Reading the article posted below peaked my thoughts on this subject, something I have been meaning to write about for awhile now.
Over the course of my law enforcement and military time I saw WAY too many examples of poor leadership. Many folks mistake being a manager, or supervisor, with being a leader. One needs to be adept at admin tasks as those bits of drudgery help keep things going in the right direction, and a good leader makes sure their folks have the things they need to get the job done.
The number one reason I see for leadership failures is a lack of courage to do the right thing. That can be a low level type issue where a person realizes that they are not “just one of the guys” anymore and fails to actually be the person that takes charge (too many people want a promotion and a raise, but don’t want the responsibility), or the failure to do the right thing due to political or other pressure from above. The right thing to do is always the right thing to do.
WAY too many people in a supervisory position fail to lead by example. This, in my humble opinion, is the number one thing a leader can do to set the tone and expectations of the job at hand, and one of the quickest ways a leader can fail their people if they take the easy path. One should also avoid the “rank has it’s privileges” mentality, at all costs. Your people will see right through that bullshit, and with a quickness. I’m proud of the fact that I never asked my folks to do something that I wasn’t able to do, willing to do, and/or had not already done many times before.
Anyway, this is a very good article on the subject;
Take Care of Your People