The costly impact of Mediocre Leadership in uncertain times
Mediocre is defined as - of moderate or low quality in value, ability, or performance; ordinary, average...
Are you OK with being mediocre as a leader?
80% of organisations acknowledge they tolerate mediocre leaders.
Source: Accenture
We’ve heard about “institutionalised leadership styles” as identified and reported on within the NHS, government bodies and public sector environments. This leadership style is not marginalised to those sectors only, if we turn the lens back on ourselves, as leaders in our organisations, we can most probably identify where we too have fallen into a leadership style which has been embedded in our organisation’s culture over the years.
Are you OK with being a mediocre leader?
A leader has an obligation and commitment to their company to leave it in a better place than they found it and to leave a lasting and positive legacy.
In today’s ever changing and uncertain world of work, leaders are being asked to step-up in significant and un-expected ways to address the climate of ambiguity surrounding them. They are required to lead by example and to adopt behaviours and mindsets that demonstrate strong accountability at a personal and collective level.
For businesses to succeed, leaders need to stop leading in a mediocre way and avoiding the hard work. They are required to lead effectively which includes making unpopular decisions, giving frank feedback to colleagues, and calling out unproductive performance. If a leader avoids doing the hard work, they weaken themselves, their team, and their company.
Being labeled a ‘mediocre leader’ is not what any leader would wish for. However, we often don’t realise that we’ve fallen into the ‘institutionalised’ way of leading and discovering that we are not fully equipped with the tools needed to lead under pressure. This can result in leaders failing to serve themselves and their employees effectively. In fact, mediocre leadership has the power to destroy employee engagement completely putting the future of their entire organisation at risk.
73% of employees spend a significant amount of time dealing with problems caused by ineffective managers.
Source: Gallup
An effective leader or manager must build relationships with peers and colleagues across the organisation and actively network to share ideas and drive innovation. Developing team excellence in their cohesion and collaboration is imperative to an organisation’s success. A mediocre leader drains the engagement and productivity out of their teams and if left unattended, will drive down results and drive out top talent.
The 5 typical characteristics of a mediocre leader are:
Blames others: A leader who never personally acknowledges their role or contribution to any mistake or failure
Selfish and un-serving: A leader who regularly acts out of self-interest and brings a sense of entitlement to the role
Uncivil and mean: Someone who routinely mistreats, demeans, and insults others, usually in public
Inept and incompetent: A leader who makes bad decisions leaving a trail of disaster behind them
Lack of initiative: Lazy and unwilling to work hard, these leaders look for an easy way out by deflecting responsibility
Feedback from leaders who have fallen into the 'mediocre leadership' trap include:
Unclear expectations of leaders
Under pressure to accept the role
Lack of role models
Fear of failure
Overloaded with tasks that could be delegated elsewhere
Little investment by the company in their development
Avoiding a culture of mediocrity
Strengthening a leader’s agility and resilience will help to build a sense of personal resolve and equip them to tackle even the most unpredictable challenges.
It is important for organisations to maintain a culture of accountability and to address mediocre or unaccountable leadership behaviour. It is equally important for organisations to invest in the personal development of their leaders – and future leaders, to break the mold of the institutionalised leadership culture that may exist.
Has your organisation identified its leadership performance shortfalls and made leadership development a critical priority?
The Future Focus Leadership Programme
Future Focus Leadership
In support of organisations whose leadership styles have fallen way behind their business growth expectations,The Oakridge Centre has developed its Future Focus Leadership programme.
The programme helps to strengthen a leader’s agility and resilience, equipping them to build a sense of personal resolve to tackle even the most unpredictable challenges of today’s volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world of work – and in an accountable way.
The programme involves a series of short, sharp sessions which encompass:
Leading through Uncertainty and Challenging Times – VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity) Leadership Skills
Leading Transformational Change
Developing an Authentic and Emotional Leadership style
Emotional Intelligence – understanding self and others
Developing High Performing Teams
Flexing Leadership Skills when Managing Complex Teams
Psychological Safety – for self and others
The sessions can be delivered as individual programmes to groups of up to 12 people or can be provided as a Future Focus Leadership Programme package which includes all the programmes listed above designed to your bespoke needs, or we can discuss replacing any of the programmes as required towards a more tailored package solution.
Following the programme’s post-assessment evaluation, additional leadership development in Coaching support can be added as a bolt-on to the Future Focus Leadership programme package.
The Future Focus Leadership Coaching Surgery Days
A day of Coaching for Individual Leaders and/or Team Leaders - or a mix of both
The Oakridge Centre's Future Focus Leadership Coaching Day or Days is tailored to the outcome of the Future Focus Leadership Programme's assessment, to provide the additional leadership performance management support that may be needed.
The Leadership Coaching Surgery Day or Days is a perfect solution to providing individual performance coaching, team leaders group coaching, and/or coaching skills for managers.
The Leadership Coaching Surgery Days offer 5 hours of dedicated coaching time per day at our day rate, and can be broken down into either:
5 x 1-hour sessions
2 x 2-hour sessions and 1 x 1-hour session
1 x 2-hour session and 3 x 1-hour sessions
Each Coachee will be offered a wide range of Diagnostic Assessments including:
- Drivers
- Influencing Styles
- Resilience Assessment
- Career Anchors
- Conflict Management
- Learning Styles
The programme sponsor is provided with a full Feedback Report at the end of the programme.
Our video below includes a form for you to complete to receive a free copy in your Inbox of our Future Focus Leadership Workbook to help you plan your Accountable Leadership Journey.
PODCAST EPISODES
PODCAST EPISODES
PODCAST EPISODES
If you haven't caught up on all of our 28 Podcast episodes to date we have provided the link below to the full library. We are on Season 3 in our Podcast series and editions focus on People and Organisational Development on Leadership, Coaching, Change, Team Effectiveness, Mental Health, Embracing Difference and Menopause at Work.
FULL PODCAST LIBRARY
PODCAST EPISODES
Has your organisation’s leadership culture fallen into the trap of mediocre or institutionalised leadership styles? We explore the costly impact this has on businesses which can put the future of an entire organisation at risk…
