THE great challenge of change in the corporate world is to get leaders themselves to change. I have heard leaders lament over the difficulties of getting their organisations to change. These leaders often put the blame on their staff, but as we the truth of the matter is that the most resistance to change arises from the leaders themselves.

In effecting organisation transformation through culture change, it is important to change the mindsets of the leaders first, before implementing the changes organisation-wide. To do, this, we have to first understand the ills of leadership.

Leaders Who Do Not Listen
One of the greatest ills of leadership is when leaders refuse to listen. There are leaders who turn down good advice, those who block others from giving good suggestions or ideas and also those who are so preoccupied with their own ideas that they will not consider any other views except their own. This often results in the leader developing blind spots. These blind spots could be strengths or weaknesses that the organisation fails to recognise. They could also be opportunities in the market place or workplace that the company fails to capitalise on or threats that it does not counter. Thus all too often, leaders do not address the relevant issus of the organisation as they become out of touch with the realities. It is not too surprising then that the course of action that leaders take are irrelevant to the real issues at hand. The result is that they are ineffective, they waste everyone’s time and they tax the patience of people.

Leaders Who Do Not Practice What They Preach
Another great flaw of some leaders is the tendency to be hypocritical. Many say one thing, but do another. They do not make good their promises and they come across as inconsistent and unprincipled. A corporate leader in a large conglomerate, for example, preached about the importance of integrity in their monthly management meetings, however, he was later found to be involved in several shady deals, In such a scenario, leaders lose not only their credibility, but also their effectiveness in leading their staff.

Leaders Who Practice Favoritism
One of the surest ways to kill trust in an organisation is for leaders to practice favoritism. The common grouse in organisations is that there are leaders who tend to treat some staff better than others. The unhappiness often arises when the special kind of treatment given to the staff is unjustified. The leader, for example, will side with a particular staff regardless of the staff being right or wrong. Often, this special treatment has nothing to do with performance. This is where the double standards exist. Some staff get away scot-free with making major mistakes, while others are severely penalised for committing even tiny oversights. Just as there are teachers’ pets in school, there are the bosses’ blue-eyed boys (and girls) in the corporate world.

Very often, this kind of dissatisfaction in the workplace does not arise simply out of jealousy. People are not happy because leaders practice favoritism on those who merely conform rather than perform. Often, this kind of conformance is blind compliance to the whims and fancies of the bosses. These leaders tend to lose the trust and respect of their staff, leading to weakened staff morale and, hence, a lower performance level.

Leaders Who Intimidate Others
There are many powerful leaders in the corporate world. But the problem with powerful leaders is they often abuse their power and intimidate their subordinates. These leaders create a stifling work environment where staff are not encouraged to speak their minds or be creative. As people are afraid to speak up, too often, what is said is what they think their leaders would like to hear. Thus, by creating this type of fear-based work environment, leaders are effectively blinding themselves to the real issues or weaknesses of the company. They become unaware of the real threats facing the company and eventually bring about the company’s downfall.

Leaders Who Demoralise Others
Perhaps the greatest ill of poor leadership is the way it demoralises others There are leaders who have this seemingly incurable habit of shooting people down at every opportunity. They seem to thrive on trampling over the ego of others. These leaders do not give compliments easily, but they are quick to criticise. They are often cynical and suspicious of the intentions of their subordinates. They kill good ideas and suggestions. Instead of building people up, they erode their self-confidence. People who work under these leaders cannot produce their best work. Their performance level drops as their morale and motivation are adversely affected. Leaders who bring others down in this manner are in effect also bringing themselves and the whole organisation down.

Leaders Who Fail to Create a Direction
There can be no great leadership without a clear direction for people to follow. A compelling direction is certainly needed in view of the current economic downturn. Leaders who continue to plod along without taking into consideration the changes in the environment will cause uncertainty and fear in the workplace, which will in turn affect staff morale and performance. These leaders have all the power and titles to show, but they have no strategic or contingency plan to deal with the uncertainty posed by a change in the economic environment. These leaders often lead organisations to produce the same products in the same manner to the same customers, year after year. The result is disastrous.

Leaders Who Do Not Develop Their People
There are leaders who do not see the need to coach and train others. Many of them figure that it is too time-consuming and troublesome to impart their skills to others. They argue that only they know how to do certain tasks and thus, they hang on to the work and do not delegate it. These leaders are inefficient. Many of them are busy doing things that could be more (cost) effectively done by others. These leaders believe that they should keep as much knowledge to themselves as possible as it is a tool for survival. Such an attitude not only hinders others from growing, but the leaders themselves will also not be able to move on to tackle a higher level of work. It retards the growth of the organisation and everyone in it.

Leaders Who Are Complacent 
What is a greater flaw in leadership than the lack of competency? Complacency. The corporate world is full of leaders who are competent, but have become complacent. There is a great flaw in the saying, “Knowledge is power”. Knowledge is not power. It is potential power. Potential power is useless if it is not put to good use. Leaders who are complacent are people who have not tapped into this potential power.

There are many leaders who have the knowledge and the ability to change and improve things, but they do not do anything Over the years, because of good times and successes achieved in their careers, leaders become complacent. They tend to accept things the way they are. They accept that their market share is shrinking due to competition from aggressive competitors. They are resigned to the substandard level of work and poor quality of customer service found within their organisation. They become immune to customer complaints. They develop blind spots regarding the organisation’s weaknesses and vulnerabilities. Leaders who are complacent think their companies can survive just by continuing to do the same thing, the same old way, come what may. The truth is that unless leaders change and respond quickly to the changes in the external environment, their organisations will surely become change victims instead of change winners.

Effective change must start from the top. Leaders must first change their own mindsets if they expect their staff to do so. And to begin changing mindsets, they need to be aware of the eight ills of leadership identified above and ask themselves some honest and soul-searching questions. They should then take steps to eliminate any unhealthy leadership practices as they lead their people on the journey towards becoming change winners in the very challenging business landscape ahead,

* The writer is Chief Executive Officer of KL Strategic Change Consulting Group. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Website: www.klscc.com.

Source: News Straits Times - 1Klassifieds - Monday, October 4, 2010