Leading people isn't easy, which is why finding exceptional leaders is so difficult.

Watching companies as they crumbled during crisis or manipulate their marketing message to coincide with fashionable trends demonstrates lack of vision, creativity, authenticity, and poor leadership.

When companies put poor leaders in place, bad decisions are made, disingenuous marketing is created, people are disenfranchised, and businesses go belly up.

The problem with finding great leaders. Most people making those decisions lack the business acumen, emotional intelligence and self-awareness required to recognize extraordinary talent.

My best leaders weren’t hiding behind prestigious degrees or simply saying all the right things. They have character, integrity, humility, and tenacity. They lead by example and their impact is powerful.

They have qualities most people making hiring decisions overlook, because the people making those decisions often lack emotional perspicacity.

Many people in management positions have charisma, charm, confidence, even if it’s fake. What’s missing, competence and remarkable communication skills.

The old cliché is accurate. People don’t leave their job; they leave their boss.

Like it or not, bad leadership might be killing your organization, and few people have the courage to speak up for fear of reciprocity. So, they quit instead.

Of course, poor managers never take responsibility for high turnover, they just write off the carnage to “bad people” that are difficult to work with.

When we live in denial and fail to take full responsibility for the challenges associated with extracting exceptional talent, we let great people go that could be instrumental in precipitating our success.

I realize recognizing great leadership talent isn’t easy, but it’s a skill that must be mastered to ensure our organizations are prepared to embrace the challenges of the future.

"Nothing gwill kill a great employee faster than watching you tolerate a bad one."

--PERRY BELCHER

TO BE SUCCESSFUL AT FINDING GREAT LEADERS NOTICE 6 WEAKNESSES:

01. SELF SERVING

Many people in leadership positions are in it for themselves. High pay, accolades, recognition, and upward mobility. Those are their top priorities and everything they do is designed to improve their prospects for success. They use people as instruments to achieve their personal goals. These people don’t coach, mentor, or cultivate great talent. People sit on their hands and simply agree with these ego maniacs, which don’t help the organization flourish.

02. INTIMIDATION

People with narcissistic tendencies in management positions are a deadly combination, and it’s incredibly common. These people are consummate manipulators and use every tool in the book to gain power and control. They bully, intimidate, ridicule, and belittle. They seek ultimate authority and seek retribution against anyone that has the audacity to question their supremacy.

"A bad leader can take a good staff and destroy it, causing the best employees to flee and the remainder to lose all motivation."

-- RAY STANNARD BAKER

03. HIERARCHY

Many people value titles and hierarchy. Their entire life has been dedicated to rewards and punishment, and they expect other people to live up to their high expectations. They demand more effort, productivity, and constant accessibility. If they e mail you on Saturday night at 10pm, you better respond. People that operate according to hierarchy place heavy value on credibility based on position. They lack emotional intelligence and cause stress, frustration and burn out.

04. POWER HUNGRY

Some people are just power hungry. These emotional misfits know nothing about compassion, empathy, and self-awareness. They seek power and control and make decisions that advance their objectives. When people crave power, they manipulate, lie, cheat and steal to achieve their objectives. They don’t value other people’s opinions and are easily threatened by anyone that exhibits extraordinary talent.

05. ACCOLADES

Many managers desire all the credit. They elicit insight from team members, then rush off to management to take full responsibility for every new idea, innovation, or satisfied customer. They undermine their team and destroy confidence, creativity and morality in the process. Selfish people that seek constantly approval from their bosses kill corporate culture.

06. COMMUNICATES POORLY

There’s nothing worse than a leader that can’t communicate. People with poor communication skills don’t listen well and lack the emotional insight necessary to understand their team members. These are people in a hurry to move past the inconvenience of mentoring people, better understanding intrinsic motivation, and cultivating talent by coaching. Bad communicators will destroy group dynamics and leave people feeling unheard and unappreciated.

"Failing organizations are usually over-managed and under led."

-- STEPHEN COVEY

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