad?

Borrowing stylistically from Jeff Foxworthy’s old “You Might Be A Redneck” routine, let’s look at Three Signs A Leader Is Failing:

1)  If we’re spending most of our time three layers deep in the minutiae, we might be failing as a leader.  The leader’s job is not to be able to do all the work they are responsible for, it’s to make sure it gets done through others.  If we’re micromanaging too much of the operation of our teams, we’ve either hired poorly, developed poorly or led poorly — or some combination thereof.  Leaders know what questions to ask, whom to expect to have the answers, and when to ask them.  Someone once said, “don’t tell me how to get there, tell me where you want me to end up,” and if our goal is that our team get to ________________, we should worry more about the destination and the broader parameters for making the trip.  People will amaze us with their creativity and ingenuity, given the chance, so we have to resist the temptation to do (or dictate) every little thing.

2)  If our team isn’t coming to us with questions, we might be failing as a leader.  People ask questions of people they trust to know the answers and of those they expect to know the answers.  They key to this warning sign isn’t the answers, though.  Why?  Great leaders know that providing all the answers isn’t leadership at all — but they want the questions, constantly, because in those questions there is a clear sign of trust, and there are opportunities to teach, to grow and to develop a stronger team.  Our teams are asking someone for input, guidance and advice.  If it ain’t us — that ain’t good!

3)  If we suck all the positive energy out of a room when we enter it, we might be failing as a leader.  Yes, there are times that great coaches have to deliver tough messages.  There are times for disappointment, even anger, if channeled correctly.  Those times, however, are rare, if we’re effective leaders, and they carry more impact when they’re fewer and far between.  Look, we don’t have to be the life of the party, but if everyone quickly pays their tab and heads for home when we show up at the bar — we’re a positive energy sponge, instead of a positive energy provider.  Strong leaders don’t dominate meetings, they engage everyone in them (after they’ve avoided having the icky meetings, where nothing good or productive happens and where I dream about driving 8-penny nails in to my forehead — but I digress), solicit input and feedback from even the most reserved members of the team and create an environment where the team leaves the room with more energy than when they entered.  Leaders are a beacon of positive energy.

Refusing to micromanage, being available, accessible and reliable and being a source of positive energy.  Three great definitional elements for succeeding as a leader.