Leadership Derailment

Posted by LBS 
on Apr 28, 2016
 
How many of the managers in your career would you want to work for again?  That is the question posed by Jeffrey Anderson, president of the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management.  Based on several studies, the average response is only somewhere between 30-50%, representing an astoundingly high rate of "failure."  While self awareness can help to avoid some of the pitfalls that lead to a failing or plateauing career path, accurate awareness is hard.  The deficiency that causes the problem in the first place makes it difficult, if not impossible to recognize the deficiency.  There are, however, identified causes of derailment.  
Jeffrey Anderson(right), responding to a question raised by Harry Vashwani.
 
 
Awareness of these factors and the potential risks that they represent can help to avoid or address them.  They include:
  • Poor emotional control
  • Lack of integrity/consistency
  • Difficulty in building/leading a team
  • Relationship issues
  • Narrow perspective
  • Micromanagement, not empowering
  • Failure to adapt
Anderson explained that elements of these risks are resident in people's personalities. He recommended looking to see which might be present and holding you back.  He also suggested that this list could be used in selecting talent, sharing his personal opinion that frequently in the hiring process there is too much focus on experience and not enough on these qualities/risks.