Greg Nathan’s Healthy Franchise Relationships Tip #53 – The 20 Most Common Bad Leadership Habits

As you may already know, Greg Nathan will be in North America this Fall working with individual franchise companies. The trip has now been postponed until November or early December and we’ll keep you updated as soon as the actual dates are locked down. If you are interested in bringing Greg in to work with your team, let me know and I’ll be sure and update you the moment we have confirmed dates!

Here’s a quick video clip of Greg Nathan in action to give you a taste of how he interacts with his audience:

Greg’s Winter/Spring 2013 North American dates remain the same:

Greg Nathan Spring 2013 U.S./Canada Dates
Date	Status
Wednesday February 20, 2013	On Hold (may become available)
Thursday February 21, 2013	On Hold (may become available)
Friday February 22, 2013	Available
Monday February 25, 2013	On Hold (may become available)
Tuesday February 26, 2013	On Hold (may become available)
Wednesday February 27, 2013	Available
Thursday February 28, 2013	Booked
Friday March 1, 2013	Booked

In the interim, enjoy Greg’s latest tip. I know I could definitely improve on #2 and #6! What about you? We’d love to hear your take!

Greg Nathan’s Healthy Franchise Relationships Tip #53

The 20 Most Common Bad Leadership Habits

Last month, I attended a workshop with a business psychologist, Dr Lou Stern, who is one of the USA’s leading executive coaches. He presented a fascinating list of the most common habits of ineffective leaders, based on a review of 300 high level leaders he has coached.

I have listed the first 10 below so you can start to think about which ones relate most to you. If you aren’t sure, why not give the list to some people who report to you! By the way, these are all habits that can be changed with insight, determination and repetition of the opposite.

Being intimidating and disrespectful. In other words being a bully. While this is often not the intention, others don’t know this and it can shut them down from sharing their ideas in the future.
Being impatient. This is often linked to thinking you know everything. Even if you are all knowing and perfect there are still benefits in listening to the views of others so they feel valued.
Being long-winded and verbose. This includes repeating yourself and not getting to the point. Maybe you like to have others wait with baited breath to hear your words of wisdom?
Being indecisive. Vacillating, procrastinating, holding off making decisions because you want more and more information. Do you really need that extra spreadsheet of “what ifs”?
Avoiding conflict. Not speaking up when you know you should so you can keep the peace. The problem is this never addresses the cause of the conflict, so it’s probably going to repeat itself.
Being non-strategic. Strategy is about the “why” and the “what” – being in the helicopter navigating the way forward. You can’t do this if you are bogged down in the tactical stuff – the “how”.
Being risk-averse or reckless. These two extremes can both lead to problems. Risk is fine as long as it is taken thoughtfully with a plan B should things go pear shaped. Being too risk averse can strangle opportunity and competitive advantage.
Being slow or non-responsive. This can be due to thinking deeply, but not telling others that is what you are doing. Often all that is needed to break this habit is to tell others what is going on in your head.
Being independent and non-collaborative. Some people don’t like playing in the sandbox with others, which means everyone misses out on the benefits that come from discussion and the natural building of an idea into something better.
Being inexpressive. Remember most people can’t read
minds. So if you don’t speak up, it can interpreted that you are hiding information, which in turn undermines trust.

How did you go? Any of these ring a bell. I certainly scored a few. In my next tip, I’ll cover Dr Stern’s other 10 bad leadership habits.

By the way, I’ll be in North America this Fall working with individual franchise companies. Leadership and communication skills are top-ranked topics requested from our clients. If you’d like to engage me to work with your team, contact Katrina Mitchell on 720-304-3710 or Katrina@FranchiseSpeakers.com

Greg Nathan
Founder
Franchise Relationships Institute

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Katrina

P.S. Did you know that we keep a stock of Greg’s books in our offices here in Colorado? Let us know if you are interested in purchasing any of the following titles: