[June 29, 2015] A few years ago I was asked to give a presentation on those things that were likely to brand senior military leaders as unprofessional. Putting aside for the moment that many senior officers have failed because of basic violations of law or due to bad personal habits, leaders also fail for more common reasons. For example, one of my commanders would contort himself many ways to get out of making a hard decision. Few of us considered him to be a real leader despite the fact that he held Flag rank in the U.S. Army.
“Being a professional is doing the things you love to do, on the days you don’t feel like doing them.” – Julius Erving
I came up with a list back then and have outlined 20 of them below. The presentation was to about 50 junior officers. Each was selected for a two-day U.S. Army sponsored workshop entitled “Leadership in the 21st Century: Issues, Challenges, and Obstacles.” Emphasis for speakers was placed on practical presentations that would help these officers; all of them had been tagged as possible future Flag officers. Thus the group was well educated and very experienced.
The following 20 items are here unedited as I presented them. Interestingly, the questions asked by the junior leaders were about 1) abuse of power and 18) one-size fits all leadership style. Abuse of power is one of the more common reasons senior leaders get themselves into trouble with the military. Annually, the U.S. Army’s Inspector General publishes a list of those infractions, lays them out statistically, and comments on trends. It remains surprising to me that so many senior leaders fall prey to abuse of power yet they are fully aware of the consequences.
One-size fits all leadership means that a leader is inflexible and is unable to adapt to changing circumstances. This is the height of failure in a senior leader. Experience would seem to dictate that senior leaders have gone through some sort of selection process that excludes those who cannot adapt. Nonetheless, there is something about a few senior leaders that seems to inhibit their ability to change when necessary.
Here is the list of those 20 items that can brand you unprofessional:
- Abuse of power
- Failure to take care of your people
- Not fully understanding the mission and lack of vision
- Taking events personally and showing it emotionally
- Lack of preparation
- Overpromising and under delivering
- Underestimating relationships and inappropriate relationships
- Act as being exempt from rules and standard practices
- Not listening to people and inability to take feedback
- Failure to adhere to organizational core values
- Avoiding responsibility
- Lack the moral courage to do what is right
- Make changes quickly without notice
- Taking credit for team performance
- Arrogance, poor attitude, and narcissistic behavior
- Lying, misleading, and deceiving
- Lacking vision
- One-size fits all leadership style
- Inflexibility and lack of creativeness
- Consistent failure to achieve results
Being a successful leader is tough; being an ethical, courageous leader is tougher. While senior leaders must be more adaptable in today’s environment, the minefields are harder than ever to negotiate. Of all those things that make leaders appear unprofessional, the worse thing they can do is fail to live up to the expectations of those that work for them. Failure is not an option that exists without a high cost.
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