MISTAKES CEOs MAKE
By Dr Preeti Vats
Much of today’s leadership writing focuses on what high performing leaders should do. Certainly, that material helps from a theoretical and aspirational point of view. Yet what really haunts leaders on a day-to-day basis is the mistakes that they make. They don’t trip up because they are bad people; they most often fumble because of a lack of knowledge, bad habits or too much stress.
Whether you are a newly promoted manager, recently hired executive or have been in your position for some time, odds are if you are not ahead of the game, you may make one or more of these potentially costly mistakes.Here are 8 such deadly Mistakes that I see in the field, and I’m sure you witness, too and that should be avoided at all costs .
Mistake # 1 : “Yes , It’s lonely at the top”
I’ve often received calls and emails from former business students of mine who, despite being at a pinnacle of career or financial success, have expressed profound loneliness and despair – the kinds of feelings that might lead to tragedies like the recent suicides of two Swiss executives.
Many young leaders and CEOs say that power and influence come at a steep cost. The more success these people find, the more they feel like targets. It can seem like everyone wants something from them, and even acts of kindness and generosity from others seemed like veiled attempts at manipulation.
So, some leaders gradually lean away from people, creating a self-imposed detachment. In this isolation, they come to feel that they have no one to share their problems with — and at the same time, it makes them seem unapproachable to others. They drift deeper into themselves, and end up far away from the people in their lives.
The more of it we face, the greater danger there is of losing touch with the people and values that are important to us. There are always moments of isolation, but by. Not taking time to bond with people. on a human level is off to a bad start. A leader who is conceptually interested in others but doesn’t make time to “bond” with people misses the mark as well, whether those people are employees, colleagues, customers, or other stakeholders. Bonding is a deep emotional connection that is different from simply liking someone. In fact, you do not have to like someone to bond with him. You do have to get to know him and understand what makes him tick. And that takes time above and beyond pure task-oriented work.
Isolation is never the answer – instead, you want to surround yourself with, and reach out to, the people around you. If you start to feel you’re getting tunnel vision from incessant pressure at work, interrupt it. We often feel locked into wearisome routines in life. The trick is to find ways to break out of them as soon as you realize you’re in one.
Mistake # 2 : Making decisions solely on facts and charts
One of the decision-making mistakes we commonly make is to give ourselves a lot of options. We figure that if we consider every possible alternative, we will have better choices and make the best decision. Sometimes we do this exhaustive search as a way to resolve uncertainty. We assume that if we go through everything, no stone will be left unturned and there will be no uncertainty. The problem is that we are likely to get overwhelmed and make no decision or ineffective decision .
For years business world have been promoted as a place for no emotions , the focus has been on speed and agility but surprisingly recent scientific and business researches have come up with a very different data covering the traits of highly successful leaders .These highly successful business people were resilient leaders, emotionally intelligent people who were able to absorb complex change and help others move forward to achieve success. The studies show that leaders’ best thinking and decisions are grounded in emotional as well as intellectual intelligence. Authenticity, vulnerability and empathy are critical to successful decision making . Leadership is learned behavior that becomes unconscious and automatic over time.
Successful CEO’s make many decisions intuitively, mainly because they can’t wait for all the facts. For example, leaders can make several important decisions about an issue in the time it takes others to understand the question. Many people wonder how leaders know how to make the best decisions, often under immense pressure. The process of making these decisions comes from an accumulation of experiences and encounters with a multitude of difference circumstances, personality types and unforeseen failures. Power CeOs register them in the subconscious mind and when needed they rely on the most important feature of their brain which we call as :intuition”, More so, the decision making process is an acute understanding of being familiar with the cause and effect of behavioral and circumstantial patterns; knowing the intelligence and interconnection points of the variables involved in these patterns allows a leader to confidently make decisions and project the probability of their desired outcomes. The most successful leaders are instinctual decision makers. Having done it so many times throughout their careers, they become immune to the pressure associated with decision making and extremely intuitive about the process of making the most strategic and best decisions. This is why most senior executives will tell you they depend strongly upon their “gut-feel” when making difficult decisions at a moment’s notice.
Excellent leaders often say that they go with their gut to make decisions. They are able to trust themselves and their expertise and not get stuck in the cycle of over-thinking. The more you know about a subject, the more reliable your intuition will be. Make yourself an expert in your field and your intuition will be your best guide.
Mistake # 3 : Ignoring the realities of power
Surprised that you never hear bad news until it's too late? Don't be. The more power you have, the less you'll hear about problems. It's human nature: problems are filtered and softened as they ascend the corporate hierarchy, with each messenger seeking to soften the blow. If you want an honest assessment of a problem, seek out bad news. Welcome it. And when it comes, show your appreciation.
Surprised that you never hear bad news until it's too late? Don't be. The more power you have, the less you'll hear about problems. It's human nature: problems are filtered and softened as they ascend the corporate hierarchy, with each messenger seeking to soften the blow. If you want an honest assessment of a problem, seek out bad news. Welcome it. And when it comes, show your appreciation.
Conversely, messages are magnified as they travel down the hierarchy. If you look pained during a presentation, everyone will "know" you hated the presentation (or worse — the presenter). No one will think to blame the pastrami sandwich you ate too fast before you came to the meeting. Jokes are especially dangerous. When the managing director of a consulting firm joked, "If you're not here Sunday, don't bother coming in Monday," his project team wasn't sure what to do. One said, "We were pretty sure he was joking, but. . ."
Put a lid on rumors by using plain, simple language. End meetings by reviewing your reactions and next steps. "I value your analysis, Dev. The sales trend is disturbing. Let's follow up on Wednesday.
Mistake # 4: Ignoring the obvious
What it looks like: You are the “new person on the block” and there is an unspoken awkwardness between you and your team. A sense of the “unknown” and maybe even some mistrust, depending on whose shoes your are filling and how he or she performed.
Our very social brains “circle” each other, feeling out the other person. Sounds creepy? No, it is normal for our mirror neurons to want to “see” the other person and attempt to predict what you are going to do or say next.
Yet, in this process and especially under stress (i.e., the unknown future), our brains often anticipate the worst case scenario, like “He’s too quiet … just like the last boss and we don’t know what he’s thinking … maybe he’s going to fire us all.” Or “She hasn’t asked us how we have been doing things well around here for years … she’s going to just do it her way no matter what we say.”
CEOs who do not build the awareness in the themselves for the people around them head towards a steep fall in their tenure .
Mistake # 5: A two year old temper tantrum . Failing to manage your emotions
I have seen more senior leaders and CEO’s have two year old temper tantrums than my own children did at two. Why is this? My experience has been more senior executives get referred for performance coaching than mid-level managers due to their inability to manage their temper. Is it because top executives are unwilling (or unable?) to manage their emotions? Is it because they don’t see a need to do so and the stress builds up along the way until you explode? Or are managers more afraid of losing their opportunity for promotion if they show their frustration, and are therefore more proactive?
My guess: It is becoming increasingly difficult to manage the overwhelming responsibilities and variables inherent in the Top Dog position. Richard Boyatzis, author of Resonant Leadership and numerous research articles in area of Leadership Development, describes “Power Stress” as a unique stress experienced by leaders who in addition to their everyday stress, feel additional responsiblity for the welfare and well being of others: employees, shareholders, etc. The cost of failing is higher, therefore the stress is higher. Stress results in dis-ease … put those two words together and you’ll get the wake up call physically in the form of high blood pressure, heart problems and other stress-related conditions.
Because of the mirror neurons described earlier, when you are come into the office with a scowl or bark at your staff or worse yet use sarcasm or criticism as a management weapon, because emotions are contagious, you’ve just infected everyone you come into contact with. Now your staff are “carriers” and spread the negativity like the flu to others, including your customers.
Mistake # 5“Give me something big to pat your back”
Have you ever noticed it’s easier to pay attention to what people do wrong than what they do right? This may be for several reasons. First, because our brains are hard-wired to notice the negative more readily and easily (especially under stressful conditions). Second, noticing the negative and ignoring the positive may have been learned. By this I mean your belief that your team doesn’t need recognition for doing their job, because that is what they are paid to do.
Research described in Amabile & Kramer’s book “The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins To Ignite Joy, Engagement, And Creativity At Work” demonstrates people NEED to recognize small progress and small wins. It truly is the little positive things that make a big difference in our internal world. Yet, ironically the small wins get overshadowed by the BIG screw ups (or even the little screw ups) we experience throughout the day both in our internal world or external environment. Small wins win BIG.
So focus on finding the small wins and acknowledging the progress we make is not a sign of weakness or patronizing … as long as it is genuinely felt and communicated.
Mistake # 6 Holding the medals too tight
CEOs unable to figure out how to share credit for their success with their inner team so that they feel a part of a mission are at the wrong track. Basically, you want to create a reservoir of good feeling, and that involves not only acknowledging your errors but even shouldering the blame for the failures of some of your subordinates. Again and again, leaders like Lincoln took responsibility for what he did, and he shared responsibility for the mistakes of others, and so people became very loyal to him.
History also shows that it’s essential to know how to connect to the larger public, whether that’s through radio, in the case of , Gandhi , Nehru, or in Lincoln’s case, through speeches that were filled with such poetry and clarity that people felt they were watching him think and that he was telling them the truth.
Mistake # 7 : “ Oh yes ,I work 24/7”
I would add here that one more success factor is key for great leadership, be it in business or politics, and it’s one that’s usually overlooked. As a leader you need to know how to relax so that you can replenish your energies for the struggles facing you tomorrow.
Lincoln went to the theater about a hundred times while he was in Washington. And although he suffered from a certain melancholy, he had a tremendous sense of humor and would entertain people long into the night with his stories. Franklin Roosevelt was the same way. He had this cocktail hour every evening during World War II when you just couldn’t talk about the war. He needed to remain free from thinking about the bad things for a few hours. Or he would play with his stamps. This ability to recharge your batteries in the midst of great stress and crisis is crucial for successful leadership.
Dr Preeti Vats
Dr. Preeti vats is CEO of TrainersWorldWide International, and is a counseling psychologist, aninternational consultant, trainer and CEO level coachconsulting on behavior and health. For past 13 years She has focused on the most influential area of leadership trainingin the field of neuroscience , scientific social skills & behavioral contracting, and strategies to master soft skills, Leadership performance excellence and mental health. Dr Vats is a co director with United Statestop counselling firm TriState counselling and mediation in Brooklyn, New York, USA where she has been working with clients on leadership skills, management training, social skills and health .
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