Page 180 - The extraordinary leader

Fatal Flaws Must Be Fixed • 157

Sins of Omission. We are often stunned to see the number of people in
middle-management positions in organizations who lack the most rudimen-
tary of social skills. These basic human skills include:

● When you talk with people, look them in the eye.
● Learn and use people’s names.
● When talking with people, say or do things that let the other person
know you are listening and understanding.
● Do not dominate the conversation and take all the “air time.”
● Sincerely inquire about others’ ideas and activities.
● Laugh at others’ jokes and attempts at humor.
● Praise others’ hard work and efforts in furthering a good cause.
● Smile when meeting and greeting other people.

Many aspiring leaders fail to use these extremely fundamental interpersonal
skills. Furthermore, these skills become the basic platform for the skills of
leading group discussions designed to identify and resolve problems, giving
and receiving feedback, coaching, making powerful presentations, and run-
ning effective work-team meetings.
9. Resistant to new ideas, thus did not lead change or innovate
This cause of failure comes from rejecting suggestions from subordinates or
peers, insisting on doing things the same old way, and being generally closed
to new thinking. This is a major turnoff for subordinates. It produces two
negative consequences.
One is the impact on subordinates. People feel ignored, their ideas unap-
preciated, and their contribution undervalued. This unwillingness to consider
new ideas also creates a stultifying climate of stagnation. People’s develop-
ment is seriously curtailed. Morale degenerates, and turnover escalates.
A second consequence is that good ideas and solutions fail to get imple-
mented. The organization becomes stuck. Because good ideas are squelched,
people stop thinking about better ways to do things. The organization misses
out on improvements that come from accepting new ideas from multiple
sources. The total quality movement verified that the best ideas for process
improvements came from the people who were working directly in that arena,
not from outside experts.
Many consulting firms have developed a successful practice by inter-
viewing employees and seeking their opinions about the serious issues the