By Chris Gandy As they say in the classics – Ian Sampson and I go back a long long way. We commenced our working careers together and from the outset shared a common interest in people and more specifically how “good people” seem to attract and develop “good people”. And how they also had the […]
Backword … On Misleading Conduct
From Ian Sampson The Misleading Conduct series started out as a few “notes to self” on leadership, based on my own experiences, as well as many years of observing and working with and for leaders in all kinds of organisations. As I shared some of these thoughts with friends, a kind of virtual conversation has […]
Misleading Conduct #14 – When Times Get Tough, Lock Yourself Away
By Ian Sampson This misrule sometimes gets interpreted heroically as “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” Misleaders, however, have taken this to a new place: when the going gets tough they get going to a never-ending series of crisis sessions, or better yet a secretive crisis strategy meeting where they meet for days […]
Misleading Conduct #13: Control Your Own Schedule And Create Chaos With Others
By Ian Sampson Leaders get to their exalted position by learning to skillfully manage time. After all, time is all we have. So the leader’s time is valuable and needs to be managed. This is usually done by a PA who is often a person who has to be at the leader’s beck and call 24/7, helping […]
Misleading Conduct # 12 : Avoid Interacting With Real People In the Organisation
Especially when there is upset within or changed external conditions, a leader’s job, like the captain of the ship, is to lead from the bridge. The way the misleader sees it, their job is to have their binoculars out, looking at the surrounding conditions. They need to be close to where the controls are, […]
Misleading Conduct # 11 : Applying Organisational Discipline Sloppily and Inconsistently
“Organisational discipline” refers to the body of knowledge which guides how the organisation works. It often includes directional and aspirational statements like visions, missions, goals etc. It might include standard codes of conduct (what some organisations refer to as Rules of Racing and the like). Great organisations develop these disciplines in a consultative way, […]
Misleading Conduct #9: Making Meetings and Interpersonal Interactions Painful
I once worked in an executive assessment centre with a very accomplished manager who was a co- assessor with me. One night we were chatting after dinner and he mentioned a mutual acquaintance. “Of course,” he said: “Alan is the kind of guy who should be locked in a small room with no windows and only one […]
Misleading Conduct # 5: Lacking Integrity In Your Personal And Professional Life
By Ian Sampson Some years ago now, I had the privilege of being exposed to the transformational work of Landmark Education Business Development (LEBD). My personal approach to life and my professional experience has been transformed over the past 15 years as a result of the work of this fine organization and its successor, Vanto […]
Misleading Conduct #4 – Making Lousy Decisions or No Decisions At All
By Ian Sampson So much of leadership is really about providing usable direction to followers. Followers yearn for a leader who can point them in the right direction. Leaders do a lot of other things as well, but providing direction is foundational and fundamental. Much of managing is about making decisions on how to get […]
Misleading Conduct #3: Justifying Poor Performance
By Ian Sampson Every follower, every analyst, every thwarted applicant for the job the misleader has just been appointed to knows the game: the new leader will use the first 100 days to find all the skeletons in the closet, work out who has the goods on whom, etc. New “rulers” who disguise themselves as […]
B-Cause 