{"id":2462,"date":"2016-06-23T15:48:22","date_gmt":"2016-06-23T20:48:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/?p=2462"},"modified":"2016-06-11T16:02:10","modified_gmt":"2016-06-11T21:02:10","slug":"three-leadership-traps-to-avoid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/three-leadership-traps-to-avoid\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Leadership Traps to Avoid"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s Note: \u00a0The author Curtis Chocholous, a seasoned executive and Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, has written a whitepaper on\u00a0The 80\/20 Law of Leadership, which is available for free on Flevy here<\/a>. \u00a0This whitepaper is based on Lean Culture thinking. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

* * * *<\/em><\/p>\n

\"bear-trap-413397_960_720\"Rick Warren\u2019s #1 New York Times Bestseller,\u00a0The Purpose Driven Life,<\/em>\u00a0begins Chapter 1 with the statement,\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s not about you.\u201d<\/p>\n

A brutally honest leader knows that self-leadership is public enemy number one. Trustworthy leaders demonstrate their wisdom by keeping their personal behavior alarm set on MA (Maximum Accountability). This is true in both their public and private worlds because there\u2019s no hiding place in either venue.<\/p>\n

Dr. Henry Cloud, in his book titled\u00a0Boundaries for Leaders<\/em>, writes about leadership in terms of physics. He states,\u00a0\u201cthe higher you go in leadership, the fewer external forces act upon you and dictate your focus, energy and direction. Instead, you set the terms of engagement and direct your own path, with only the reality of results to push against you.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0Therefore, if the organization you lead is greatly depending on you, there is great wisdom in implementing a\u00a0Leadership Management System<\/em>\u00a0that places leadership boundaries around you to protect yourself and those you lead.<\/p>\n

Great leaders know that building integrity of character is a never-ending life-long journey that must ever-increase in transparency. It is on this narrow path that they develop an awareness of three adversaries that require their constant vigilance to effectively confront and battle, namely:\u00a0Control, Significance and Comfort<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Control<\/h2>\n

If you think you\u2019re in control, think again and avoid any delusion. Don\u2019t be deceived by the alluring idea that you will somehow alone gain and maintain a mastery of influence in the spheres of life. Learn to be humble, or be humbled. There is wisdom in many virtuous counselors. Be mindful of the fact that you are always only one step away from stumbling.<\/p>\n

Significance<\/h2>\n

Remember, it\u2019s not about you. Be \u2018others\u2019 focused and you\u2019re apt to experience and understand real significance. Abide in the Golden Rule,\u00a0“Treat others as you would like to be treated”<\/em>\u00a0and you\u2019ll discover what it\u2019s like to live life at its best.<\/p>\n

Comfort<\/h2>\n

Helen Keller said it well,\u00a0\u201cCharacter cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved.\u201d \u00a0 There\u2019s little human comfort in mining the raw gifts and pure potential that exist deep inside each of us. Nothing truly noble, worthwhile and fruitful is ever achieved with ease and comfort.<\/p>\n

Avoiding these three traps means ignoring the detours and taking the road less traveled.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s Note: \u00a0The author Curtis Chocholous, a seasoned executive and Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, has written a whitepaper on\u00a0The 80\/20 Law of Leadership, which is available for free on Flevy here. \u00a0This whitepaper is based on Lean Culture thinking. \u00a0 * * * * Rick Warren\u2019s #1 New York Times Bestseller,\u00a0The Purpose Driven Life,\u00a0begins… Three Leadership Traps to Avoid<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":2463,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[408],"tags":[106,845],"class_list":["post-2462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-management-leadership","tag-leadership","tag-lean-culture"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/89"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2462"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2462\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2464,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2462\/revisions\/2464"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}