I am reading this book titled “LEADERSHIP THAT MATTERS” by Francis Kong, and now I am in the 2nd topic and I am getting more hook as this book speaks so much about my workplace, my life and how I become better. I hope that by reading this book, I’ll become better after this ECQ.
DITCH THE UNHEALTHY HABITS
The key to unhealthy habits is that once we identify them, then a slight tweak in the behavior can correct the flaws.The following is a list of the unhealthy work habits that not only prevent leaders from achieving a greater degree of success and further career advancement, but can also cause destructive, hostile, unhappy, and even adversarial relationships in the workplace
The Urban Dictionary defines show boating as: “Exhibiting a grotesque amount of undue and unfounded pride for a skill which is actually mediocre.”
Leaders who showboat are untiring in their efforts to tell others how smart they are. The words they constantly use are: “ I know that already,” “I know... I know...”
By doing so, they alienate others when all they should do is to tell them, “Thank you,” for their input and then keep quiet.
2. THROWING TEMPER TANTRUMS
Have you ever seen a two-year old boy in a rage of temper tantrum? While we may be a bit bothered by the noise and drama, we actually find the boy cute because such is the nature of a toddler. But when one is 32 years old, then he or she should have the self-awareness and the maturity to recognize that throwing a tantrum no longer puts them in the “cute” category.
Losing your temper at work also makes you lose control -- and angry words that are spewed out of an uncontrollable mouth hurts people’s feelings. Worse, the leader develops a reputation for being volatile and unbalanced.
So keep your cool and do not speak when angry.When you constantly hear people ask, “How’s the weather out there?” They may not necessarily be asking about the temperature for today’s weather, but are actually asking about your temper at the moment.
People are smart. People are intelligent. Though they may not articulate it, in reality they can identify who the boss’s favorites are. If your flavor of the month happens to be very competent in both skills and attitude, then your people will understand; but when they see that bosses favor the yes-men and -women who are in the boss’s good graces, then this habit would not be beneficial for the leader’s career advancement.
4. TALKING TOO MUCH AND LISTENING TOO LITTLE
Many leaders do not listen as much as they ought to simply because they want to dominate the conversation. And when someone persists, the boss responds with, “Stop wasting my time,” or “Make it fast. I’ve got better things to do.” This behavior is downright rude and disrespectful. It leads to disengagement and cost businesses a lot of money in terms of lost productivity.
5. CLAIMING UNDESERVED CREDIT
As awful as it is for certain leaders to not reward good performance with proper recognition, stealing credit for his or her people’s work is worse. This should be considered a crime. Leaders need to be reminded that the group’s achievement matters more than their individual achievement.
Leadership is both an art and a science. Formal education can train a person to be a very competent manager, but true and good leadership has a great to do with the heart and soul of the person.
The beautiful thing is that leadership skills are actually life skills. And as we grow better in leading others, we actually make our lives and those of others better as well.