I had significant exposure to negative leadership behaviors with my first real job that began shortly after I graduated from high school. I worked with “Larry” for over 12 years and until about six years ago, he was also the primary source of nearly everything I knew about running a business and managing people. I intentionally use the word “managing” because what he was doing was definitely not leading. He literally demanded respect and those that fell short were not around for very long. Larry had over 20 years of management experience, was what most would consider moderately successful financially, and seemed happy with his life so I never saw much reason to doubt him or his ways.
Looking back Larry was really just a “boss” who was primarily a dictator of people and processes. He did not understand the concept that “you get Assigned Leadership by your position and you display Emergent Leadership by influencing people to do great things” (Clark, 2010, p. 1). Larry could have become a much better leader by embracing this simple concept. He failed as a leader because he always put himself, not his followers or the organization, first. In general he did not like people very much and made it no secret that he saw them as a necessary evil of running a business. Larry’s negative leadership characteristics are difficult to narrow, but had he been interested in becoming an effective leader there are two areas where he could have started: offering timely and constructive feedback especially during performance appraisals and demonstrating ethical business practices. I believe taking a leadership rather than a managerial approach to these two areas would have gone a long way toward helping Larry transition from a feared manag...
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...f those who work so hard to make me look good. The road to unlearning some of the bad habits established under Larry’s tutelage has been long and bumpy at times, but the patience of an excellent mentor and the desire to be better inspired me to commit to getting back in school and finish that degree that slipped away from me over 16 years ago.
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At my previous place of employment, I had many effective and helpful leaders. I also had some that were somewhat poor, and some that were downright awful. There was one leader who stood out the most to me as an example of negative leadership behavior. She was a pleasant person, and very likeable and hard working, but she possessed one major leadership fault that constantly caused frustration and hindered her and her employees from advancing.
Jones, G. R., & George, J. M. (2011). Contemporary management. (7 ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Robbins, S, DeCenzo, D, Coulter, M & Woods, M 2011, Management: The Essentials, Pearson Australia, NSW, Australia, 1st Edition
Organizations have leaders who are effective and ineffective. Many of us want to be leaders but, do we have what it takes to be effective or are we going to be ineffective. Leaders are people who build their organization and employees up. Ineffective leaders are those who only care about getting a check. This paper will discuss effective and ineffective leaders. The effective and ineffective leaders I have had the pleasure to work with.
Robbins, S, DeCenzo, D, Coulter, M and Woods, M 2014, Management: The Essentials, 2nd ed, Pearson, Frenchs Forest, NSW.
I have been fortunate to work with several heads of departments within a couple years of graduating college. During this time, I have worked with quality leaders and not so great ones. The quality leaders were competent, skillful and endowed with people skills. These leaders gave me the opportunity to grow and a sense of purpose. After reading The Leadership Advantage by Warren Bennis, I was quickly reminded about a former superior of mine that lacked the understanding and knowledge of what qualities a leader should have. The company also did not entertain a culture that promotes employee satisfaction.
Robbins, S. P., & Coulter. M. (2014). Management (12th ed.). Retrieved from: Colorado Technical University eBook Collection database.
Robbins, S, DeCenzo, D, Coulter, M, Woods, M 2011, Management the essentials, Pearson Education, New South Wales.