The Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make
The author shows how poor leadership habits spawn new generations
of poor leaders. Or, they create enough discomfort that the leader
figures out how to do it right. Dr. Hans Finzel who is Executive
Director of CB International, a church planting and leadership
training ministry currently operates in 40 countries around the
world. In this book he describes the ten most common leadership
faults:
This is an excellent book, a must-read. Each of the mistakes is
presented with pertinent biblical examples and shows how they
can be turned around.
The Top Down Attitude
The top-down attitude comes naturally to most people
Servant leadership is much more rare
Effective leaders see themselves at the bottom of an inverted pyramid
Putting Paperwork Before Peoplework
The greater the leadership role, the less time there seems to be for people.
The greater the leadership role, the more important peoplework is.
People are opportunities, not interruptions.
The Absence of Affirmation
Everyone thrives on affirmation and praise.
Leadership has as much to do with the "soft sciences" as with getting
things done.
We wildly underestimate the power of the tiniest personal touch of kindness.
Learn to read the varying levels of affirmation your people need.
No Room for Mavericks
Mavericks can save us from the slide toward institutionalism.
Large organizations usually kill off mavericks before they can take root.
Mavericks make messes by their very nature - the good messes institutions need.
Learn to recognize truly useful mavericks.
Dictatorship in Decision-Making
Dictators deny the value of individuals.
The major players in an organization are like its stockholders. They should have
a say in its direction.
The one who does the job should decide how it is done.
"Flat" organizations are the model of the future.
Dirty Delegation
Overmanaging is one of the great cardinal sins of poor leadership.
Nothing frustrates those who work for you more than sloppy delegation with too
many strings attached.
Delegation should match each worker's follow-through ability.
Communication Chaos
Never assume that anyone knows anything.
The bigger the group, the more attention must be given to communication
When left in the dark, people tend to dream up wild rumors.
Communication must be the passionate obsession of effective leadership.
Missing the Culture Cues of Corporate Culture (The unseen killer
of many a leader)
Corporate culture is "the way we do things around here."
Never underestimate the mighty power of your organization's culture.
Cultivating and changing the culture should be one of leadership's top
priorities.
Learn to respect values different from your own.
Success Without Successors
Pride tightens the grip on leadership; humility relaxes and lets go.
Finishing well is an important measure of success in leadership.
Letting go of leadership is like sending your children to college: it hurts, but
has to be done.
Mentoring is a nonnegotiable function of successful leadership.
Failure to Focus on the Future
The future is rushing at us at breakneck speed.
A leader's concentration must not be on the past nor on the present, but on the
future.
Vision is an effective leader's chief preoccupation.
Organizations are reinvented with new generations of dreamers.