As a former health care executive, I have witnessed many leaders at all levels sabotage their own success. Most of it was unintentional but rather the result of a failure to learn from those who have gone before. Many in the health care industry are promoted into leadership roles without the benefit of leadership or management training and are then left to their own devices to learn “on the job,” as if that were an easy process. It is not. A medical degree does not impart leadership wisdom.

The following ten ways that leaders sabotage their own success are not an exhaustive list but, in my experience, some of the most common. Each of these, standing alone, can rapidly undermine the credibility of any leader, and several at any given time will undoubtedly lead to failure. Take heed!

1. They fail to be clear about what matters most.

Leaders must be clear about the organization’s mission, vision, values, and strategy. If they are not, decisions will be unclear, mistakes will occur, and the professionals doing the daily work will be confused about priorities.

2. They think their job is to motivate others.

People who come to work in health care are typically already motivated. They enter health care wanting to take care of people and their health care needs. They come with a great deal of training and often experience. What passes as motivation is often manipulation—a tactic on the part of the leader to convince a professional to do something they are not doing. Instead of “motivating” via incentives and other tactics, it is time to have a conversation about what matters most—a conversation that begins with the leader doing a great deal of listening first.

3. They treat people as liabilities, not as assets.

Health care is increasingly a business, but using business language to describe the workplace can create a climate adverse to professional work. Health care is a collaborative process, with many professionals working together to meet patient needs. These are not liabilities; these are professionals there to do the work of the business. They need to be treated with respect.

4. They fail to go to where the work is being done.

Leaders who think they can lead from their offices do not understand leadership. If you are going to truly understand the work being done by your professionals, you must go and see. Look for the obstacles and barriers to success. Look for those things that frustrate your professionals, causing “workarounds” and other band-aid fixes. And then do something as a leader to remove those barriers.

5. They see mistakes as failure rather than as learning.

The best leaders understand that failure is not the end; it is the beginning of learning what now must be done to be successful.

6. They permit blame and shame—and often participate in it.

Blame and shame are poisons in any productive work culture, especially in health care, where lives depend on collaborative professional practice every day. Outstanding leaders abolish all blame and shame and work to find out the root causes of mistakes, accidents, and poor results. Allowing blame and shame creates dissension, polarization, and relationships that simply do not work.

7. They make promises and then rationalize when those promises are broken.

When listening to what professionals need and want in their work, it is tempting for leaders to make promises “on the spot” about what will be done, only to fail to follow through due to budget, timing, or other “rational” reasons. This is a slow death by a thousand cuts for leadership credibility. Leaders who cannot keep the promises they make are not trusted by those in their charge.

8. They fail to listen to the wisdom and advice of those doing the daily work.

In health care, the people who know best what the patient wants and needs are those doing the daily work of patient care. This is not arguable. Those in leadership are not as exposed to those needs and wants. Leaders who fail to listen to their staff without respect for their opinions will lose credibility fast. Listen to your professionals!

9. They take credit for the work done by others.

No one likes braggarts. We like them even less when they take credit for something that someone else has done. The reality in health care leadership is that the true heroes are those doing the patient care work, not the folks in the administrative suites. Take the time to recognize high-performing professionals and make them successful beyond their wildest dreams.

10. They lose focus in the chase for “bright shiny objects.”

Some in leadership simply cannot stay focused. They seem to chase every current project or initiative that has become popular instead of doing the hard, daily work of improving the processes at hand. Leaders who do this are not focused on what matters most, and those around them can see it.

The solution? 5 promises to keep and two actions

In my books, Owning the Room and Lead With Purpose, I pose five promises that every leader should make and keep, along with two actions that every leader must take if they are to be seen as successful. Making the promises is the easy part. Keeping them is difficult and a test of leadership authenticity. The two actions are easy to say but require discipline over time. Going and seeing and then doing require leaving your office, spending time where the real work is being done, and finding ways to make that work more effective for the professionals doing it. Here they are:

Promises:

• I will listen to you and respect what you tell me. If I disagree, I will tell you why.
• I will help you learn and grow as you practice your professional work.
• I will help you be wildly successful.
• I will make sure you are compensated competitively.
• I will have your back when things go south.

Actions:

• Go and see!
• Go and do!

Leaders who make these promises, keep them, and then take action build credibility over time, create close relationships with the health care professionals doing the daily work, and set the stage for a high-performing culture.

This article is discussed on The Podcast by KevinMD in the episode Avoiding leadership pitfalls: strategies for success in health care.

Roger A. Gerard is a management consultant and author of Lead with Purpose.