Why leaders fail

Why do leaders sometimes fail? Have you ever wondered why would a task focused efficient leader could possibly fail??Mind baffling! what went wrong?

Before continuing the discussion, perhaps drawing some definitions around the difference between efficiency and effectiveness is due, Merriam Webster dictionary defined the two terms as follows “The words?effective?and?efficient?both mean "capable of producing a result," but there is an important difference.?Effective?means "producing a result that is wanted". Efficient means "capable of producing desired results without wasting materials, time, or energy".

Personally, the sentence I use to remind myself of the difference is “Killing a mosquito with a hammer is effective, but not efficient”. Well, then intuitively task focused efficient leaders are the ones you want, they are the straight shooters …right? While the aim of the discussion is not to undervalue the importance of efficiency, rather than to draw attention to the importance of a balanced view.

Zucker (2019) in a Harvard business review, rightfully discussed that “the ability to get things done” is the key driver of success at the same time could possibly become the leader’s own downfall. In building the argument, the article stated that the highly task-focused efficient leaders could neglect the people side of business, due to their belief that people focused activities will impede the ability to execute and waste time. The author argued that the intense focus on efficiency and getting things done would end up being the reason making those leaders less effective if it is pushed beyond the levels of burning out the team members. The author indicated that the overly task focused leaders often display highly directive, controlling or perfectionist behavior alienating others and disempowering the teams. An outcome that has been supported in the findings of Bregovic K. (2020), citing becoming “too task focused” as one of the reasons why leaders fail even when they are good, the author indicated that leaders could become detached from their team(s), burning out employees and taking the whole business down.

The outcomes of Zucker’s article are supported by the work of Anderson R. & Adams W. in their book scaling leadership (2019), in which they identified the number one differentiator of effective leaders is strong people skills, highly related to Bentz J. V. (1970) research which concluded that the managerial failure had little to do with IQ or personal attractiveness. In fact, it was linked directly to interpersonal competence.

Here are some staggering figures from a recent survey conducted on UK workers of how poor leadership - for a reason or another, not necessarily this single dimension we are discussing here- is a big problem along with some other studies as well:

-??????22% of the UK public say they hate their boss.

-??????52% identified their boss as their main source of job dissatisfaction.

-??????95% of HR leaders stated “burnout” as the main reason of employees’ turnover (Kronos,2017)

-??????70% of employees are actively disengaged (Gallup,,n.d.)

-??????58% of managers indicated they haven’t received any management training (careerbuilder.com)

-??????89% of leaders believe employees quit because they want more money (Branham L., the 7 Hidden reasons employees leave), the true figure is only 12% of employees leave for more money!

-??????58% of employees said they trust strangers more than their own bosses (Harvard business review survey)

-??????In 2017 , 50% of American workers forfeited their paid vacation from the fear of falling behind. ?

Task-focus and achieving results are vital for any leader, team, or organization to succeed, but without a sufficient balance with people-focus, success will be limited at every level

In next discussions, I shall present & discuss another dimension of why leaders fail.

?

?

?