When you’re learning to hone your leadership skills, you might look towards good examples of leadership such as Bill Gates.
But what about the bad leaders we hear so much of in the news? While it’s easy to overlook these bad leaders, they too also have a lot to teach us!
Not sure you can learn anything here? Take a look at the following lessons that you can get from bad leaders.
1. Don’t Insult the People You Work With
Always treat others how you would want to be treated. For leaders, this helps build up their team’s loyalty, sense of camaraderie and dedication to the business. If you’re constantly belittling your team, you’re not going to get the help you want or need.
Instead, be calmer, kinder and more respectful towards others. Lead by example, if you can. This improves team dedication, builds loyalty and also showcases that you understand how tasking or demanding a job is.
2. Lead by Example
Always lead by example. Most bad leaders love to delegate tasks but also micromanage to make sure that the work is done according to their instructions. This is neither healthy for you nor your employees. Leading by example also means that you would never ask them to do what you wouldn’t do yourself.
Poor leaders usually don’t view things in this light. They are more likely to put a lot of load on the person and then get angry when they don’t get the results they wanted.
3. Don’t Be a Know It All
When you know everything, you can’t learn anything anymore. That’s a major reason why bad leaders get stuck in a rut. When you are so sure that you have the answers to everything, it can be difficult to swallow your pride and admit that you need help.
Instead, you should always be learning and aware of what’s going on. Take feedback from clients if and when it is needed. This also fosters an environment of learning in your team.
4. Avoid Confusion in Leadership
Bad leaders aren’t just the ones who’re exceptionally active. Some of them are the ones who are extremely laid back. This approach can mean that your team gets to play a bigger role but, what about the bigger decisions?
Being rudderless at this time period means that your team will be running around in different directions. Instead of letting others make the decision for you, leaders need to actively step up and deal with the responsibility.
5. Be Open
Good leaders are able to see leadership skills in their team and nurture and motivate it in others as well. The bad ones usually tend to see this as a threat. They want to preserve their position which is why they will often push away others that are assets in their team.
The end result is one that is easy to predict. You will get a weak team, that doesn’t work well and is afraid of speaking up.
By paying attention to these lessons, you can become a better leader—one who is an asset to any business.
