Good leadership, mastering the 12 methods of leadership skills

Author: Zhou Junjie
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-10-01
Features: The 7 Major Mistakes Modern Leaders Need to Avoid
The quality of performance management largely depends on a manager's understanding and response to work pressure and challenges. In other words, managers who are good at self-reflection are more likely to become effective managers. — Herzberg
A unit or a company is like a boat sailing on the sea, and the leader is the captain. On the vast ocean, everyone trusts the captain and obeys their commands. Therefore, when facing any stormy waves, the captain should bear the responsibility to ensure the boat sails smoothly. In this way, the crew not only feels secure and has something to rely on but can also gather the courage to assist the captain in setting sail.
In 2001, a total of over 250 large companies in the United States declared bankruptcy or sought bankruptcy protection, involving assets worth 258 billion U.S. dollars. Many world-renowned companies, such as Enron, WorldCom, Arthur Andersen, and Polaroid, were included in the list. The leaders of these companies did not seek the cause of their failure within themselves but blamed external factors such as the sluggish global economy, the decline of the Wall Street stock market, investors' pessimism about the future of the U.S. economy, and the 9/11 terrorist attacks. After research, Forbes magazine concluded that the majority of large corporate leaders made management mistakes, leading their companies to either bankruptcy or a struggle for survival. Leaders should avoid the following mistakes:
1. Corrupt Corporate Culture
The decline of a company is significantly related to a corrupt corporate culture. Enron and Arthur Andersen are typical examples of corporate culture corruption. Although companies cannot monitor every action of their employees, they should have clear or unwritten cultural guidelines to enable front-line employees to make correct decisions even without explicit instructions. However, this was not the case at Solomon Brothers. In February 1991, a trader at the company, Paul Mozer, engaged in improper bidding during a government Treasury bill auction. The company's leader, John Gutfreund, did not punish him. Three months later, the trader repeated the same mistake. He actually believed that his boss's silence meant he had the green light. In May, when he committed the same improper bidding again, John Gutfreund showed no mercy and personally sent him to prison.
2. Board of Directors' Negligence
The role of a company's board of directors is to act as the final check on the company's supervision, operations, and decision-making. One of the reasons for Enron's bankruptcy was the board's lack of oversight and strict regulations. Many directors today have too little understanding of the company's internal situation, making the board effectively toothless. A qualified board should fully grasp the company's information and data to make correct decisions when major issues arise.
3. Ignoring Employee Opinions
Although the concept of "people-centered management" has been advocated for many years, many companies still do not value their employees. They either ignore employees' opinions or say, "That's great, everyone has made excellent suggestions today. Due to time constraints, the meeting is adjourned. We will discuss this again later." In the past few