Leaders are not leaders because of their title, salary, or accomplishments. They are leaders because they bring out the hidden greatness in others. The world is full of incompetent leaders, and people who don’t want or can’t lead are often put in leadership roles. Here are eight signs someone is unfit for leadership. When these signs are present, don’t follow blindly, don’t adopt them yourself, and start looking for a new leader.
Signs of Unfit Leadership
- Blame outwardly – It is never their fault. They blame the tool, the process, or the people. They share the blame and hoard the fame.
- Passion is missing – When passion is absent, the whole team knows it and usually will follow suit. If the leader can’t stay passionate about the vision, the team can’t help them achieve it.
- Flat out can’t listen – They either think they are always right, their idea or opinion is the only one that matters, or everyone around them is incompetent, out to get them, or just plain wrong. People are unfit for leadership if they don’t listen.
- Sees their team as there to serve them – This makes them controlling, not a leader. They beat the team into submission instead of influencing them to follow.
- Compromise their personal values and belief system – Even when the decision doesn’t feel right inside, they do it anyway. Over time you find their values have vanished or transformed into something evil.
- Uncooperative – They keep a perpetual line in the sand. Someone unfit for leadership has no interest in compromise or negotiation.
- Uncoachable – They have no performance issues and no room for improvement. They remind you that they’ve been doing this for X years and know what is best and right. A leader who is uncoachable is unfit for leadership.
- Threatened by those around them – They go throughout their day fearing that someone is more intelligent or better than them, working hard to ruin other people’s credibility.
These traits miss the point of leadership entirely. Beyond the fact that they are making everyone around them miserable and costing the company time, money, and resources, or worse, they might be training future leaders to behave this way. Do you lead someone who shows these signs? Ask for their resignation to prevent any further damage to your organization.
Last updated on August 25th, 2022 at 06:34 am
