Toxic Leadership

The thing about toxic leadership is that it destroys morale by creating fear and resentment, it is counter productive to moving any organization forward, and it damages relationships and trust.  The frightening thing to ponder about toxic leaders is that many of them actually think they are doing a great job, think that others think they are doing a great job, and do not have the self awareness to realize what is really happening.

There are a variety of reasons the leadership becomes toxic.  Some of the reasons are listed above.  There are more.  Toxic leaders behave in a way that is contrary to all we know about how to be an effective leader.  The vast majority of them do not view leadership as a service and a privilege, but rather as an entitled right.  The toxic leader has the mindset that they 'have arrived' and revel in the power and control.  What they don't realize is that in the end, success will allude them.  As the old cliché goes, 'what goes around comes around'.  In most cases, they will be found out and will not be successful.

Organizational success relies on productive team members.  Productive team members come from a positive and nurturing culture.  A positive and nurturing culture comes from an effective leader who views leadership as a responsibility to serve and create an environment that sets people up for success.  Toxic leaders just don't understand these fundamental principles.

Toxic leaders destroy organizations and they destroy people.  Don't be a toxic leader!

Competent Leadership

Leadership matters.  As General Pershing so astutely observed, effective leaders can get results even if the talent pool is not the best and ineffective leaders can have the best talent available and fail.  Far too often people either underestimate the unmistakable effect that effective leadership has on an organization and its people or they simple do not understand the essential role that leadership plays.

While this is true in any arena, be it business, education, or nonprofits, it is especially noticeable in athletics.  One can point to numerous teams that were laden with talent that under performed due, in large part, to poor coaching (leadership).  Conversely, there are multiple 'Cinderella Story' teams that exceeded all expectations due to strong and effective coaching (leadership).  Other types of organizations have the same types of examples.

Think about it.  When any organization does not perform up to potential and expectations, the first step is to change leadership.  Many would call that 'scapegoating', but I would argue that it is a prudent move as the leader is directly responsible for establishing and molding the culture.  Poor leadership leads to poor culture which leads to, as General Pershing observed, demoralized troops.

Leadership matters.  A lack of effective leadership will ultimately lead to failure!

Legacy

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One important question effective leaders need to ask themselves is "What happens to the organization and the work when I am gone?".  No one is going to be in a position forever.  Leaders leave their positions for a variety of reasons, but, they will leave.  So what does happen when they do leave?

In his landmark book The 21 Irrefutable Laws or Leadership, John C. Maxwell calls this the 'Law of Legacy'.  Effective leaders concern themselves with developing a succession plan.  They very deliberately plan and establish for their replacement whether that is in the form of grooming a successor or setting in place the process to choice their successor, or both.  The point is that they don't leave it to chance.

Over the years I have seen successes and I have seen failures.  I have seen organizations where the leader very deliberately took steps for what would happen when he/she left.  In these cases, as a rule, the organization continued to thrive and carry on and the new leader was able to harness the momentum of the previous leader and keep things moving forward.  I have also seen organizations that had no idea what they would do when to leader left, and when she/he did in fact leave, chaos ensued.  The organization was in disarray, took multiple steps backward, and in some cases never recovered.

Effective leadership includes long term visioning and planning.  Great leaders will set plans in place for organizational successes that will occur long after they are gone.  They are deliberate in their succession planning and will not leave it to chance.  As Stephen Covey always advised, 'Start with the end in mind', even when that end may be long after you are gone!

Leaders as Water Carriers

Real effective leadership occurs when the leader begins to understand that a substantial part of their role is to be there to support people and provide them with the means, tools, and environment that they need to get the job done.  They don't need to be overseen, they need to be supported.  They don't need to have to look over their shoulder to see if they are going to get lambasted for trying to do their job.  I've said this before: the best leaders are the best servants.

Approaching any leadership position starts with the attitude.  Is the attitude one of 'I am in charge and you will do it my way or else?" or is the attitude "I am here to serve you and to see how I can be helpful.  What do you need from me so you can be successful?"  The former leads to dysfunction, the latter leads to excellence.

The key to all of this is to ask why would you want to be in a position that requires leadership?  If it is for the power and control and prestige then you really don't get it.  Leadership is about service.  It is serving people, the organization, and, yes, the greater good.  If you aspire to a leadership position to help, to serve, and to make a difference, then you are well on your way.

Effective leaders are always asking "How can I make it easier for you to get your job done?"  That is servant leadership to the core!

Effective Leaders Inspire

I have repeatedly discussed the need for effective leaders to build strong relationships in a culture that nurtures and encourages rather than destroys and discourages.  

Effective leaders inspire there team members to grow, produce, and perform.  Notice that the verb is inspire and not mandate or direct.  Effective leaders are exceptional at not only cultivating strong and productive relationship, but also at tapping into those relationships to achieve even the most difficult objectives.

The effective leaders know that people are the most productive when they feel appreciated, needed, and wanted.  Far too many people in positions of leadership view their people as subordinates rather than equals.  

I love the story from the late great Coach John Wooden when he was the head basketball coach at UCLA.  When he was hired in 1948 to be the head coach at UCLA he was promised a new basketball arena would be soon built.  Apparently 'soon' was a relative term as UCLA did not play in a new facility (Pauley Pavilion) until 1965, Lew Alcindor's (later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) first year on the UCLA varsity basketball team.  In the interim, UCLA played in the Men's Gym, jokingly called the B.O. barn (for obvious reasons... it had very poor ventilation).  Wooden would sweep the floors before and after practice, because it needed to be done.  He led by example, did not view himself as 'too good' to do any task, and spent his career teaching character.  In later years Abdul-Jabbar, who went on to an illustrious 20 year career in the National Basketball Association and is considered by basketball experts to be one of the top 10 greatest player of all time, stated "The wisdom of Coach Wooden had a profound influence on me as an athlete, but even greater influence on me as a human being.  He is responsible, in part, for the person I am today."

That's inspiring leadership!

Making People Feel Safe

 

We have all been in positions where the culture of the organization was high stress, frustrating, and even toxic.  The reality is that this all stems from a complete lack of leadership.

It is the leader's responsibility to set the tone for the culture of the organization.  Effective leaders will make people feel at ease and safe in the work environment.  This starts with the leader's example of how they treat people.  Far too many people in positions of leadership take on the mindset of 'boss': you do what I tell you to do because I'm the BOSS.  Not only it this approach ineffective, it is counterproductive to establishing strong relationships.

The astute leader will act as more of a recruiter than an overseer.  They will win people over to the vision, mission, goals, and tasks of the organization by creating a culture where people feel valued and included.  People need to feel like they matter and are not just a number or a cog in the wheel of the organization.  It all goes back to building relationships, and building positive relationships results in a productive and 'safe' culture.

Effective leaders care about how people feel about their work environment and how the work environment makes them feel!

Leadership and Power

Lord Acton's observation on power corrupting is arguably one of the best known and most often quoted (and misquoted) statements.  From a leadership perspective, it is a cautionary tale that merits discussion.  I offer the following points in light of Lord Acton's statement.

First, real leadership involves service and not power.  If someone aspires to a leadership position for the perceived power that they will receive, then they are missing the true nature of leadership.  The real irony is that most positions of leadership, while appearing to include a certain amount of power, really do not include all that much power.  It is a myth that the 'top dog' has all the power.  There are countless examples of people in positions of leadership who became lost in the perceived power of their position and they eventually failed.  Effective leaders approach their position as one of service and not one of power.

Second, note that the actual quote states that power tends to corrupt.  There is a qualifier.  Lord Acton is often misquoted with "power corrupts", not "power tends to corrupt".  The astute leader keeps this in mind and strives to not abuse their position.  Lord Acton's statement goes on to say "Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority...".  Again, note the qualifier.  We can learn so much from history regarding what to do and what not to do.  Whether is is in business, politics and governance, or the military, there are lessons of failed leaders who let their perceived power go to their head.  Effective leaders find ways to remain grounded and create built in safe guards to protect against corruption.

Finally, absolute power rarely exists and when it does, it does not last.  History is full of men and women who seemed to achieve absolute power and ultimately failed.  At this point let's not confuse power with responsibility.  The effective leader is responsible for, and assumes responsibility for, decisions.  As the saying goes 'someone has to be in charge'.  BUT... that is not a license to adopt an attitude of 'you do it because I am the leader and I say so...'.  Not only is this ineffective, it is counter productive.  The most effective leaders are humble, collaborative, and relational.  

Effective leaders use their positions to serve, not to control, dominate, or bully.  They view themselves as servants and not as rulers!

Relationships Matter

 

I have previously discussed the necessity for leaders to build strong and lasting relationships in order to be effective.  This was highlighted in my discussions of Brady and Woodward's Trilateral Leadership Ledger as the last factor that needs to be measured to determine effective leadership.  Relationships matter.  Leaders cannot be effective without them.

Captain Abrashoff made a profound observation in his book, as shown above.  Building an effective relationship is the responsibility of the leader.  I recently analyzed Minnesota Vikings owner Mark Wilf's press conference that he gave after the Vikings relieved General Manager Rick Spielman and Head Coach Mike Zimmer of their duties.  In that press conference, Mr. Wilf repeatedly stated that the Vikings were looking for, among other things, strong leadership in their new General Manager.  Recently the Vikings announced the hiring of Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, the former Vice President of Football Operations for the Cleveland Browns.  In his introductory press conference, Mr. Adofo-Mensah was very quick to share that "... right after you guys let me go I'm going to start calling them [the Vikings players] and really learn about what makes them proud to be a Minnesota Viking."  Here we have two key points: 1) the new leader initiates the contact to begin building the rapport and relationship, and 2) learning from the people already in the organizatiuon about the culture and their thoughts on the organization.  Whether or not Mr. Adofo-Mensah is successful in achieving Mark Wilf's stated goal of bringing championships to the Minnesota Vikings remains to be seen, but, one can conclude that, based on his statements, he understands the need to immediately establish relationships to move the organization forward.  He seems to know that his success in grounded in the quality of the relationships that he is able to develop.

Far too many leaders confuse rapport and relationships with friendship.  How many times have you heard that it's not the leader's job to be a friend?  Perhaps not, but, it is essential that the leader be friendly and establish a strong professional relationship based on trust, respect, and, yes, even a professional friendship.

It is the leader's responsibility to take the first step in establishing a relationship.  Further, it is the leader's responsibility to nurture that relationship.  Establishing individual relationships builds an organization's culture of trust.  That trust is the fuel that will move the organization forward and ultimately contribute to the leader's success.