We are pleased to announce that EDGE! A Leadership Story has been named a finalist for the National Best Books 2008 Awards in the category of Business/Motivational.

We want to extend our thanks to each and every one of you who have supported this effort and who continue to spread the word about this work.

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There are several “deadly leadership sins”, but the ones that I notice causing the greatest difficulty are:

1) Playing Favorites

What makes it deadly? When a leader plays favorites, resentment towards the “teacher’s pet” builds and spreads like a wildfire. This is a sure way to kill morale and productivity.

How can you avoid it? This is the one time when I believe that rules are needed. If you have a solid and consistent set of policies which state exactly the behavior you expect and what is not tolerated, you can (and you should) enforce those policies across the board, regardless of who your favorites might be.

What should you do if you’ve already committed it? Apologize to your team and let them know that from this day forward, you are going to be treating each person fairly and consistently across the board.

2) Gossip

What makes it deadly? For starters, gossip can ruin the life and career of someone in your company, and at the end of the day, as a leader, this fallout will fly in your direction and land squarely on your shoulders. As a leader, when you gossip, your words may also be interpreted as a character sketch of your own behaviors and actions. As an example, if you say “John is such a pain in the neck,” the listener will often think the same of you…that you’re a “pain in the neck”. And…needless to say (but I need to say it,) if you are gossiping, your followers will eventually no longer trust you, and once trust is gone, your followers will no longer respect you enough to listen to one thing you have to say.

How can you avoid it? Hire a coach! I believe there are times when all leaders need to vent and get things off their chest. A coach can provide you with a confidential setting to air your grievances and get things off your chest.

What should you do if you’ve already committed it? As hard as this will be, I recommend that you implement a zero tolerance for gossip in the workplace, and this action starts with you. Once you have implemented the policy, you will need to enforce a strong accountability system to keep everyone honest.

3) Shooting the Messenger

What makes it deadly? If your employees do not feel psychologically safe to bring you bad news, it can dramatically affect the emotional well being of your entire company. When the emotional intelligence of a team or group is low, people often live in fear and doubt and will start jumping ship with the knowledge you have empowered them to deploy. Many leaders who “shoot the messenger” are suffering from what I call the “yes man syndrome”, meaning, they surround themselves with people who only say what the leader wants to hear, which is a recipe for disaster. If you are not hearing both the good, the bad and the ugly, you are probably missing the most important information you need to drive your company forward.

How can you avoid it? If you are living with the “yes man syndrome” it may be time to redesign your team to include a wider variety of people…both fans and critics. Invite your team in weekly to tell you EVERYTHING they are hearing and allow it all to be said…not just the great things but the criticisms and complaints.

What should you do if you’ve already committed it? As hard as this will be, call each person in who you’ve “shot”, apologize to them and then listen to what they have to say. Thank them for their input and take their input back to your team to discuss what to do with this information. Look not only at the complaint but the bigger issue at the core of the complaint (i.e., is something broken, is your customer service lousy, are people not feeling appreciated, or is your company living in fear?) If this is an issue in your company, you may also find the town hall meeting format to be successful. During the meeting, you give all employees the chance to speak out and ask tough questions, no matter how painful it may be. If you cannot open yourself up enough to hear what your employees have to say, it may be time to pass the baton to someone who can.

If you are a leader who is being challenged by any of these issues, I encourage you to pick up a copy of EDGE! A Leadership Story. Read the book and then contact me (Bea Fields) at (910) 692-6118 for a complimentary consultation. If I cannot help you, I will find someone who can.

As most leadership consultants do, I have been watching the campaign in earnest to learn what I can about formulas for success. The more I watch the ending of the McCain campaign, the more clear it becomes as to why this campaign failed.

Two nights ago on the O’Reilly Factor (which I do watch each evening…I also watch a few more Liberal shows like Hardball with Chris Matthews) Carl Cameron reported that sources at the top of the McCain campaign told him that Governor Palin was “difficult, a bit of a shop-aholic, did not know the countries that make up NAFTA and did not know that Africa was a continent.”

I have to say I was a bit in shock. I honestly could not believe what I was hearing. I know that Governor Palin has her shortcomings, but this information leaking out seems to be coming from some cowards…people who don’t have the guts to step up and attach a face and a name to their comments.

I watched the reaction last night on the news…more of the same, and of course, the media is having a field day with this.

If you are a leader, I encourage you to look at the leadership skills (or lack thereof) in this situation and know that at the end of the day, what we are hearing and seeing now is proof positive that this campaign was in grave trouble months ago (even before Palin came onto the scene.)

Here are a few of the leadership skills that I see were (and still are) blatantly missing:

1) Accountability: The McCain campaign has been pointing fingers at each other and Palin for weeks. At the end of the day, McCain should be held accountable. He was the Republican nominee, and accountability starts at the top.

2) Leadership Courage: Some people at the top of the campaign seem to be afraid to be wrong. I believe that they are trying to save themselves right now, so they are throwing Governor Palin under the bus. There’s nothing better for a coward than having a scapegoat.

3) Personal Responsibility: If you are a part of an organization, you need to take responsibility for everything you do and say and every mistake you made. It’s easy to throw the responsibility onto someone who lives thousands of miles away in the state of Alaska.

I want to make clear that I know how difficult running a presidential campaign must be, and my hat is off to both Obama and McCain for sticking out two long years of travel and physical strain. But…at the end of the day, always, always, the leadership skills practiced are what yield results. I have heard it reported that Obama said from the beginning that he was not going to tolerate drama…that he wanted a team that could be united and stand together no matter what, and guess what…it worked! Don’t ever underestimate what leadership development, managerial courage and accountability can do for your organization.

EDGE! A Leadership Story

I am convinced that one of the reasons the Republican Party took a beating this week is directly related to two obvious reasons:

1) We are still at war

2) Our economic crisis

When a company, government or organization is fighting or in economic trouble, it is quite common for people to lose their confidence and morale to drop. A change is then inevitable.

I think we can learn a great deal from this election on what worked and what didn’t. Needless to say, a perfect storm developed that inspired the American people to vote for change.

If you look closely at your own situation, the question is “Are you building your company in the direction of peace and prosperity?” To help you answer this bigger question, I encourage you to answer the following questions:

On the topic of prosperity:

1) Are you focusing your time and energy on the products and services which you know can bring you the greatest return on your investment?

2) What ways can you cut costs without sacrificing the quality of service you deliver?

3) Are there any customers who are dragging you down/not paying their bills? If so, is it time to let them go? Which customers do you need to focus on as a top priority?

4) What can you do to improve/enhance your current products and services without blowing a wad of money?

On the topic of peace:

1) Are you leading with a cool head?

2) Are you leading from the center? Or…are you pandering to one group inside your organization?

3) Do you have trouble makers in your company? If so, why do you keep them on board?

4) What are you doing to get input from all sub-groups in your company?

5) What are your employees most concerned about, and what are you doing to address their concerns?

6) Are you communicating openly and honestly?

7) What are you doing to build confidence in your employees?

I encourage you to sit down and answer these questions today, and don’t answer them in isolation. Sit down with your most trusted colleagues and brainstorm the possibilities for the future.

EDGE! A Leadership Story

I want to take the time to personally congratulate President-Elect Barack Obama for his determination and outstanding campaign. I look forward to watching the next four years and wish him the best.

Watch the acceptance speech here:

EDGE! A Leadership Story