Leadership Malpractice Susan Cramm

Susan Cramm
HRB.org Jan 2010

There's only one kind of leadership malpractice: wasting the lives of those we lead.

Consider this multiple offender (sent to me in response to my last blog concerning compassion in leadership):

"I'm to show these fools some kind of compassion? For what? So they can go back to their cubicle or cubicles and sit at their decks and talk on their cell phones to their friends and look at porn on the computer that I paid for? I don't think so. More than a few have been fired for just that reason. I do not give a damn about the hired help. You are there to make me a profit, just that simple. If you don't like it, hit the street."

Most leaders aren't this angry — or this clueless. But every leader makes errors in judgment that steal precious moments from the lives of others. A few examples:

* Sponsoring a project that isn't ready for prime time. Innovation is good, but must be approached in a way that is consistent with the organization's readiness for change. Asking a talented leader to go where no man has gone before, only to die in the process, derails careers and creates change cynics, not change agents.
* Overloading the star performer. Stars make it look easy. So easy, that it's tempting to keep on throwing balls in their direction, assuming that they will push back when they have too many in the air. Problem is, many times, overachievers don't know their limits. It's likely that the only feedback you'll hear is when the balls start dropping and people start complaining.
* Managing jobs rather than careers. A series of assignments doesn't a career make. Leaders are responsible for helping people manage their careers by challenging them to articulate longer-range objectives and formulate plans to close the gap. Failure to do so can lead to cul-de-sac careers in which the only way forward is to go back (which becomes ever more difficult as the years go by).
* Negatively labeling others. Good or bad, leaders get what they expect. In the words of Ori and Rom Brafman, authors of the fascinating book, Sway, "when we brand or label people, they take on the characteristics of the diagnosis." There's no doubt that the angry leader ranting above has an underperforming staff. Her expectations have become a self-fulfilling prophecy and, as a result, her people are acting out rather than acting right.
* Refusing to address performance issues. It's a fact that some people are better at their jobs than others. If one of your people is struggling, something is wrong. And, if you know it, so do they. Avoid the tyranny of unfulfilled expectations and get together with them — the sooner the better — to figure out what's going on:

1. Do they want to do the job? Do they understand and buy-in to the objectives or approach and are they personally interested in the assignment?
2. Do they have the time to do the job? Is the job doable given the current support, resources, and priorities?
3. Do they know how to do the job? Do they have the necessary skills, knowledge and abilities to get the job done?

Work together to remediate the issues identified. Once you have done all you can, if performance doesn't improve, make a change. Act prudently but quickly — for their sake and the sake of the people who work with them and for them.

In the stress of the day-to-day, it's relatively easy to commit leadership malpractice. Leaders carry a heavy burden and, in many organizations, the short-term rules over the long-term and the ends justify the means.

However difficult, leaders have an ethical responsibility to get the work done in a way that enriches the organization and the people within it. As you examine your beliefs and behaviors, try this exercise: Visualize one of your people coming home after a long day. As they enter the door, their loved one looks up and asks them about their day.

Now decide. What do you want them to say?