Over at the Harvard Business Review, Susan Cramm has written a very interesting piece about leadership malpractice. The article starts:
“There’s only one kind of leadership malpractice: wasting the lives of those we lead.”
I imagine there must have been a huge temptation to just leave it at that and submit the shortest HBR blog ever. Susan Cramm goes on to highlight a few leadership howlers that can soak up and waste huge amounts of precious time. These include:
• Sponsoring a project that isn’t ready for prime time.
• Overloading star performers.
• Managing jobs rather than careers.
• Refusing to address performance issues.
The article is worth a read to learn more about these, however one point in particular stood out for me. Cramm calls it: Negatively Labelling Others.
She uses a particularly angry example that makes me think of a spoiled child stamping their feet to try and get what they want. The outcome she suggests is a self fulfilling prophecy where staff just act out, rather than act right. Actions speak louder than words.
There’s more over at the blog including a view on authentic and active leadership. I’d welcome your thoughts plus any examples of leadership malpractice, and authentic leadership.
