Leadership Mistakes

Loose lips lead to fast retirement

October 8, 2013
After decades at the top, some executives lose their bearings and come across as imperious. When you’re compensated well to run a large organization, as Gordon Gee was, it’s even more important to watch what you say.

Think you know it all? Think again

September 26, 2013
Like many senior executives, Donald Keough makes clear-cut decisions. But sometimes—as when he was president of The Coca-Cola Co. in 1989—his snap judgments have made him appear too bossy …

Set the tone for others to follow

August 19, 2013
As a management consultant, Patrick Lencioni often sees leaders model the wrong kind of behavior. He once observed a sorry spectacle that shows what happens when a disingenuous boss sets the wrong tone.

7 things leaders should not do

July 22, 2013
Success is as much what you don’t do as what you do. Here are seven things leaders should not do.

Don’t dwell on your legacy

June 7, 2013
Poor Richard III. After his war-torn bones were found earlier this year in a Leicester car park, the controversial king turned out not to have been quite the deformed viper, toad or hedgehog that Shakespeare called him.

4 mistakes team leaders should avoid

June 4, 2013

Team leaders can get ensnared in their own good intentions. The result can cause an admirable effort to backfire. Here are four mistakes team leaders need to avoid.

New leaders: Watch hidden traps

May 20, 2013
New leaders often assume they must make a big splash from the outset. So on their first day, they enact dramatic changes or issue bold announcements. Levelheaded leaders, by contrast, resist the urge to rush.

Why Groupon fired Andrew Mason

May 10, 2013
Maybe it wasn’t Andrew Mason’s antics while CEO of Groupon that got him fired. But he sure gave investors pause.

Rise above arrogance and ignorance

April 11, 2013
In running a men’s clothing company, Hil Davis, who co-founded J. Hilburn in 2007, admits that his attitude initially got in the way. He says that his arrogance and ignorance led him to make a series of poor decisions during the firm’s early years.

Masco CEO recovers from costly fiasco

March 22, 2013
In 1986, Richard Manoogian was CEO of Masco, a maker of faucets and household products that had produced 29 straight years of earnings growth. The firm was generating nearly $2 billion in cash—and Manoogian decided to invest a big chunk of it in the furniture business. Manoogian called it “probably one of the worst decisions I’ve made in 35 years.”