A new year brings new opportunities…a chance to relook at life and take corrective action. In accordance with the spirit, I was very keen to complete my course with Marshall Goldsmith on helping successful leaders become even better in 2015 itself. Which I managed to do in the nick of time i.e. 31st Dec.
Helping successful people get even better is one of the interesting parts of my work and so I was intrigued to know the major behavioural problems of successful leaders.
According to Marshall Goldsmith, the 4 major behavioural problems of successful leaders are:
- Winning too much – This is the no 1 problem of successful people. What does this mean? This means that the requirement to win takes precedence over everything else. Marshall suggests asking yourself, “What am I winning exactly?”, as a way of getting balance back. Leaders need to take a deep breath and let go of things that are not important. This like most behavioural change is easier said than done.
- Adding too much value– A subordinate comes up with a good idea. Instead of saying, “Good idea! Go for it.”, you feel compelled to add value. So you make a suggestion or two. However, is it worth it? Not at all…the idea could have improved 5-10% but the commitment to the idea could have fallen by 50%.
- Responding to an idea with I already knew that – Ooh! That’s the ego speaking… If the idea is good, say so and move on. On reflection, I remember when my boss did that to me, in my head a voice would go… “If you already knew it, why haven’t you already done it”.
- Passing too much judgment – Judgment helps no one. Instead you could try to help more and judge less.
Take a deep breath and reflect on when you have seen the above behaviour either in yourself or in other successful leaders around you. What were the results of such behaviour? Was it productive or counterproductive? Did it help boost or deflate relationships and team morale?
You know, most of us have had the same experience.
According to Marshall the best way to get behavioural change are small monetary fines. His suggestion is to charge $10 for every:
- Sentence starting with No, But, However
- That is great, but… (It means…nothing is great… this is the problem)
According to him a couple of thousand dollars and the Leader always kicks the habit.
So, in order to turn over a new leaf…. Rs 10/- for every slip up… Who is up for the challenge?
Lovely Kumar is a facilitator, trainer, psychometric assessor and heads Larks Learning Pvt Ltd. She has a unique background which combines economics, management, advertising, sales, teaching and training. She has worked with a range of corporates and academic institutions. Additionally she has obtained international certifications in training and psychometric assessments.
Contact Lovely Kumar for training interventions or DISC assessments at lovely@larkslearning.com or 91-9899108659.
