Flaws

Posted on March 09, 2011 by Ronald T. Brown, Ph.D.

"You ain't gonna know what you don't want to know." - Jerry Garcia

In the book "The Extraordinary Leader," authors John Zenger and Joseph Folkman discuss potential "fatal flaws" of a leader. Their research identified five fatal flaws that can derail an executive's career:

• Failing to learn from mistakes - "Derailed executives made about the same number of mistakes as those whose careers continued onward and upward - but (because of arrogance, fear, or another reason) derailed executives did not use setbacks or failure as a learning experience."

• A lack of interpersonal skills - "When a leader is consistently abrasive, insensitive, cold, arrogant, and bullying - research shows that (in today's world) this is a pattern that will eventually result in their failure."

• Not being open to new ideas - "When a leader is not open to new ideas, subordinates feel ignored, their ideas unappreciated, and their contribution undervalued."

• Not being accountable - "Should a leader fail to assume a sense of accountability for their entire group, they will eventually fail as the leader."

• A lack of initiative - "When a leader fails to initiate consistent action - a visible lack of producing quantifiable results will result."

Remember, fatal flaws are visible. If a leader has a derailing behavior that is frustrating - and driving other people crazy - everyone who works with that leader is aware of the problem. Leadership is a social and visible act, therefore whatever a leader does well - and whatever they do poorly - is widely known.

** As a leader, do you know your potential "Fatal Flaws"... and what are you doing about them?