Good Leadership Strategies to Replace Bad Leadership
Every who fills a top role that is previously held by their predecessor, faces the same challenge. A new leader faces judgement against the outgoing leader’s accomplishments and shortcomings. A recent Harvard Business Review article discusses how a good leader should deal with this challenge.
According to Andrew Blum, an executive coach and consultant, poor leadership can damage an institution. Often a new leader needs to take aggressive action in order to save the enterprise. All of this must be done within an organization that may be skeptical and exhausted.
Blum suggests three basic strategies to help you transform the organization or group from poor leadership to empowering everyone to reach their potential.
Acknowledge the contributions of the previous leader
A good leader creates a separation between the past and the future. According to Blum, good leaders acknowledge the past realities. Even if the previous leadership was poor, acknowledging the smallest thing that was done right could win you over with employees that were supportive of the previous leadership. Also, opening a discussion of past traumas and damage that was created is also something that must be addressed.
This means that successful leaders have to balance the two opposite truths: gratitude towards the previous leader, and why you are the right person to move forward in this position. Blum says that this must be done in an authentic way with integrity.
2. Enable a vision for the future by creating a space for forgiveness
According to Blum, most bad leaders’ actions are in some part rooted in good intentions, but even the best of intentions also could have unintended consequences. As the saying goes, we judge ourselves by our intentions and others by their actions.
Acknowledging the gap and saying, “I understand the previous executives had big dreams for this company, but their methods (or approach, or style) didn’t work.” The first step to overcome this is creating room for forgiveness — consequently, resolving resentments. Ask yourself these three questions:
What is that that how have we worked and operated do we want to maintain?
Is there something we want to leave behind?
Do we want to create something anew?
Ultimately, circumstances change and this requires leaders to evolve and adapt.
3. Seek to understand your employees’ experiences
According to Blum, you don’t automatically become a good leader by merely taking over for a bad one. You become a good leader by leading differently and more inclusively. A good leader listens to people who felt the bad effects of the previous one and uses that information to inform your new vision. Questions you can ask employees or individuals within your group are:
How can I help you now?
What do you most want and need going forward?
Is there something you hope I will do?
Is there something you hope I won’t do?
Further, Blum states that you can’t force people to move on, but you can show them that things will be different by listening and taking their hard-earned lessons to heart.
To summarize, acknowledging the gap between the previous leader’s actions and intentions, recommitting to your own vision and asking what people under your leadership need, you are well on your way to becoming a great leader. Blum states that leaders who commit to these practices will unlock the energy and wisdom of the people they lead. Ultimately, this will help create a brighter future for everyone that is distinct from the past.
What makes a great leader for business school? Click here to read what Paul Lanzillotti, founder of Amerasia Consulting, has to say about Stephen Covey’s 4 Pillars of Leadership.