3 Signs You’re Failing as a Leader by Joe Scherrer

You probably don’t know anyone who wakes up in the morning, bright and chipper, and says, “I’m looking forward to failing today.”

But failure happens to all of us.

You make mistakes, you overlook the obvious, or you miss an important piece of information you need to make a key decision.

The good news is that if you can see the signs, you can avert failure. We discussed three of these signs previously: 1) you’re rapidly losing market share, 2) your old strategy isn’t working anymore, and 3) your customer service is terrible.

What follows are three more signs that will help you stay on the road to success.

Instead of driving over the cliff.

Sign #4: Cutting corners is a way of life

Of all the company scandals that have happened in the past decade, Enron is the poster child.

Maybe cutting corners started with Enron managers who did so to make their numbers.

They started small. A little fudging of the books wouldn’t hurt.

Just this one time.

But one time turned into thousands and eventually the whole house of cards collapsed.

Key takeaway: Just don’t do it—don’t cut corners.

And don’t accept anyone on your team doing it.

When cutting corners becomes standard practice, you’ll always look for the easy way, which may not be the right way. Over time, the hole you’ll dig will be a prison—perhaps literally—of your own making.

Bend your ethics and you’ve taken the on ramp to failure.

One thing you can do to avoid failure: Set the example and keep your professional and personal standards high. Accept only the best behavior and performance.

Back-up your personal example with clearly articulated corporate standards and policies for ethical conduct. Use audits, inspections, and legal reviews to give you a concrete idea of where you stand.

By doing so, you’ll go a long way toward preventing those cut corners.

Sign #5: You overhear people talking about how they hate coming to work

Read the rest and the first 3 signs here:
http://leadchangegroup.com/3-more-sure-fire-signs-youre-failing-as-a-leader/