It continues to amaze me how some that call themselves leaders have no concept of true leadership. I speak from experience having had the owner of a company actually think criticizing someone before their peers and subordinates on a conference call and telling them they should not be in the position was acceptable. The sad part is, he didn't do this just once, but multiple times and to different team members. This is the same person he promoted into the position without guidance and direction. This employee had never been in a leadership role before and had never been responsible for an entire department; however, he was expected to succeed not given the support and guidance of how to be an effective leader. And he wondered why he failed when in fact the owner failed the employee.
Actions such as this has a ripple effect throughout an organization. Actions such as this create a fear factor for everyone, not allowing for upward and outward thinking but holding back those that would normally be thinking outside the box. I had one employee call me one time about a truck which had broken down about 100 miles from the corporate office. The employee called me asking what he should do. I informed he had only one choice and that was to tow the truck. Now I was not responsible for corporate vehicles but was not afraid to assist and give guidance because that is what leaders do. He then proceeded to say he didn't know to have a towing company from Orlando bring the truck to the corporate office or have one in their area go down and get it. When I mentioned it didn't make a difference as the company was going to charge for a round trip no matter who he used, I got the response, "Oh, never thought of that." When I asked why he was calling me as the only option he had was to have the vehicle towed back to the corporate office he said, "Because when people have made decisions like this in the past they have gotten fired." Yes, those were his exact words. The fear in the corporate office around the owner of this company was so severe, employees were afraid to make even the most common sense and basic decisions.
I had not been with the organization but for a short time and knew there were issues within the company when I asked the HR person what the employee turnover was. Her response was and I again quote, "You don't want to know." I soon found out employee turnover in a two years period was almost 100% and basically positions were being filled by revolving door. Why would you ask I take this position knowing there were great challenges in the organization? Because I believed and was confident in my ability to make a difference. Problem was no matter how many discovery questions I asked in the interview and the research I performed could have made me aware as to how deep they were. The company had great people, it just had ineffective leadership and an owner who would not allow others to do their job because he was afraid to relinquish power. This was after telling me in my first meeting with him he was stepping back and letting the new VP of Operations and myself run the operations, which never happened.
Fear is not condusive to great leadership and will stymie greatness and limit the ability of others to reach their potential. Fear will never allow greatness and has ruined many organizations. Even after a discussion with this owner about some of the issues I witnessed and him telling me he would "change," it never happened and continues to this day as does the revolving door. Needless to say, I am not with that organization and pray for those within it. Stupidity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.
Now go lead!
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