How to break bad management habits before they reach the next generation of leaders | Elizabeth Lyle

The Habit of Leaving Dishes in the Sink

In this section, the speaker talks about her habit of leaving dishes in the sink and how it developed during her college years. She also mentions how breaking this habit is hard for her.

The Development of a Bad Habit

• The speaker admits to being guilty of stacking dishes in the sink and leaving them there for hours.

• This habit developed when she was in college, and she had tons of excuses such as "I'm running to class!" or "What's one more dirty dish in the sink?"

• Sometimes, she doesn't finish the job until the stack has gotten high enough that it's peaking over the lip of the sink.

Future Leaders Learning from Senior Role Models

• The speaker works with large organizations on leadership transformation in times of change.

• She believes that there is a window of time in middle-manager years when we can lay the groundwork for future leadership.

• Middle managers are starting to leave their dishes in the sink, and outdated leadership habits are forming right before our eyes among them.

• Organizations are evolving rapidly, and they're counting on their future leaders to lead with more speed, flexibility, trust, and cooperation than they do today.

Defining a New Way of Leading

• We need middle managers and senior leaders to work together to define a new way of leading and develop each other to rise to the occasion.

• Outdated command-and-control behavior won't work in faster-moving, flatter, more digitally interconnected organizations.

• Senior role models who just aren't ready to role model yet, much less change the systems that made them so successful are not helping the situation.

The Impact of Senior Leaders on Junior Ones

• Jane, a senior client of the speaker, is a poster child for what's old-fashioned in leadership today.

• John, an up-and-coming manager who works for Jane, says that decisions get made around here with a bunch of meetings before the meeting.

• This means eight one-on-ones, exec by exec, to make sure each one of them was individually on board enough that things would go smoothly in the actual meeting.

• John wasn't wrong on either count.

The Trap of Playing it Safe

In this section, the speaker talks about how fast-track managers like John are often doing the best job at not rocking the boat and challenging the system. They're trying to impress senior leaders who will promote them, but they're also so self-assured that they'll be able to change their behavior once they've earned the authority to do things differently.

The Risk of Not Challenging the System

• John is confident that he'll change the rules and do things differently when he's in charge.

• Fast-track managers like John are often doing the best job at not rocking the boat and challenging the system because they're trying to impress senior leaders who will promote them.

• These managers are probably capable of making waves and redefining how leaders lead from inside, but they often fail to do so.

• They're so self-assured that they'll be able to change their behavior once they've earned the authority to do things differently, but that is a trap.

On-the-Job Learning

In this section, the speaker talks about how on-the-job learning is crucial for leadership development. However, role models and work environments are currently unreliable sources for shaping on-the-job learning.

The Best Form of Learning Happens on-the-Job

• The best form of learning happens on-the-job - not in a classroom or via e-modules.

• Role models and work environments shape on-the-job learning.

• Our role models are in behavior boot camp right now, and our work environments are undergoing unprecedented disruption.

• We're systematically changing just about everything about how organizations work, but by and large, still measuring and rewarding behavior based on old metrics.

Taking Responsibility for Leadership Development

In this section, the speaker talks about how John needs to take responsibility for his own leadership development since he can't fully count on role models or the system right now.

The Responsibility is John's

• If we can't fully count on role models or the system right now, it's on John to not miss this critical development window.

• Either he inherits an organization that is failing because of stubbornly old-fashioned leadership, or he himself fails to build the capabilities to lead one that transformed while he was playing it safe.

• Every meeting to be led, every decision to be made can be a practice flight for someone who could really use the learning experience and the chance to figure out how to do it their way.

Flying the Plane

In this section, the speaker talks about how John needs to propose a creative strategy for having meetings without pre-meetings. He should show Jane that he's thought through the trade-offs and ask for her support to do things differently.

Taking Control of His Professional Destiny

• If I were John, I'd ask to start flying the plane.

• Every meeting to be led, every decision to be made can be a practice flight for someone who could really use the learning experience and the chance to figure out how to do it their way.

• John needs to knock on Jane's door, propose a creative strategy for having meetings without pre-meetings, show her he's thought through the trade-offs and ask for her support to do things differently.

Empowering Future Leaders

In this talk, the speaker discusses the importance of empowering future leaders and providing them with opportunities to learn and practice leadership skills. She emphasizes the need for trust, individualism, and coaching to help develop effective leaders.

Trusting John

• Jane needs to trust John and accept that he will lead in his own way.

• John's leadership style should not be seen as an indictment of Jane.

• Giving John room to lead can be a chance for Jane to learn from him.

Engineering Learning and Practice

• Leaders need to empower their subordinates by giving them decision-making opportunities.

• Jane needs to engineer learning and practice into John's day-to-day work.

• Coaching is necessary for both Jane and John to step outside their comfort zones.

Coaching Interactions

• Coaches should focus on coaching interactions between leaders rather than just individuals.

• Coaches should sit in team meetings and debrief on how well they cooperated that day.

• Coaches should also be present during feedback sessions between leaders.

Building Leadership Capabilities

• Mentors need to provide guidance on whether a leader is reinforcing their own habits or helping others think through decisions for the organization.

• More coaches are needed to coach more leaders in real-time situations.

• The chains of habit are too light until they're too heavy to be broken, so it's important to build leadership capabilities early on.

Conclusion

• It's easier to nip bad habits in the bud than to change them later on.

• Building leadership capabilities takes time and effort, but it's worth it.

• Empowering future leaders is crucial for the success of any organization.