Every now and then everyone of us makes a mistake. However, no matter how high in the company's hierarchy we are, sometimes we fall so hard, we fall in an epic way.
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Here are, plain and straight, the top reasons why that happened.
Maybe you are aware of that and maybe you aren't, but most probably you were too selfish. Think about that.
Were you a business star? Yes? A leader of a spectacular company? A face from the business newspapers front page? Well, in that situation it is easy to get disconnected with reality.
We are all humans after all and music celebrities are not the only ones that can get involved into "I'm the best, there's nobody else but me!" And they end up on drugs, careers ruined. Ask yourself did you pay more attention to your public image than to your company.
Next, can you speak long and wide without saying anything? If that's the case, you should be a politician, not a leader of a business organization.
"Goals," "future," "state of the art products," "cutting edge," "disruption," are just words, your people need concrete advice, focused directions and real business goals.
Now, you have five seconds to tell me why you promoted person A and not person B. And with some concrete words, not "She's a better worker."
You can't? Trust us, your employees know what you can't and their conclusion is: you have people you favor and the "rest." And nobody wants to be the rest.
To put it short, you were not fair. And if you are not fair, how can you expect fair behavior in return and hard work in your organization?
OK, if you want to be a good leader, you have to have a good plan, right? So, you had a plan how to find a good company, get a good job, how to climb up surely, how to negotiate your ever increasing salary...
But, did you think about people below you? A leader must lead not only herself but other people too. If you fail to do that there's no doubt you will fall big time. People don't like those who think only about themselves.
And that salary... If your salary grows and grows, and you become a millionaire, well, that's good for you. But it might not be good for other people. And those people are your employees.
Now, we don't talk about socialism, God forbid, we are not saying you should give your money around, but you should ask yourself are your employees paid enough.
Is your floor worker paid enough to have a decent life? Is your middle manager paid enough for her accomplishments? Are you subordinates paid enough for being with your every moment? Or your salary is going up and their is stuck in place?
The conclusion is clear here. The salary is not a money needed for putting bread on the table, it's a sing of respect. And without respect, you are not a leader, you are just a person that everyone else will left alone.
So, if you fall in a spectacular way, think about yourself first. Don't blame outside effects, bad market, hard competition, angry stockholders or the shifting of the north pole.
You may think about those only when you are absolute positive that you didn't make any of the mistakes describe above. But you will find that you did. Learn from that. ■