7 Mistakes Managers Make, According to Their Employees

This is volume 17 of The Future of Leadership, where I provide big ideas to grow exceptional leaders. Subscribe here for future editions. And don't forget to sign up for my new leadership development course.

* * *

A few years ago I conducted an independent survey to collect employee sentiment data around the question: "What is the one mistake leaders make more frequently than others?

I looked at top trends from hundreds of responses to ascertain the most common mistakes leaders make that lead to employee disengagement and, in many cases, their ultimate demise. While certainly not comprehensive, here's what came up.

1. Micromanage

Really, no surprise here. Bosses that dominate decisions and processes, and manage by fear and control makes this the No.1 mistake (37%). Micromanaging is a trust-killer, which ultimately derails your team's motivation and creativity.

2. Failure to listen

One respondent puts it this way:

"It is not the inability to listen but the inability to 'hear' what their team [members] are saying to them."

The lack of active and respectful listening and two-way communication -- sending without receiving -- is a clear shortcoming for many bosses. The ability to demonstrate "authentic listening" may be the most underutilized and underdeveloped leadership skill you will find in managers.

3. Not valuing people's talents

This management mistake is rather broad, with many responses supporting it. However, I found two items in the survey that stood out for me:

• Managers make the mistake of not investing in development and mentoring opportunities for their most valued workers.
• Managers make the mistake of not identifying each person's unique skills and strengths, and use them where they are best suited for business outcomes.

4. Reluctance to grow as leaders

One collective sentiment suggested senior-level leaders are reluctant to grow and develop themselves, strongly hinting at self-entitlement. This despite the fact that leadership issues at the senior level are just as frequent, often causing friction, strain, and turnover down the ranks. Some examples of behavior that cry out for executive-level leadership development include low self-awareness, communication issues, and lacking two-way feedback (which segues to the next point).

5. Disregarding two-way communication

Customer-facing employees are typically the most informed with how things work in the trenches and can provide valuable feedback on strategic decisions for the C-Suite. This fosters a culture of trust, creativity, and agility, where employees feel safe enough to contribute ideas and share concerns that have value and can help solve problems.

The survey showed a different picture with many respondents (21%) citing common roadblocks to two-way feedback. In the case of feedback traveling up the chain:

• Managers often get defensive when they receive feedback.
• Managers don't ask questions when receiving feedback (a sort of emotional "shutdown" stemming from an ego position).
• Managers react to employee feedback by reverting to their expertise and knowledge (see points #2 and #3), rather than acting on feedback with intellectual curiosity and a team approach to problem-solving.

When information needs to flow the other day, managers who do give feedback to employees often make these mistakes:

• They provide feedback that isn't actionable or doesn't help their people develop critical competencies to do the job well.
• They assume the absence of feedback means everything is OK. A sort of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mentality.
• They think they know what their followers want/need without asking them. Usually, this involves a lot of projection.

6. Management by hubris

There is healthy ego, and then there is toxic hubris, which is found to be the cause of much conflict and grief. As one respondent succinctly put it:

"Intellectual arrogance is like a termite to some leaders and networks."

A large number of respondents indicated a lack of humility in bosses -- not able to own being wrong, and not handling being wrong well.

This is consistent with the evidence that "know-it-all bosses" who think they have the best ideas and information, without open discourse to explore possibilities with the team, disrupt morale and disengage their workers.

7. Failing to tap into frontline intelligence and expertise

This mistake largely stems from micromanagement. A good section of employees (18%) feel that leaders are not enlisting their expertise and insights to help with key business decisions. Additionally, when employees feel like they're merely cogs without the autonomy to take ownership of their work, they quickly disengage and morale takes a nose dive.

Your turn: What other management mistakes have you personally seen or experienced that lead to disengagement and turnover?

______________________

Every week I feature a conversation on the Love in Action podcast with a global influencer and thought-leader.

On episode #59, I sat down with Frances Frei, Harvard Business School (HBS) professor. Along with co-author Anne Morriss, she has written Unleashed: The Unapologetic Leaders Guide to Empowering Everyone Around You. The Los Angeles Times describes Frei as “the go-to woman for companies like Uber who are looking to improve their image.” [Here's a short-clip preview of the episode where Frances shares with me what she actually saw and experienced at Uber, and how she helped change its culture]

Highlights from our conversation:

• Frances recounts how she helped change the culture of Uber.
• If your culture is broken, start with trust.
• “The reason that people haven’t been able to make much progress on trust is they kept trying to move to trust without understanding its very different but comprehensive component parts,” Frances explains. These components are authenticity, logic and empathy. She describes the role of each component in building a trustworthy culture.
• Love is empowering people by setting high standards and revealing deep devotion to them. To bring out someone’s best, they have to feel your high standards as much as your devotion to them.
• Two practical ways to be more loving by setting high standards are: set better goals and celebrate wins. Two ways to show devotion are: proactively help, and fulfill people’s basic needs.
• Frances talks about how she helped make Harvard Business School more gender-inclusive.
• “If there are demographic tendencies associated with who’s thriving, your culture is broken,” Frances says.
• “If you only give me an hour to diagnose whether the culture has a problem, I’m going to do two things. I’m going to listen to see if any of the cultural values are weaponized, and I’m going to look at the data to see if women and men are thriving at the same rates,” says Frances.
• The most important thing to do for our employees during this pandemic, Frances says, is to enrich them by helping them develop.

Listen/subscribe: Apple Podcast | Spotify | Stitcher | Download 

___________________

• Warren Buffett Says You Should Practice the 4 Habits That Separate the Best From the Rest [read article]
• If You're Smart Enough to Do These 4 Things, Your Leadership Skills Are Above Average [read article]
• 3 Questions You Must Say Yes to If You Call Yourself a Leader [read article]

______________________

The Climate Justice Playbook for Business: This resource created by B Lab and partners includes information to help business leaders understand the intersection of climate action and social justice to help advance a justice-centered approach to climate action. [Download the playbook]

'What I Learned When I Was Burned Out': As a physically healthy, high-achieving entrepreneur, Ryan Caldbeck never expected to suffer from burnout. But after a series of professional and personal challenges pushed him into a long period of chronic stress, he decided to step down as CEO of his company, CircleUp, to give himself time to recover. Learning from that experience, he’s worked with other leaders at his organization (where he still serves as executive chairman) to create an environment that fosters team members’ well-being. [Full story: Harvard Business Review]

Book Recommendation: "From Suck to Success: a Guide to Extraordinary Entrepreneurship." Author Todd Palmer, a top business advisor and CEO of Extraordinary Advisors, helps readers ditch their comfort zone, dive into their “failures,” and re-frame their mindset to be more authentic, transparent, and vulnerable to affect real change along the path to success.

____________________

Don't Forget!

My purpose is to help leaders grow and teams flourish. Find out how my new virtual leadership course can help create high-performing teams.

At your service,

Marcel

* * *

About Marcel Schwantes

Marcel Schwantes is a speaker, executive coach, leadership advisor, podcast host, and syndicated columnist with a global following. His work has been featured in Inc., Business Insider, Fast Company, The New York Daily News, CNBC, Forbes, and others. Marcel trains leaders worldwide through his signature course, "From Boss to Leader." He speaks on the human side of work, and how cultures of care, connection, and people-empowerment power companies to outperform the competition.