One of the techniques used in a leadership training course I attended were games governed by a myriad of odd rules, the only real purpose of which was to make the game difficult to play. One of the prime results of these rules was extreme difficulty in achieving or maintaining any momentum. Even if one team was able to gain a little momentum, the rules were structured so that the other team could break a rule, causing the game to stop, only momentarily, but long enough to bring both teams back to a sort of equilibrium. That was extremely frustrating for a group of people who are motivated to win! An interesting development in playing the games was that as the teams became more familiar with the peculiar and seemingly endless rules, it became easier for them to maintain the desired forward movement.

These games demonstrated a simple fact of life; it's easier to achieve a team's goals if that team is able to gain and maintain momentum in the right direction. Unfortunately, as leaders we often allow outside influences to derail us from our real goals and objectives. Also, unfamiliarity with the rules can make winning difficult. In the context of leadership I'm really referring to two sets of rules. First are the various laws and directives that govern our business practices. Leaders know they should be familiar with these, but they are many and varied making it difficult to truly be an expert. It's important though for leaders to have at least a rudimentary understanding, and gather around them experts who can help them navigate these often tricky waters.

5 Momentum Killers To Avoid As A Leader
By Tim Milburn

What is the leader's best friend?

Momentum.

John Maxwell calls momentum the "great exaggerator." It makes you appear better than you really are or worse than you really are. You know when you have it and you wish you had it when you don't.

It is so important to try and keep your momentum when you have it. As a leader, there will be times when you naturally have increased momentum. For instance, the start of a new project or promotion is a time of momentum because everyone has a lot of energy and excitement for what lies ahead. But the momentum you have can be easily lost.

It's much more difficult to try and get momentum than it is to maintain and manage the momentum you've got.

Leaders must be mindful of those things that can work against the momentum you and your team have worked so hard to build. I want to describe 5 of the most lethal momentum killers that can stop any organization or team in it's tracks.

There are shelves full of books available that chronicle the lives and histories of the world's bad leaders. For the most part though, these bad leaders are discussed as tyrants, dictators, and despots. Seldom is serious writing dedicated to them as leaders. To fill the gap, Barbara Kellerman gave us Bad Leadership: What It Is, How It Happens, Why It Matters. Her approach addresses what she calls the "elephant in the room; bad leadership." Most discussions tend to cast leadership as good, either ignoring bad leadership or presenting it as something other than leadership. In fact, leadership is leadership and there are good and bad examples everywhere. Bad leadership shouldn't imply a bad person, but rather leadership which is ineffective. Hitler was an evil person and his goals and methods were despicable, but, at least during the early years of his reign, he was actually a good leader. It's important to be able to clearly recognize bad leadership, and the sooner the better.

John was new to leadership, having been moved up from his job as a technician in the plant. The workers in his section, his new responsibility, were all capable and most had been there for a considerable period of time, many longer than John. The division leader had told John that his promotion was a reflection of his hard work and the fact that he was diligent and trustworthy. Up until the promotion, John was well liked by the rest of his section but now, there were several workers who seemed to resent that John was promoted over them. Actually, there were only two who really felt that way, but another small contingent sided with them and appeared to be ready to make John's life difficult.

What is John's first responsibility?

How would you suggest John deal with the two who resented his promotion?

How about the others who sided with them?

Unfortunately, in my experience, it is very difficult to fix incompetent or immoral leaders, unless of course, you have firing authority. If leadership is criminal, then legal action can cause a leadership change. More likely though, leadership isn't criminal as much as just bad. I suggest the following steps.

1. Be a good leader yourself. Hold fast to your values (and the law) and set a good example. This works surprisingly well both up and down the chain.

2. As Barbara Kellerman points out in her book Bad Leadership: What is is, How it Happens, Why it Matters bad leaders are enabled by bad followers. There's no rule that says you have to go along with immoral or illegal activity. It may be tough to do the right thing, but it is the right thing.

3. Most importantly, work hard to bring up good future leaders. This starts with teaching children basic things like values, what's right and wrong, and respect for all other people. With that basis, your example of good leadership will be much more likely to impact them as they grow.

This may seem over simplified but I assure you, these steps are a good start. Casting out bad leadership and infusing good leadership isn't an easy, or quick process, but it has to start somewhere.

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