Jeff Foxworthy does a bit on “you might be a redneck if…” and I thought maybe it would be fun and do one for leadership only slanted towards “what it is not”.

Like most things we tend to recognize the negative behaviors when we see them even though most articles and books that are written focus on the expected behavior.

“To be a leader you should…”

So let’s use this as a self-reflection piece and not a criticism toward anyone else, living or otherwise. Remember, with only one finger-pointing forward, there are three pointing back. Unless of course you lost one along the way. 😦

Let’s start the list and add any others that you might think of in the comment section.

You might not be a leader if…

• – you don’t produce results.
• – your words speak loader than your actions
• – you don’t know the difference between formal and moral authority
• – the celebration happens after you leave the department or organization
• – status quo is your friend
• – your talent pool is shallow
• – your organizations or departments front door is revolving
• – training and developing staff is an expense rather than an investment
• – you “manage” people
• – promises, promises, promises is all they hear
• – “round-to-its” are piling up
• – you start sentences with “I” when talking about department successes
• – you care more about things than people
• – service is something people do for you
• – you are always late for the meetings you call
• – you’re waiting for the room to get set up, rather than pitching in
• – labeling people is a hobby
• – you’re higher purpose is to take over your bosses job because of the status or pay attached
• – you realize that you were off on a lonely walk, when you thought you were out front leading a parade
• – nobody walks into your “open-door” policy office
• – they label the space in front of your office as the “no fun zone”
• – your feet are on your desk because you have caught up
• – your “fessing-up” sessions have staff doing all the fessing-up
• – your hands are clean because the amount of time there are in your pockets
• – the shine on the people comes from the interrogation light and not from the glow of praise
• – you can’t figure out why people are not doing what you told them to do
• – you match only 75% of your organizations values with yours
• – you have to keep looking up the Mission, Vision and Value Statements
• – your planning committee consists of you, yourself and I
• – your waiting for more staff and more money before getting anything done

There’s my list. Please feel free to add or comment.

Cheers