4 ways exec dysfunction is bringing the pain

Ahoy!

What the heck is going on?

Working across hundreds?of leaders this year alone, one central theme has emerged that's making life h311 for employees, leaders and execs.?

Poor exec(utive) behaviour.

Whether you're the exec or a leader who is building your exec muscles (that next step in the career, aye?),?here are the four behaviours causing culture chaos in the organisation... and what you can do about it.

This isn't about feeling bad; it's about how you can be a legend amongst the chaos and help build a kick@ss place to work.

4 problematic behaviours

1. Backroom deals- there is a mountain of backroom deals going on at the moment. What's that, you ask? It's people haggling and scheming to roll out a plan without engaging the right people and?thinking about the change impact. The problem? These things ALWAYS get leaked, and they cause massive problems when they do.
2. Conflict avoidance?- you don't need to be liked by everyone. It's a tough thing to accept, but being truthful and protecting the greater whole will always mean someone dislikes you. Avoiding conflict with peers, leaders, other execs, etc means letting down more than that person... and having more pain later.
3. Good news only?- bad news is, well, bad news! But building a good news only culture will just build feelings of deceit, animosity and uncertainty. Not good. The bad news matters.
4. Force-developing others but not self?- It's pretty shocking the number of people being put through training/coaching selectively without the person who made that call developing themselves. It creates a "wait, shouldn't they be on this course too" type of dynamic. Leaders have to develop themselves too.

What you can do about it

Whether you're doing some of the things mentioned above (we can fix that) or seeing it with your leader (with you as the leader below), what can you do to improve the situation?

1. Identify your locus of control?- if the CEO/Exec/Board aren't willing to back the agenda and want to keep things covert, then you have to accept where your influence ends (once you've given it a solid crack) and where you need to focus on what you can control begins. Pick your battles and consider the impact on your career/team.
2. Foster the difficult convos?- sometimes, the people around you aren't having the difficult convos because they simply don't know how to. Why not offer to facilitate that? Even better, own your role in the hard things and be open by admitting where you'd like to improve. Taking the first step will help smooth out the process
3. Share the bad news and communicate the hard changes?- this is the simplest one to say but the hardest to feel comfortable doing. You have to share the hard truths. They ALWAYS come out, and if you hide them, people will greatly distrust you for it.?
4. Develop yourself?- whether it's a training course, a workshop or working with a coach (cough cough), you'll have blind spots and skill gaps that could benefit from a boost. The moment you stop developing is the moment you slip out of the top spot.

- Travis