10 Things a Leader Should Never Do

On this week's episode of Press Start Leadership Podcast, we discuss:

The Best Leadership Strategy for Winning Teams

10 Things a Leader Should Never Do

Link to my FREE ebook: 5 Heroic Leadership Skills

Music by: Joey the Mad Scientist

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Transcript

Joey The Mad Scientist: 0:38

Hey there press starters and welcome to the press Start leadership podcast, the podcast about game changing leadership teaching you how to get the most out of your product and development team and become the leader you were meant to be leadership coaching and training for the International game industry professional. Now, let me introduce you to your host, the man the myth, the legend, Christopher Mifsud.

Christopher Mifsud: 1:08

Welcome back press starters. And on this week's episode of press star leadership podcast, we discuss the best leadership strategy for winning teams, and 10 things a leader should never do. First up, top down bottom up why a meet in the middle leadership strategy is best. When I say top down bottom up. I'm not talking about the latest dance craze playing Twister, or even the slang term for a sweet 80s mullet. I'm talking about leadership styles. And why combining both for meat in the middle approach is the best option. Strong companies with a sound culture use this methodology. But what is a top down bottom up or meet in the middle approach? It's when upper management and employees at all levels meet and communicate regularly. This allows everyone to ask questions, challenge existing ideas and make informed decisions. The message comes from the top. But voices from the bottom are also heard. And when they meet in the middle. The voices the same. Sounds great, right? But just how do you do that? Here are five things that make this style work. One, regular update meetings. Update meetings should happen between multiple levels of the company where information can move honestly, up and down. These can be weekly location meetings, monthly global meetings, daily team meetings, or whatever works best for your team to send out regular communication. This includes emails, announcements, chats, etc. Don't just communicate bad news is that sets negative expectations and teaches your employees to expect the worst. Use your communications to celebrate as much as you use them to inform and prepare. Three, make sure every level is involved. Ultimately, leaders still lead and make decisions. But they rely on the team to enlighten, inform and educate them create committees across different levels of the company. So everyone has a voice or a way to have one. For create buying. buying from everyone is important. So bringing enough folks from the affected groups early in the process. If a decision is made, questions should be presented and answered honestly. Five, have the tough conversations. The trajectory of the company should be shared right early so that employees make informed decisions. Tough times and choices should not be a surprise. If you don't have the trust of your team, you don't have anything. As a leader, it's important to remain consistent in applying this approach. If a new process is implemented, bring it in as top down bottom up. Nothing sucks more than trying to implement a new process that doesn't succeed because an important CEO or stakeholder wasn't brought on to begin with. If you implement something new to help your team, like a routine, make sure to learn it also, or you're making more work for the team. Similarly, do the work for finding compromise ahead of time. People hate having their time wasted. So if you're looking for a certain leadership style and incoming leaders, such as servant leadership, make sure the rest of the company has pivoted that way too. It's silly to expect part of your team to operate one way and the other part another. It's so important to be on the same page. That way, there are no surprises. Ultimately, bad leaders make you feel like you work for them. And good leaders make you feel like you work for each other. In the best culture. People feel like they can say anything, which is why top down bottom up. So great. meat in the middle is about compromise communication and harmony. And that is awesome. Are you ready to get awesome. Press Start. I hope you enjoyed the best leadership strategy for winning teams. Let me know if you agree or if you have another leadership strategy. Okay, next up 10 things a leader should never do. The don'ts of leadership. I often write about the things that good leaders should do. But today I want to talk about the things they should never do if they want to fast your long term success and maintain their integrity and the respect of their team. Here are 10 things that leaders should never do. Number one, don't yell. This should go without saying. But it's important to treat people with respect. And that means never yelling or acting inappropriately in front of your employees. Fear is not a good motivator, and yelling doesn't accomplish anything. In fact, it generally triggers the fight flight or freeze response and whoever is on the receiving end, nobody wants that kind of behavior, running their team. To don't micromanage. You probably weren't always a manager. And it may be hard to let go of how you would have done things, but you get better results. If you do. Just think what you could accomplish if you weren't micromanaging. People don't want to have to have someone hovering over them constantly. So hire people to do the job, and delegate. Three, don't be a dick. This includes insulting people gossiping about others, and being generally toxic. Just don't do it. Nobody will want to work with you. For don't complain in front of your team. Complaining diminishes morale, and sets you up to fail. When someone sees you speaking negatively about others behind their backs, they assume you do the same to them. Bye bye credibility. Five, don't do shit you don't want your team to do avoid the Do as I say not as I do mentality at all costs. It doesn't work. As a leader, people constantly observe your actions. So don't be surprised when they copy you. set an example by doing what you expect of your team. Six, don't have all the answers. There's nothing to be gained from being the guy who knows everything. Especially if you don't. You should be constantly working with your team and taking their feedback onboard. Leadership is about the group, not about you. Number seven, don't ask no questions. As Albert Einstein once said, if you're not learning, you're dying. It's absolutely crucial that a leader continually learn, evolve and grow, which you can't do without asking questions. So get curious. Number eight, don't hire people exactly like you. You already have a you. Chances are you can't do everything. So hire people that are different from you. Ideally, you should have a team with differentiated skill sets that complement each other. Think of it like a fellowship, make sure you have a wizard, a dwarf, nl, a few hobbits, etc. Don't fail to make decisions or take action. You're in charge and your team is depending on you. So you can't be wishy washy, make a decisive action and standby it. That's not to say you can't make a different decision later. But you're steering the ship, and you need to choose a course 10 Don't refuse to own your mistakes. young leaders do this a lot. It's important you not only own your successes, but also your mistakes. When you when giving knowledge meant to those who helps you succeed. When you lose, take responsibility. Your team will respect you for it. Now, there are folks out there that do these stones on a regular basis and are still considered successful. That I say, Sure. doing these things may make you successful boss, but they certainly won't make you a successful leader. can one be truly successful if they're treating people poorly in order to get there? In my book, you can't want to be a truly successful leader. Join me for some one on one coaching and level up today. And these are the 10 things that leaders should never do. Let me know if you have anything to add to this list. And I look forward to hearing your thoughts. All right. That's this week's episode of press star leadership podcast. Thank you for joining and as always, thanks for being awesome. Please take a moment to give us a follow share your thoughts and leave an awesome review if you enjoyed it. Thanks. If you haven't downloaded my free ebook, five heroic leadership skills, click on the link in the description. Tune in next week for your next episode of press star leadership podcast. Thank you