Dismantling Dysfunction

It goes without saying that being a leader demands a lot of responsibility. It's a leader's job to make decisions on vision, strategy, and how to achieve results. Leaders must also ensure resourcing, manage performance, and develop talent. Add to that, the authority that comes with a leadership role for leading people to achieve organizational results, holding people accountable to expectations, bestowing rewards, and delivering consequences.

While it may be a leader's responsibility to perform these duties as a normal part of their roles, many leaders today remain passive or permissive by abdicating their authority to employees instead of leading their people. This failure to use their authority signifies that a leader is operating from the Child Leadership Persona. Understanding why leaders rely on this persona and how to recognize its symptoms play a key role in reclaiming leadership responsibility and authority.

In today's episode, Anne & Heather explore the Dysfunction of Lack of Responsibility and share some of the ways leaders let themselves off the hook for taking responsibility for their employee's performance. They'll share real client stories that illustrate just how common it is to find this type of leadership behavior in organizations today. You'll also get some practical tips that you can use if your leaders aren't stepping up and taking responsibility because they are leading from the Child Leadership Persona, blaming, and making excuses for not achieving results.

If you want to know more about Anne & Heather's work with dismantling dysfunctions in organizations and leadership behavior at Caliber Leadership Systems, check out:

https://dismantlingdysfunction.com

https://www.dranitsaris-hilliard.com

https://caliberleadership.com

Stop contributing to organizational dysfunction. Pick up your copy of So, You Think You Can Lead?: A Guide to Developing Your Leadership Authority and Potential

Make sure you sign up for our weekly newsletters for tips on how to dismantle dysfunction and develop your leaders: https://bit.ly/dismantlingdysfunction

Are you dealing with an organizational dysfunction you need help with? Or do you have a story you would like to share on our show? Contact us at [email protected].

IN THIS EPISODE:

• [01:42] Episode introduction and overview

• [02:39] What is the Dysfunction of Lack of Responsibility?

• [04:34] Abdication of responsibility by the Child Leadership Persona

• [17:10] How the Child Leadership Persona pretends to be inclusive

• [19:37] The Child Leadership Persona just wants to be liked

• [23:43] Nothing is ever the fault of the Child Leadership Persona

• [26:22] The Child Leadership Persona is plagued by indecision

• [29:59] Episode gem & practical takeaway

• [32:55] Episode wrap up

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Many leaders abdicate their authority because they haven't been trained or developed to lead. They have difficulty asserting their authority and managing the performance of their direct reports and team.

• When leaders don't take responsibility for giving clearly defined expectations and corrective feedback, employees don't trust their leader to be direct and honest with them, creating an environment of mistrust.

• The Child Leadership Persona has both a dominant and submissive aspect to it. As with children, this persona can be bossy (dominant and autocratic) and insist on things being done their way or they can be submissive (permissive) and go along because they are afraid of the extra responsibility.

• When we lead from the Child Leadership Persona, we want others to like and approve of us and will prioritize being liked over being effective.

• Are you ready to develop past the Child Leadership Persona and reclaim the leadership responsibility and authority that are necessary for thriving, successful teams and organizations? Check out the full episode to learn how you can get started today!

Change for the sake of continuous improvement and development should be something that everyone jumps on board with, right…? Especially when it's in everyone's best interest - people are going to love it! That might be true in theory, but in practice it's a totally different story. Just ask anyone who has ever led a change process in an organization, and you'll be met with a resounding "No way. That just doesn't happen."

So, time after time, change initiatives fail because of the fixed belief that change should be easy. As a result, leaders aren't prepared for the resistance, opposition, and passive-aggressive behavior that plagues change processes, because in their minds, "everyone's going to love it!" If you are leading change, you should expect sabotage and resistance as a normal and natural part of the process. If you don't expect it, the Dysfunction of Sabotage will cause your initiatives to fail, leaving leaders, employees, and the organization stagnant in their comfort zones with sometimes devastating consequences…

In today's episode, Anne & Heather explore the Dysfunction of Sabotage and share some real client stories that illustrate just how common it is to find this type of leadership behavior in organizations today. They'll also share some practical tips that you can use if the Dysfunction of Sabotage is causing your leaders to undermine themselves, their employees, and the organization as a whole.

If you want to know more about Anne & Heather's work with dismantling dysfunctions in organizations and leadership behavior at Caliber Leadership Systems, check out:

https://dismantlingdysfunction.com

https://www.dranitsaris-hilliard.com

https://caliberleadership.com

Stop contributing to organizational dysfunction. Pick up your copy of So, You Think You Can Lead?: A Guide to Developing Your Leadership Authority and Potential

Make sure you sign up for our weekly newsletters for tips on how to dismantle dysfunction and develop your leaders: https://bit.ly/dismantlingdysfunction

Are you dealing with an organizational dysfunction you need help with? Or do you have a story you would like to share on our show? Contact us at [email protected].

IN THIS EPISODE:

• [01:37] Episode introduction and overview

• [02:42] What is the Dysfunction of Sabotage?

• [11:55] The Saboteur - the guardian of our comfort zone

• [13:54] Organizational stagnation caused by the Saboteur

• [23:28] Slowing down change through procrastination

• [24:53] Catastrophizing & doubt casting

• [30:14] Oppositional, rebellious acts

• [32:02] Episode gem & practical takeaway

• [34:52] Episode wrap up

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• The Saboteur Persona is known as the Guardian of Change but when its unconscious, it becomes the Guardian of our Comfort Zone. The Saboteur causes us to fear stepping out of our comfort zone to take advantage of opportunities that will lead to greater empowerment and success.

• When in the Saboteur Leadership Persona, we are frightened of losing our grip on power and will do what it takes to hold on to power, status, and influence.

• During change, the Saboteur leadership Persona shows up in the form of procrastination, especially when it comes to aligning behavior behind new goals. Leaders will say they're on board, but then act like they're not.

• Many high-achieving people who operate from the Saboteur Leadership Persona don't plan and instead stay stuck in the weeds. While they complain about how busy they are and how they want things to be different, they insist they can't stop long enough to change their behavior.

• Sabotaging ourselves leads to the sabotaging of employees and can even spread through an entire organization. Check out the full episode to learn how you can take back your organization's leadership power from the Saboteur and avoid the devastating consequences that can come with being stuck in the comfort zone.

Most business leaders would agree that all aspects of their organization would benefit from strong leadership at all levels. So, why is there a trend of middle managers being selected based on their functional competence rather than on their ability to engage, nurture, and empower employees and teams? Senior leaders deceive themselves into believing that because they didn't need development to be successful, next-gen leaders shouldn't need it either. Part of their deception has to do with their blind spots around their own competence. Most leaders want to believe they are "good" or "great" leaders instead of objectively measuring their effectiveness against an objective leadership or executive competency model. Instead of seeing their behavior contributing to any issues the business may have, they rationalize, deceiving themselves and getting in the way of creating effective solutions with authentic leadership.

In today's episode, Anne & Heather explore the Dysfunction of Self-Deception and share some real client stories that illustrate just how common it is to find this type of leadership behavior in organizations today. They'll also share some practical tips that you can use if the Dysfunction of Self-Deception is causing your organization's leaders to rationalize why problems exist instead of investigating how their own behaviors could be contributing to the creation of issues in the first place.

If you want to know more about Anne & Heather's work with dismantling dysfunctions in organizations and leadership behavior at Caliber Leadership Systems, check out:

https://dismantlingdysfunction.com

https://www.dranitsaris-hilliard.com

https://caliberleadership.com

Stop contributing to organizational dysfunction. Pick up your copy of So, You Think You Can Lead?: A Guide to Developing Your Leadership Authority and Potential

Make sure you sign up for our weekly newsletters for tips on how to dismantle dysfunction and develop your leaders: https://bit.ly/dismantlingdysfunction

Are you dealing with an organizational dysfunction you need help with? Or do you have a story you would like to share on our show? Contact us at [email protected].

IN THIS EPISODE:

• [01:47] Episode introduction and overview

• [02:45] What is the Dysfunction of Self-Deception?

• [07:50] Self-Deception by the Prostitute Leadership Persona

• [13:24] Selling yourself out and pretending it didn't happen

• [27:27] The great compromise of the Prostitute Leadership Persona

• [31:55] Self-Deception = leadership in servitude

• [32:28] Adaptation without negotiation

• [43:40] Episode gem & practical takeaway

• [45:26] Episode wrap up

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Self-deception is something that we are all guilty of as leaders as it sure is a lot easier to pretend something isn't happening than having to deal with it. And we all know how challenging it can be to have to deal with an employee's poor performance when they are in a state of self-deception themselves. We call this behavior "going behind the shield".

• Self-Deceptive leaders tend to utilize the Prostitute Leadership Persona. This persona causes leaders present as always being in a good mood, as though nothing ever bothers them, while giving in to others to ensure that their survival needs are met. In some cases, they do this at the expense of their self-respect, integrity, and values.

• Self-Deceptive leaders focus on ensuring that everyone else gets what they want and need without asking for anything in return.

• Leaders act with a lack of integrity, a characteristic of the Prostitute Leadership Persona, when they don't feel empowered to succeed without adapting to what they believe others need them to be.

• Does any of this sound a little too familiar? If so, the leaders in your organization could be suffering from the Dysfunction of Self-Deception, a symptom caused by a lack of leadership development. Reach out to us at [email protected] so we can help you dismantle this and other dysfunctions in your organization today!

Leaders today spend a lot of time trying to figure out why they can't get the level of engagement and performance from their employees that they require despite their best efforts. Their energy and time also go into trying to "fix" their employees, compensate for unsatisfactory performance, and "rescue" them when they are in emotional distress. So many organizations spend their money and other resources trying to deal with employee disengagement and performance issues without any success.

Typically, leaders will end up wondering about what's wrong with the employees, without considering the role they play in the situation. They could be contributing to the issue through dysfunctional, self-protective leadership behaviors such as, doing their employees' work when they fail to meet expectations, reteaching tasks that have already been taught, or failing to delegate for fear of overwhelming the team. Any of these starting to sound familiar? At the end of the day, deciding to compensate for poor performance instead of managing it is an act of self-disempowerment that is self-protective and is a function of the Victim Leadership Persona.

In today's episode, Anne & Heather explore the Dysfunction of Self-Disempowerment and share some real client stories that illustrate just how common it is to find this type of leadership behavior in organizations today. They'll also share some practical tips that you can use if the Dysfunction of Self-Disempowerment is causing leaders in your organization to act like victims after giving their power away to employees.

If you want to know more about Anne & Heather's work with dismantling dysfunctions in organizations and leadership behavior at Caliber Leadership Systems, check out:

https://dismantlingdysfunction.com

https://www.dranitsaris-hilliard.com

https://caliberleadership.com

Stop contributing to organizational dysfunction. Pick up your copy of So, You Think You Can Lead?: A Guide to Developing Your Leadership Authority and Potential

Make sure you sign up for our weekly newsletters for tips on how to dismantle dysfunction and develop your leaders: https://bit.ly/dismantlingdysfunction

Are you dealing with an organizational dysfunction you need help with? Or do you have a story you would like to share on our show? Contact us at [email protected].

IN THIS EPISODE:

• [01:41] Episode introduction and overview

• [02:37] What is the Dysfunction of Self-Disempowerment?

• [04:32] The leader's self-protective shift

• [06:34] Archetypal survival personas at work

• [10:46] When do leaders use the Victim Persona?

• [19:38] Leaders use the Victim Persona to cause self-disempowerment

• [24:52] The Victim Persona causes leaders to act like victims of time

• [37:43] Episode gem & practical takeaway

• [39:28] Episode wrap up

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• When employees don't behave the way leaders expect them to, leaders get triggered into self-protective, emotionally driven behaviors based on the fight or flight mechanism in the brain. The fight response causes them to get angry or frustrated and act out by overpowering their employees. With the flight response, they give their power away, silently seething and putting on the mask that most leaders wear when they don't know how to effectively manage performance, insubordination, or give corrective feedback.

• In the psychological realm of the Self-protective System resides 4 Archetypes of Survival, or "personas" that our authentic self pulls out when we feel threatened. These shields have a connection to Jung's four mental functions located in neural networks in the brain. When we shift to our shields, we start using the behaviors and characteristics of the Persona we need to shield us from the perceived psychological threat. Each Persona has its own agenda, story, and script. When we operate from any of the different Personas, it's like letting another person be in the driver's seat of our life.

• The Victim Leadership Persona has to do with self-disempowerment. When acting from its energies, it takes away our power and sense of personal agency by seeing situations through the lens of helplessness and inability to do anything other than to let things happen.

• When leaders use the Victim Leadership Persona, they interpret the actions and behaviors of people and events through a lens of what they feel they are entitled to, and what others aren't giving them.

• The Victim Leadership Persona is triggered by the fear that if their position, power and authority are asserted, employees won't be able to handle it and will be upset. They allow employees to do their job the way they see fit rather than having any direction, coaching or guidance, for fear of offending them.

• When an employee is in the Victim Persona, they act as though leaders should know how sensitive they are and treat them accordingly.

• The Victim Leadership Persona makes decisions from an "I can't" mentality and uses self-devaluing/self-victimizing self-talk to stop themselves from using their power.

Let's face it, employee entitlement is on the rise. And while this attitude is most noted in people between the ages of 18 – 35, everyone can operate from their own sense of entitlement. The last couple of generations were indeed raised to believe that they should always win, be rewarded, and recognized without really having to do much for it. As a result, many members of these generational cohorts have never learned to delay gratification, work through challenging situations, or tolerate disappointment. Adding to the increase of employee entitlement is the fact that most leaders feel they are entitled to lead the way they want to, based on what works for them, without regard for how their behavior is affecting others. It makes it easy to see the double dose of entitlement issues start to take shape because it's coming from both sides. Entitled leaders spend more time complaining about the behavior of entitled employees than they do reflecting on their own behavior. The Dysfunction of Entitlement is sort of a pot calling the kettle black situation, where leaders fail to lead and align employees to achieve business outcomes.

In today's episode, Anne & Heather explore the Dysfunction of Entitlement and share some real client stories that illustrate just how common it is to find this type of leadership behavior in organizations today. They'll also share some practical tips that you can use if the Dysfunction of Entitlement is causing your organization's leaders and teams to allow their entitlements to get in the way of achieving business goals.

If you want to know more about Anne & Heather's work with dismantling dysfunctions in organizations and leadership behavior at Caliber Leadership Systems, check out:

https://dismantlingdysfunction.com

https://www.dranitsaris-hilliard.com

https://caliberleadership.com

Stop contributing to organizational dysfunction. Pick up your copy of So, You Think You Can Lead?: A Guide to Developing Your Leadership Authority and Potential

Make sure you sign up for our weekly newsletters for tips on how to dismantle dysfunction and develop your leaders: https://bit.ly/dismantlingdysfunction

Are you dealing with an organizational dysfunction you need help with? Or do you have a story you would like to share on our show? Contact us at [email protected].

IN THIS EPISODE:

• [01:34] Episode introduction and overview

• [02:40] What is the Dysfunction of Entitlement?

• [07:03] Entitlement is not new

• [11:15] How the business environment shapes entitlement

• [15:24] Low Entitlement vs. High Entitlement

• [25:03] The low entitlement leader freeze-up

• [30:50] Moving away from blaming and finger pointing

• [40:31] Episode gem & practical takeaway

• [41:51] Episode wrap up

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Entitled leaders and employees have a "what's in it for me" or "just like me" attitude. High entitled employees have an inflated self-image and expect others to treat them as though they are special. They don't feel they have to work hard to succeed and if they can find a way to get others to do their work, they will.

• Low entitled leaders and employees give their power away to others, work harder than necessary, and compensate for the lower performance of others. And all entitled employees complain because they believe they are entitled to having things the way they believe they should be.

• A high entitled leader can set the tone for many organizational dysfunctions, especially when there is a senior leadership group that is overly focused on themselves and their own agenda. When leaders have an "I" focus and aren't striving with others to cultivate a "we" orientation to leading, they do things their way without regard for the impact on others.

• Employees need guidance, effective leadership, and opportunities to grow and develop. They need to be respected, listened to, and appreciated for what they can contribute. They need their leaders to define expectations, give feedback, recognize success, and be honest about their capabilities. The entitled leader will judge an entitled employee to be immature or write them off because they don't behave as we did at their age or in their role.

• Too many leaders are permissive, acting like colleagues and cheerleaders, creating a mediocre workforce unprepared for the rigors of the career path they have chosen. They foster greater entitlement when they tell an employee that they are doing a "great" job for something as simple as sending an email. Leaders contribute to the idea employees are more competent than they actually are by using superlatives to describe their performance instead of providing them with clear expectations and giving descriptive feedback relative to the expectation.

• Leaders must stop blaming high entitled employees and start developing the leadership skills necessary to strengthen authentic leadership entitlement. When they develop these skills, leaders can be more effective at dealing with poor performance and other challenging behaviours that contribute to their ability to ensure everyone's success.

There is a type of organizational narcissism that exists because leaders in departments or functional areas are allowed to focus solely on themselves and their own agendas. They create silos as though they have a domain to rule over where employees work in the service of their leader and not the organization. Rather than having shared accountability, leaders and employees alike shout the battle cry of the silo, "It's not my job!", "It's not my problem!". In fact, these leaders don't consider the interrelationships between their departments and others because of their narcissistic self-interest. So, silos are established and fortified, while the organization suffers all sorts of losses in the resulting gaps that form between them.

In today's episode, Anne & Heather explore the Dysfunction of Silos and share some real client stories that illustrate just how common it is to find this type of leadership behavior in organizations today. They'll also share some practical tips that you can use if the Dysfunction of Silos is causing your organization's leaders, teams, and departments to prioritize their own agendas over the shared goals of the organization.

If you want to know more about Anne & Heather's work with dismantling dysfunctions in organizations and leadership behavior at Caliber Leadership Systems, check out:

https://dismantlingdysfunction.com

https://www.dranitsaris-hilliard.com

https://caliberleadership.com

Stop contributing to organizational dysfunction. Pick up your copy of So, You Think You Can Lead?: A Guide to Developing Your Leadership Authority and Potential

Make sure you sign up for our weekly newsletters for tips on how to dismantle dysfunction and develop your leaders: https://bit.ly/dismantlingdysfunction

Are you dealing with an organizational dysfunction you need help with? Or do you have a story you would like to share on our show? Contact us at [email protected].

IN THIS EPISODE:

• [01:15] Episode introduction and overview

• [03:37] The Silo Mindset

• [14:58] Silos are a direct result of a failure to communicate expectations

• [19:34] Silos create a lack of loyalty to the organization

• [23:35] Silos cause a lack of alignment with organizational goals

• [26:40] Dysfunctions are dynamic in nature

• [29:09] Silos cause decreased engagement and power struggles

• [34:12] Episode gem & practical takeaway

• [36:35] Episode wrap up

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• A silo mindset is where a leader believes they are entitled to act autonomously within the organization and is characterized by the absence of sharing information, goals, timelines, challenges or processes with other groups.

• Once a business becomes large enough to have managers and functional areas, you have the structure for silos to exist. Any hierarchy has the potential to have silos and is not necessarily a bad thing in and of itself. When you add a silo mindset of the leader or employees to the mix, you run the risk of creating the dysfunction of silos where everyone works in isolation and protects their turf.

• Leaders have the power to create silos and senior leaders have the power to make sure that the dysfunction of silos doesn't exist in their organization by managing leadership behaviour at all levels.

• Silos are created through a lack of alignment between leaders and organizational goals. Instead of working toward the collective goals, leaders with an "I know better" mindset put their agenda first. If others don't agree, they don't go along.

• At the end of the day, silos exist because senior leadership allows them. The silo mindset starts with a splitting off from the collective agenda and senior managers allowing it.

• As the issue of silos arises from the top, the solution resides there as well. Whenever leaders construct systems, processes, and procedures to ensure alignment to organizational goals without taking responsibility for leading their people and ensuring compliance, silos will exist.

• To address the Dysfunction of Silos, leaders must stop blaming middle managers and employees for being entitled and not aligning with expectations. Their performance must be managed, and "lone wolf" leadership behaviours disallowed.

Cooperative, collaborative, and supportive leaders are the kind of bosses or managers that most employees say they wish for. These idealized leaders seem to know how to provide employees with the type of nurturing environment needed for them to grow and reach their potential. They spend time listening, empathizing, offering advice, and helping direct reports however they can. Don't they sound wonderful?

But when we look at the shadow side of what we call the Caretaker Leadership Dysfunction, we see how it's their own need to be helpful and supportive that drives their collaborative behavior. They foster dependence on themselves, while frustrating independent decision-making and overall organizational efficiencies because they insist on excessive inclusion. Caretaker leaders personalize conflict and are not above using emotional manipulation to get what they want. They insist on cohesive group functioning and decision-making to meet their social needs and need for connection. In essence, these leaders are (without realizing it) prioritizing their personal needs and agendas over the needs of the business.

In today's episode, Anne & Heather explore the Dysfunctions of Caretaker Leadership and share some real client stories that illustrate just how common it is to find this type of leadership behavior in organizations today. They'll also share some practical tips that you can use if the Caretaker Leadership Dysfunction is causing your organization's leaders create inefficiencies by playing "rescuer", "counselor", or even "therapist" for their employees.

If you want to know more about Anne & Heather's work with dismantling dysfunctions in organizations and leadership behavior at Caliber Leadership Systems, check out:

https://dismantlingdysfunction.com

https://www.dranitsaris-hilliard.com

https://caliberleadership.com

Stop contributing to organizational dysfunction. Pick up your copy of So, You Think You Can Lead?: A Guide to Developing Your Leadership Authority and Potential

Make sure you sign up for our weekly newsletters for tips on how to dismantle dysfunction and develop your leaders: https://bit.ly/dismantlingdysfunction

Are you dealing with an organizational dysfunction you need help with? Or do you have a story you would like to share on our show? Contact us at [email protected].

IN THIS EPISODE:

• [02:12] Episode introduction and overview

• [06:25] How leaders can demonstrate caring without fostering dependence

• [09:07] Caretaker Leadership approach is similar to parenting

• [11:27] Caretaker Leaders are overly concerned with the employees' feelings

• [17:49] The narcissistic side of the Caretake Leader

• [21:48] Dysfunctions that Caretaker Leaders can cause: playing favorites, creating anxiety

• [44:13] Episode gem & practical takeaway

• [45:27] Episode wrap up

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Caretaker Leaders will try to find a vulnerability or area of weakness in others so that they can help them. This creates a type of one-sided pseudo-intimacy, where they expect other people to reveal all without exposing anything about themselves.

• Caretaker Leaders expect direct reports to conform to their cultural and societal norms. When employees know what the "rules of the family" are and follow them appropriately, they are welcomed into the inner circle of the Caretaker Leader, their contributions are valued and they can do no wrong.

• Caretaker Leaders are collaborative and insist on inclusion to ensure everyone is conforming. While this approach can help encourage employee buy-in, its usefulness erodes when everyone has to be involved in even the smallest decisions.

• Caretaker Leaders take things personally. They can run into difficulty when there is discord or conflict among team members because they need harmony within the team. They tend to get too involved with people issues and take things too personally.

• Caretaker Leaders tend to be right-brain dominant, and their dysfunction arises from the excessive use of this side of their brain to make sure the workplace is harmonious, and everyone is happy. As a result, they are bound to the positive and negative behaviours associated with that side of the brain. They believe that relational leadership behaviours are correct and preferred while other behaviours and ways of expressing oneself are wrong.

Why do leaders believe that giving employees the freedom to do things their own way is so important to employee retention and engagement? Curious, isn't it? And we wonder why employee entitlement is on the rise… So, if it's not helping anyone, why is this destructive belief so appealing to so many leaders? While it may be influenced by the trend in leadership to leave employees alone to figure things out for themselves, we found it's mostly caused by a passive, avoidant approach that's driven by leaders' fear of their own leadership authority. These leaders operate from a pervasive pattern of avoidance as it meets their need to focus on what they like to do, so they never have to feel uncomfortable by developing conscious leadership skills. They demonstrate a passive indifference about productivity, performance, and engagement, ignoring employees' needs and issues. In fact, recent studies suggest that Avoidant Leaders and their practices lead to underperformance because they encourage carelessness and rule breaking. Ignoring employees' desirable or undesirable behaviors without supportive or corrective responses is at the heart of the Avoidant Leadership Dysfunction. In today's episode, Anne & Heather explore the Dysfunctions of Avoidant Leadership and share some real client stories that illustrate just how common it is to find this type of leadership behavior in organizations today. They'll also share some practical tips that you can use if the Avoidant Leadership Dysfunction is causing your leaders to fear their own authority.

If you want to know more about Anne & Heather's work with dismantling dysfunctions in organizations and leadership behavior at Caliber Leadership Systems, check out:

https://dismantlingdysfunction.com

https://www.dranitsaris-hilliard.com

https://caliberleadership.com

Stop contributing to organizational dysfunction. Pick up your copy of So, You Think You Can Lead?: A Guide to Developing Your Leadership Authority and Potential

Make sure you sign up for our weekly newsletters for tips on how to dismantle dysfunction and develop your leaders: https://bit.ly/dismantlingdysfunction

Are you dealing with an organizational dysfunction you need help with? Or do you have a story you would like to share on our show? Contact us at [email protected].

IN THIS EPISODE:

• [01:48] Episode introduction and overview

• [02:32] The four dysfunctional leadership styles

• [03:23] What is the Avoidant Leadership Dysfunction?

• [20:57] Two "settings" of the Avoidant Leader

• [24:09] Managing Avoidant direct reports

• [25:51] Dysfunctions that Avoidant Leaders can cause: Power Vacuum

• [28:36] Dysfunctions that Avoidant Leaders can cause: Indecisiveness

• [39:49] Dysfunctions that Avoidant Leaders can cause: Talent Gaps

• [42:11] The practice of "Leading up"

• [43:04] Episode gem & practical takeaway

• [44:24] Episode wrap up

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Avoidant Leaders are focused on productivity and the needs of the business. They are self-directed, highly functional, and independent. They know what they want to achieve and do extremely well when working on their own. They can be in a senior role in an organization or a successful entrepreneur. As entrepreneurs, they thrive during the first stages of the business when there is a need for a "hands-off" leadership style.

• Avoidant Leaders delegate responsibility and authority to their subordinates, making people feel they are capable of doing much more than they are able to. This is a strong motivator for the right kind of employee who wants the opportunity to prove themselves. They give people the autonomy they need to succeed without the guidance and feedback to ensure they do. However, Avoidant Leaders have difficulty when it comes to expecting things from others and engaging in productive performance dialogue with direct reports.

• Avoidant leaders are inconsistent in their approach to managing performance and holding employees accountable. They are excessively collaborative and cooperative, absenting themselves from exercising the authority of their role. Idealistic about how adults "should" behave, they treat employees like colleagues and entertain ideas about the way things "should be done" that are misaligned with the mandate of the organization.

• They avoid the unpleasant feelings they feel when they give corrective feedback or create disappointment by saying "no." When there is no clear definition of performance expectation and little performance correction, employees will work hard to do what they think is expected of them. Too often, with this type of leadership employees waste time on initiatives that fail to meet the goals of the Avoidant Leader.

• Avoidant Leaders run the risk of appearing to be incapable of making decisions on their own. They can slow down planning processes or bring people to meetings that have nothing to contribute. This so-called collaborative decision-making process only serves to frustrate those employees who have earned the right to participate in decisions.

Have you noticed the trend in business to let employees off the hook when they fail to meet their commitments on time; refuse to do aspects of their jobs; or insist they do something "their way" despite your directions? As leaders, many of us are trying so hard to be what we believe employees expect us to be, that we allow all kinds of bad behavior and fail to notice when we are being taken advantage of or disrespected. We rationalize, give in, and compensate for employees' poor work product without owning the true cause of our behaviors: they are for our own benefit. We're acting in defense of ourselves – against looking bad and avoiding a difficult conversation where someone might get upset with us. We want to be seen as a good leader, so we silence ourselves and prioritize the needs and feelings of others so they like us and approve of our understanding behavior (even when we are seething on the inside). Without realizing it, leaders are prioritizing their personal needs and fears over the needs of the business.

In today's episode, Anne & Heather explore the Dysfunctions of Permissive Leaders and share some real client stories that illustrate just how common it is to find this type of leadership behavior in organizations today. They'll also share some practical tips that you can use if the Permissive Leadership Dysfunction is causing your "nice" guy or gal leadership to result in decreased effectiveness and ultimately, harm to the organization.

If you want to know more about Anne & Heather's work with dismantling dysfunctions in organizations and leadership behavior at Caliber Leadership Systems, check out:

https://dismantlingdysfunction.com

https://www.dranitsaris-hilliard.com

https://caliberleadership.com

Stop contributing to organizational dysfunction. Pick up your copy of So, You Think You Can Lead?: A Guide to Developing Your Leadership Authority and Potential

Make sure you sign up for our weekly newsletters for tips on how to dismantle dysfunction and develop your leaders: https://bit.ly/dismantlingdysfunction

Are you dealing with an organizational dysfunction you need help with? Or do you have a story you would like to share on our show? Contact us at [email protected].

IN THIS EPISODE:

• [01:45] Episode introduction and overview

• [02:44] What is the Permissive Leadership Dysfunction?

• [04:13] What's the problem with Permissive Leadership?

• [24:11] Organizational dysfunctions that Permissive Leaders can cause: Lack of Accountability

• [31:01] Organizational dysfunctions that Permissive Leaders can cause: Employee Disengagement

• [33:24] Organizational dysfunctions that Permissive Leaders can cause: Caring Too Much

• [36:50] Episode gem & practical takeaway

• [37:54] Episode wrap up

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Permissive Leadership is letting employees do whatever they want, whenever they want to do it. Leaders are involved as little as possible and believe they don't need to tell employees how to do their job. They give employees freedom, trusting they are responsible enough to do their jobs independent of involvement from their leader. A core belief held by Permissive Leaders is that if you give people the resources they need, they will work independently and not require input from their boss.

• Trying to be a "nice" guy or gal gets in the way of leaders being effective. It also creates other issues that can consume time and energy. Leaders end up feeling overly responsible for taking care of the emotions of their employees. They wind up doing part of their employees' jobs because they don't know how to identify issues or it's easier than tolerating their emotions.

• When leaders allow employees the freedom to "dump their bucket" or act out their emotions, they can expect their authority to diminish. They end up giving their employees free rein and the authority to do their work in the manner they see fit. Allowing this behavior causes a lack of individual and team alignment behind the goals of the organization.

• While there are times for inclusion, having everyone included in the decision-making process just so that no one feels left out is inefficient, time-consuming and often ends in power plays. Permissive Leaders run the risk of appearing to be incapable of making decisions on their own. They can slow down planning processes or bring people to meetings that have nothing to contribute. This so-called collaborative decision-making process only serves to frustrate those employees who have earned the right to participate in decisions.

• For all leaders who are trying to be all things to all people in your organization, it's time to recognize that you are giving away your power and stop! Being adaptive and making everything work for everyone else while not expecting the same from employees is exhausting. You are simply abdicating responsibility for your role and making others temporarily happy at the expense of yourself, your growth potential, and success. You must start holding your personal and position power and authority by stopping the leaks. Stop making excuses, stop trying to be all things to everyone; stop saying yes when you mean no; and stop blaming employees for not meeting expectations when you aren't holding anyone accountable.

Autocratic Leaders used to be the pinnacle of power in an organization. Now the trend is for leaders to aspire to be submissive, not powerful. In some companies, authority has become a dirty word and leaders who are directive are told to "be nice." Suddenly, leaders have become afraid to hurt employees' feelings. Yikes! What's an autocrat to do? Well, despite the whiplash to permissive leadership approaches, many organizations still succeed under the command and control style of their leaders. Autocratic Leadership still prevails because leaders aren't being trained or developed before assuming a leadership role or while they are being onboarded. In most cases, employees are promoted to leadership roles because of their ability to get things done, not because they have trained to be leaders. Stronger, dominant personalities still prevail, and overall leadership approaches continue to be autocratic as a result. In today's episode, Anne & Heather explore the Dysfunction of Autocratic Leadership and share some real client stories that illustrate just how common it is to find this type of leadership behavior in organizations today. They'll also share some practical tips that you can use if the Dysfunction of Autocratic Leadership has taken control of your organization.

If you want to know more about Anne & Heather's work with dismantling dysfunctions in organizations and leadership behavior at Caliber Leadership Systems, check out:

https://dismantlingdysfunction.com

https://www.dranitsaris-hilliard.com

https://caliberleadership.com

Stop contributing to organizational dysfunction. Pick up your copy of So, You Think You Can Lead?: A Guide to Developing Your Leadership Authority and Potential

Make sure you sign up for our weekly newsletters for tips on how to dismantle dysfunction and develop your leaders: https://bit.ly/dismantlingdysfunction

Are you dealing with an organizational dysfunction you need help with? Or do you have a story you would like to share on our show? Contact us at [email protected].

IN THIS EPISODE:

• [01:35] Episode introduction and overview

• [02:36] What is the Autocratic Leadership Dysfunction?

• [06:36] Advantages of Autocratic Leadership

• [07:33] Autocratic Leadership is adaptive and self-protective

• [09:20] Autocratic Leadership and the need to hold on to power

• [14:05] Organizational dysfunctions that Autocratic Leaders cause: Neglect

• [18:25] Organizational dysfunctions that Autocratic Leaders cause: Silos

• [19:35] Organizational dysfunctions that Autocratic Leaders cause: Minions

• [26:28] Directive leadership behavior is not Autocratic

• [30:25] Organizational dysfunctions that Autocratic Leaders cause: Stagnation and Mediocrity

• [34:08] Episode gem & practical takeaway

• [35:25] Episode wrap up

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• During their heyday, Autocratic Leaders were considered strong, were respected, and were known to make things happen. They defined the vision, expectations and who was doing what when. They didn't ask for input and made decisions based on what they believed was right and expected others to adapt, learn and follow quickly. These leaders seek first to ensure the survival of the business and make decisions based on bottom-line results and fiscal stability.

• There are certain characteristics of Autocratic Leadership that some experts believe can be damaging rather than rewarding in the long run, as they resemble that of a dictator. These behaviors include: not asking for inputs from others; the leader deciding on tasks and distributing responsibilities; lack of consideration for employee engagement; little or no reward or recognition.

• Autocratic leaders don't take time to develop people skills, nor do they focus on the needs of their people. They prefer employees who have the same work style and priorities as they do.

• The Autocratic Leader focuses on productivity and gets irritated when others expect them to engage in small talk. To them, efficiency is of primary importance, and paying attention to anything that doesn't accomplish the task to be done is a waste of time.

• When leaders in organizations feel threatened by what is going on in the marketplace, employee dissatisfaction and complaints and a failure to achieve results, they can become more entrenched in the Autocratic Leadership Dysfunction instead of seeking development and guidance on how to effectively meet these challenges.

• Demonstrating how new approaches, organizational structures, delegating decision making and loosening the reins on innovation support the achievement of results is the first step in helping them shift their behavior. Of course, developing their emotional intelligence, including building self-awareness, developing empathy and reflecting on their behavior are all critical to their long-term success as leaders. But often with this type of leader, changing systems and developing next level leaders has a better result than trying to convince them they need help.