Leadership Mistakes

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.”

Cultural gaps can spell merger disaster

March 20, 2013
To bring cultures together, identify differences in attitudes and work habits. Then address the differences so that everyone gains a better understanding of their colleagues’ perspectives. Skip this step and conflicts can erupt. This occurred after Daimler-Benz acquired Chrysler in 1998.

How Circuit City blew its fuse

March 11, 2013
Alan Wurtzel, who helped turn Circuit City into a great company, wanted to understand why it collapsed. Here’s his assessment of its mistakes.

Do you praise poor performers too much?

March 7, 2013
If you dread administering performance reviews, you may sugarcoat your appraisals by telling employees they’re doing “great” when they need to improve. Dishing out undeserved praise can backfire. By giving honest, thorough appraisals, you can avoid these traps.

Do the right thing (even when crazy)

February 25, 2013

Famous for his antics and showmanship, Major League Baseball owner Bill Veeck made an indelible impression with his generosity and fairness. Here’s a lesson from Veeck about what to do when you’ve made the wrong hire.