Posted on Jul 20, 2015
Have you run into the (7) Signs of Weak Leadership?
55.4K
732
174
104
104
0
SEE ENTIRE ARTICLE BELOW
Have you run into the (7) Signs of Weak Leadership?
By Aleksandr Noudelman
Experienced Educator & Fitness Coach
It’s vital to understand that just because someone is in a leadership position, doesn’t necessarily mean they are meant to be in it. Put another way, not all leaders are born leaders. The problem many organizations are suffering from is a recognition problem – they can’t seem to distinguish the good leaders from bad ones.
Here are a few key behaviors that beset a weak leader:
1. Their team routinely suffers from burnout
Being driven and ambitious are important traits for successful leaders. However, if you are excessively working your people or churning through staff than you aren’t effectively using your resources. You may take pride in your productivity, in doing more with less. However, today’s success may undermine long-term health. Crisis management can become a way of life that reduces morale and drives away or diminishes the effectiveness of dedicated people. With any business, there are times when you have to burn the midnight oil but it should be accompanied with time for your team to recharge and refuel.
2. They lack emotional intelligence
Leaders who are weak are always envious of other peoples' successes and are happy when other people fail. They see themselves in fundamental competition with other executives and even with their subordinates. Such envy is a root cause of the turf wars, backbiting, and dirty politics that can make any workplace an unhealthy one.
3. They don’t provide adequate direction
Failing to provide adequate direction can frustrate employees and will hinder their chances at completing tasks correctly and success. Poor leaders might not tell employees when a project is due or might suddenly move the deadline up without regards for the employee who's doing it. Project details can also be vague, making it difficult for staff to guess what factors the leader considers important. If a project involves participation from more than one employee, a poor leader may choose not explain who is responsible for what part. Good leaders provide adequate direction and are always there to provide descriptive feedback when it is needed.
4. They find blame in everyone but themselves
Weak leaders blame everyone else for their mistakes and for any mishaps that happen to them and their division/company. Every time they suffer a defeat or a setback, a subordinate is given the talk down, or worse, an axe. Great leaders don't do this and they always stay positive no matter what the circumstances are. They are accountable for the results and accept full responsibility for the outcomes.
5. They don’t provide honest feedback
It is very difficult for weak leaders to give the honest messages or constructive feedback to their subordinates. When they have to say something negative to someone, it's always someone else, usually a superior, who has told them to do. By that time it is to late and the leader hasn't really identified the problem before it reached the climax. They also make it a point to let the individual know that it's not their idea. Good leaders speak from the heart and provide honest feedback that is backed up by facts. They never wait for superiors to identify problems for them.
6. They're Blind To Current Situation
Because weak leaders are egocentric and believe that their way is the only way, their followers are afraid to suggest anything new. Those who follow such leaders only give them praise or the good news. Such appreciation only gives a boost to their status and ego and the leader is left clueless as to what the current situation is as well as the changing trends in the marketplace.
7. They're Self-Serving
If a leader doesn't understand the concept of “service above self” they will not retain the trust, confidence, and loyalty of their subordinates. Any leader is only as good as their team’s hope to be led by them. Too much ego, pride, and arrogance are not signs of good leadership. Long story short; if a leader receives a vote of non-confidence from their subordinates…the leader is a weak one.
Have you run into the (7) Signs of Weak Leadership?
By Aleksandr Noudelman
Experienced Educator & Fitness Coach
It’s vital to understand that just because someone is in a leadership position, doesn’t necessarily mean they are meant to be in it. Put another way, not all leaders are born leaders. The problem many organizations are suffering from is a recognition problem – they can’t seem to distinguish the good leaders from bad ones.
Here are a few key behaviors that beset a weak leader:
1. Their team routinely suffers from burnout
Being driven and ambitious are important traits for successful leaders. However, if you are excessively working your people or churning through staff than you aren’t effectively using your resources. You may take pride in your productivity, in doing more with less. However, today’s success may undermine long-term health. Crisis management can become a way of life that reduces morale and drives away or diminishes the effectiveness of dedicated people. With any business, there are times when you have to burn the midnight oil but it should be accompanied with time for your team to recharge and refuel.
2. They lack emotional intelligence
Leaders who are weak are always envious of other peoples' successes and are happy when other people fail. They see themselves in fundamental competition with other executives and even with their subordinates. Such envy is a root cause of the turf wars, backbiting, and dirty politics that can make any workplace an unhealthy one.
3. They don’t provide adequate direction
Failing to provide adequate direction can frustrate employees and will hinder their chances at completing tasks correctly and success. Poor leaders might not tell employees when a project is due or might suddenly move the deadline up without regards for the employee who's doing it. Project details can also be vague, making it difficult for staff to guess what factors the leader considers important. If a project involves participation from more than one employee, a poor leader may choose not explain who is responsible for what part. Good leaders provide adequate direction and are always there to provide descriptive feedback when it is needed.
4. They find blame in everyone but themselves
Weak leaders blame everyone else for their mistakes and for any mishaps that happen to them and their division/company. Every time they suffer a defeat or a setback, a subordinate is given the talk down, or worse, an axe. Great leaders don't do this and they always stay positive no matter what the circumstances are. They are accountable for the results and accept full responsibility for the outcomes.
5. They don’t provide honest feedback
It is very difficult for weak leaders to give the honest messages or constructive feedback to their subordinates. When they have to say something negative to someone, it's always someone else, usually a superior, who has told them to do. By that time it is to late and the leader hasn't really identified the problem before it reached the climax. They also make it a point to let the individual know that it's not their idea. Good leaders speak from the heart and provide honest feedback that is backed up by facts. They never wait for superiors to identify problems for them.
6. They're Blind To Current Situation
Because weak leaders are egocentric and believe that their way is the only way, their followers are afraid to suggest anything new. Those who follow such leaders only give them praise or the good news. Such appreciation only gives a boost to their status and ego and the leader is left clueless as to what the current situation is as well as the changing trends in the marketplace.
7. They're Self-Serving
If a leader doesn't understand the concept of “service above self” they will not retain the trust, confidence, and loyalty of their subordinates. Any leader is only as good as their team’s hope to be led by them. Too much ego, pride, and arrogance are not signs of good leadership. Long story short; if a leader receives a vote of non-confidence from their subordinates…the leader is a weak one.
Leader
Leadership
Leadership Development
Education
Toxic Leadership
Edited 9 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 95
1
1
0
I, as an NCO could not say very much, but we as a group did one time file a Article 138 UCMJ! The officer in question was weak and toxic! We did it with reluctance but for the good of the unit, it was done!
(1)
(0)
1
1
0
1
1
0
Look at the Navy ship accidents. You can not survive on five hours of sleep day in and day out.
(1)
(0)
1
1
0
A primary reason for my retirement 11 years ago at age 55 was due to imbecilic leadership that became intolerable. So many 'modern' leaders have no idea as to what the true art of leadership is or looks like, so instead of being completely clueless, they read the current best seller on the subject and immediately embrace whatever that author has espoused as having worked for them.
Suddenly they are now the SME on leadership but when questioned about something as simple as what every leader must be, know and do, most will fail every time - at best, make some good guesses.
Naturally, there were good and bad leaders in the Army - most were adequate but then a select few were truly brilliant in plying their skill set and became not only a role model to subordinates but also an inspiration to be better at what they were.
One such leader in my career was MG General James Pocock. He is the 'real deal' as they say.
It was always bad for an officer to be chewed out by him, far worse for him to simply say, "I'm quite disappointed in your performance" for those words stung. While personally never having been on the receiving end of that remark, the officers who were were always moved to do much better in the future. He was a great division commander and is a personal friend to this day.
His book "Across The Barbed Wire" tells the story of an East German family's attempt to escape into West Germany. It has been called "Fascinating, compelling and historically accurate."
Suddenly they are now the SME on leadership but when questioned about something as simple as what every leader must be, know and do, most will fail every time - at best, make some good guesses.
Naturally, there were good and bad leaders in the Army - most were adequate but then a select few were truly brilliant in plying their skill set and became not only a role model to subordinates but also an inspiration to be better at what they were.
One such leader in my career was MG General James Pocock. He is the 'real deal' as they say.
It was always bad for an officer to be chewed out by him, far worse for him to simply say, "I'm quite disappointed in your performance" for those words stung. While personally never having been on the receiving end of that remark, the officers who were were always moved to do much better in the future. He was a great division commander and is a personal friend to this day.
His book "Across The Barbed Wire" tells the story of an East German family's attempt to escape into West Germany. It has been called "Fascinating, compelling and historically accurate."
(1)
(0)
1
1
0
1
1
0
Back in the ancient days, when I was an LT, I worked for a captain in an organization that shall remain nameless in the interest of protecting the guilty. This captain worked for a major who shared the captain’s “leadership traits”. As a result of that experience, I would add some additional “signs of weak leadership” to the 7 listed. These are:
8. They lack pertinent knowledge – knowledge pertinent to their job, to their function.
9. They have no standards – this could be related to the “poor feed-back” item also. If there is nothing they can compare behavior or performance to, then they are incapable of determining whether it’s really “bad” or “good” or “indifferent”. This can probably be related to the lack of knowledge item.
10. They provide a poor example – in personal conduct, in execution, in work habits. They’re the “do as I say, not as I do” types.
I am sure that someone can analyze this further and perhaps consolidate some of these "signs", or link them to the previous seven, but this is my “first reaction” to the article, based on my own experience.
Oh! Both the captain and the major were branch transfers into the branch, and seemed to be “more lost than cross-eyed crabs”. :-)
8. They lack pertinent knowledge – knowledge pertinent to their job, to their function.
9. They have no standards – this could be related to the “poor feed-back” item also. If there is nothing they can compare behavior or performance to, then they are incapable of determining whether it’s really “bad” or “good” or “indifferent”. This can probably be related to the lack of knowledge item.
10. They provide a poor example – in personal conduct, in execution, in work habits. They’re the “do as I say, not as I do” types.
I am sure that someone can analyze this further and perhaps consolidate some of these "signs", or link them to the previous seven, but this is my “first reaction” to the article, based on my own experience.
Oh! Both the captain and the major were branch transfers into the branch, and seemed to be “more lost than cross-eyed crabs”. :-)
(1)
(0)
1
1
0
As per Item 3,They don’t provide adequate direction, a good subordinate will try to guess what the best course of action is, as is their job. Far too often, they will guess wrong, though is generally no worse than an error in good faith. That is why a Leader has to make his periodic rounds to keep tabs one everybody, to keep them going in the right direction. Absentee Leaders are not Leaders.
(1)
(0)
1
1
0
I was fortunate in the time I was in the service to have not run across that type of leader. I understood directly and trusted that my seniors would never make me do things that they themselves haven't or wouldn't have done themselves... I've seen E-6s and E7's out on deck painting right along side of me...
Unfortunately I have run across more than a few in civilian life...and they are usually the death of the team, and sometimes the corporation.
Unfortunately I have run across more than a few in civilian life...and they are usually the death of the team, and sometimes the corporation.
(1)
(0)
1
1
0
Well my Dad, the old Marine Master Gunnery Sgt, told me - "When in charge be in charge, when you screw up raise your hand and always be aware of what your mission is." That was always my modus operandi, for better or worse, during my career. And so each morning, now and then, I can look in the mirror when I shave and smile ! I feel I was always a better commander than a staff officer..but here's the deal -- weak leadership is a reluctance or fear to address problems. Your soldiers are counting on you to fix "things".
(1)
(0)
1
1
0
To be a good leader; develop strong self respect, never tell a lie to anyone, never take a shortcut on discipline and training and never walk around a problem
(1)
(0)
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google