The Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make Paperback – October 1, 2007

1. The Top Down Attitude. Typified by the "I'm the boss and the sooner you work that out the better" kind of statement. Alternative styles of leadership are: participatory management, facilitator style, democratic leadership and flat organisational characteristics. Effective leaders see themselves at the bottom of an inverted pyramid.2. Putting Paperwork Before People. Remember that people are opportunities, not interruptions.3. The Absence of Affirmation. Being affirmed by your boss is better than a pay rise. Encourage others by listening, empathising, comforting, carrying burdens, encouraging. Give little rewards that are unexpected.4. No Room for Mavericks. Large organisations tend to kill spontaneity and innovation with policies and procedures. Every organisation needs a few mavericks to keep it relevant and moving with the times. Learn to identify which mavericks are worth keeping and make room for them.5. Dictatorship in Decision-making. Dictators hoard information and make decisions alone, in a vacuum. They surprise their workers with edicts from above. Don't micro-manage; don't restrict decision-making to an elite group. Push decisions down the line whenever possible. Involve others in decisions as much as possible. Implement a flat organisational structure as possible. Let those who are responsible for doing a job decide how the job is best done.6. Dirty Delegation. Dirty delegation is when you give a task to someone, then decide for yourself how it should be done, or what the final result will be. In doing this, you effectively take it away from them, deflate their confidence and destroy their trust in you. Learn to delegate to each person according to their ability to see the job through to a successful end.7. Communication Chaos. Never assume anyone knows anything. The bigger the group, the more attention must be given to communication. When left in the dark, people tend to make up wild rumours. Communication must be the passionate obsession of effective leadership. Practice `HOT' communication: honest, open & transparent.8. Missing the Clues of Corporate Culture. Corporate culture is simply "the way we do things around here". Corporate culture is the way insiders behave based on the values and group traditions they hold together. Changing and cultivating the corporate culture is one of the leadership's top priorities. You can discover an organisation's corporate culture by sitting with the leadership and senior management and asking questions that reveal their values (preferences) and beliefs (moral absolutes). Sometimes, an organisation's corporate value statement will not match their practices, such as saying they value family but pushing their workers so hard that they have no time for their family. Major problems arise when an organisation develops values and practices that actually conflict with the mission of the organisation. A corporate value statement is like glue, it helps leaders hold an organisation together; it is like a magnet, it attracts others to the organisation; it is like a ruler, by which a leader can measure the organisation is going. There is no better way to orient new staff that to take them through your corporate values and beliefs. Communicate your corporate culture clearly to insiders and outsiders.9. Success Without Successors. Pride tightens the grip on leadership, humility lets it go. Mentoring is a non-negotiable function of successful leadership. Look for mentors inside (past leaders, someone above, peer mentor) and outside (external experienced person and an external peer mentor). Also take time to be a mentor to someone in the organisation who will one day replace you.10. Failure to Focus on the Future. Vision is an effective leader's chief preoccupation. Organisations are reinvented with a new generation of dreamers. Develop into a learning organisation. Make the time to think about the future; go away from the demands of the job once a month, or once a quarter, and reflect on where things are headed and where the organisation will be in the future.

While this book would certainly apply to all leadership, it is especially helpful for Christian leaders. The points the author makes here are practical and to the point -- there is no intellectual rambling present. Each chapter is devoted to a blunder common to leaders, and begins with a bullet point summary of the insights contained in the pages that follow. I benefited from reading all ten of the mistakes, but numbers two, six and eight really hit home. Chapter two is entitled, "Putting Paperwork before People: Confessions of a Type A Personality." The chapter title summarizes this one well. Chapter six is dubbed, "Dirty Delegation: Refusing to Relax and to Let Go." Sometimes we just have to relax and let others make their own mistakes as we delegate, realizing they are growing as people and as leaders in the process. Chapter eight is headed, "Missing the Clues of Corporate Culture: The Unseen Killer of Many Leaders." How many times have pastors and other church workers failed to come to grips with the culture of a congregation before seeking to affect change? Finzel defines culture as "the way we do things around here." Changing the culture of an organization is critical, but underestimating the power of the present culture can be disastrous for a leader.I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and recommend it highly. It is well worth the investment of the money and the time.

Leadership can be dangerous; we who are in leadership can, on one hand, move men, women, and mountains for tremendous good; on the other hand, we hold the power to do irreparable damage to our followers by the mistakes we make, according to Hans Finzel in this book. While much of the content is applicable in any leadership context, the book is primarily directed towards leaders of Christian organisations.The author explains that the average leader faces at least five problems in learning to lead:• Today’s leaders replicate the poor leadership habits they have observed in others.• Today’s leaders often lack basic skills for common leadership demands.• Today’s leaders lack good models and mentoring.• Today’s leaders lack formal training in leadership.• Today’s Christian leaders suffer confusion over the conflict between secular and biblical leadership values.Specific issues covered in the book include autocratic leadership, prioritizing tasks ahead of people, the importance of affirmation, recognizing useful mavericks, consultative decision making, delegating without micromanaging, clear communication, interpreting corporate culture, succession planning, and maintaining a future-focus.There is room for argument about which leadership failings should make the top ten, but in my opinion this book provides a useful overview of a number of issues which are of great importance to leaders.