Business dysfunctions don’t just appear. They come from, in large part, the leadership styles of those in charge. The following leadership styles that contribute to the business dysfunctions of Busy Distraction, Shortsightedness, and Fear & Panic are all driven by underlying anxiety where the individual acts in certain ways to seek relief from niggling thoughts inside their own head:
Business Dysfunction: Busy Distraction
Leadership Type: Disorganized Dreamer. Your employees see you as the person who generates a ka-zillion ideas and who often sends
them on wild goose chases to explore every one of them. One minute you give an employee an assignment to move forward on a project involving widgets because they are the next new thing. Two days later, you re-direct the employee to ditch the widget project and focus on a completely different one. Your team experiences you as a leader who lacks focus and follow through. Your employees feel jerked around and unsettled. On the plus side, you feel enthusiasm for life! You’re happy, charming and fun to be with and have a positive outlook on life. With your energy, life is never boring as you envision the possibilities.
Stop being distracted by every new, shiny object that comes along. Find what you are truly interested in. Then, fully commit to a course of action and allow your team to support you in moving it forward.
Business Dysfunction: Shortsightedness
Leadership Type: Aloof Expert. You are all theories, ideas, abstractions with little or no time for people and relationships. Your team sees you as cold and arrogant. You often see your team as “intrusions” that you don’t want to be bothered with. You create distance between yourself and others as you withdraw into your own thoughts. Your team is tired of hearing how much smarter you are than they are. Your over-reliance on data causes analysis paralysis. On the plus side, you are an original, innovative, and keen observer who takes calculated risks to create visionary inventions and ways of doing things.
To create better relationships and get others on your side, use your curiosity to engage with others and your environment while letting go of the need to fully understand something before experiencing it.
Business Dysfunction: Fear & Panic
Leadership Type: Loyal Skeptic. This leadership type is fearful and resistant to the unknown. This could show up as fear of taking risks and of failure. You often procrastinate before moving forward. This type wants comfort over growth, so what happens? Ideas, products and services become obsolete, and market share starts to decline.
On the plus side, this type is very loyal to those they trust, and are great planners because they are on the lookout for the worst case scenario. Still, these leaders are hyper-vigilant about “threats” around them and skeptical of everything. They do not to trust themselves to make good decisions, but unfortunately, they are wary of anyone else’s information, too. This leads to fear and paralysis around making decisions, and they end up bringing about the problems they are trying to prevent. They may blame others for what happened, too. They can reactive in a knee jerk fashion and end up creating more problems because of that.
If you see yourself in any of these types, consider questioning your underlying assumptions and beliefs about the world. Breathe and find your center. It’s all good.
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR NEWSLETTER, BLOG OR WEBSITE? You can, as long as you include this information with it: Beth Strathman works with women in leadership who want to have more positive impact within their organizations by gaining greater focus, self-awareness, and influence with their teams. Learn more at: firebrandconsultingllc.com.
