13. Selfish executives looking out for themselves. More
Executives who flagrantly put their personal financial and political ambitions ahead of the best interests of their company. Stop complaining about your salary and stock options. The real question is whether or not your team is producing. Let your politics be about your results. Your ability to consistently meet your plans and develop your people is what’s most important.
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14. Poor career management.
More Executives who work hard, do a good job, but never reach their full potential because they are not strategic about their own personal development and growth. They expect someone else to look out for their career and in the process, they get overlooked because they didn’t keep up and grow professionally. While it's important to put business interests first, one should not overlook the importance of managing their own career.
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15. Lack of consistency and focus.
More Flavor-of-the-month, touchy-feely initiatives that add no value, that fail to inspire and that only leave people more cynical about next month’s silly focus.
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16. Failure to take notes and follow-up.
More Executives who don’t take notes (and by the way, the same goes for waiters who try and memorize my order). Give people the courtesy of your attention and take notes. I’ve never met a senior executive who could consistently keep track of so many moving parts without taking notes and constantly referring to them for follow-up and reminders.
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17. Protecting poor performers.
More Managers making excuses for their subordinates who are perennial losers that can’t do their jobs, can’t meet their numbers, can’t show up on time, can’t deliver and can’t execute. Show some leadership and promptly tell people where they stand in very clear, unambiguous terms.
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18. Managers who put friendship over performance.
More Managers who try to be everyone’s friend. Instead, be a leader. You are there to lead people and get better results for the company. I am sick of managers whose actions are indistinguishable from those of a party planner or social coordinator.
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19. Lack of executive integrity.
More Executives who round the corners, blur the line between a business expense and a personal expense or who look the other way when they see a legal or ethical transgression. There must be zero tolerance in matters of integrity and corporate character. And if you are rounding the corners, your people are too.
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20. Using community events for personal gain.
More Executives who use community activities and social events to build their personal brand, rather than doing business back at the shop. You must find a fair balance. It’s the rare executive indeed, that can ever point to an ROI on their community involvement, golf tournaments or charity balls. If it’s a charitable endeavor, that’s great, but don’t try and pass it off as "business development." You’re not kidding anyone.
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21. Chasing too many strategic objectives.
More Executive Management creating dozens of “strategic priorities” and hundred plus page strategic plans that no one can understand, no one can execute on, no one is buying into and no one is following up or keeping track of progress. This has got to stop.
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22. Matrixed reporting lines without a single boss.
More All these so-called “matrixed” organizations where we are burdening employees with multiple managers who must compete for a share of the employee’s time each week. We put these employees in the horrible position to have to choose which manager to really work for. These matrixed approaches may look great on paper and they may appear to solve a short-term budget problem, but they rarely produce great quality work. You can’t get someone’s greatest thinking and work product when they are only permitted to give you a portion of their time. Key insight: Matrixed organizations are rife with backroom deals where managers provide special access, favors or other benefits to entice matrixed-subordinates to focus more time on their particular project.
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23. Whiners, complainers and pointless debaters.
More Perennial whiners, complainers and those who love to argue, who sap the energy out of others and destroy productivity. This also applies to those who hijack meetings with their own agenda, or who will debate every point just for sport.
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24. Corporate favoritism and bias.
More Managers who hire or treat team members differently based on their age, gender, ethnicity or alma mater. Hire the best people you can afford, regardless of the class.
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25. Passing the buck and blaming "corporate."
More Executives who won’t speak up in meetings, but who have plenty of time to hold court and complain to their subordinates about new policies and decisions that they don’t support. This has got to stop! If given the opportunity to engage in the discussion, do so and speak your mind, vigorously if needed, but state your case and make your point. If the decision doesn’t go your way, you still need to support it and never, ever burden your subordinates by telling them how you disagree with “corporate.” Take responsibility and never pass the buck or commiserate with other executives in after-meeting huddles. This wasteful, weak practice is far too prevalent. Don’t do it and don’t allow others to do it.
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26. Bullies and jerks.
More Corporate bullies and yellers who are allowed to intimidate with impunity because they are considered good producers. Why don’t we have the courage to face-down these bullies and either get them some help or get them out of the company? There is no room in business for this level of fear and intimidation and leaders should never tolerate this from any of their managers or team members.
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by John D. Callos
Mr. Callos is CEO of ExecuBridge, a CEO Advisory, Executive Coaching and Executive Facilitation firm that is committed to improving the performance of leaders, their executive teams and the results of the organizations they lead. His work involves confidential CEO and Board advisory services, executive coaching, executive team offsites, keynote speeches and performance assessments of leaders and their teams.
Mr. Callos writes extensively about leadership issues, he has addressed thousands of executives in his speeches on coaching and accountability and has personally advised hundreds of the nation's top CEOs, business executives and Board members.