Five Leadership Styles to Avoid

1. I Give and I Give… And I Get Nothing Back:  The classic conflict between effort and results. It is called Co-Dependent Envisioning. This kind of leader serves the neurosis in themselves and others. In their world, reality is measured by victimization and blame throwing.

2. I Love You, I Hate You:  In this kind of leadership, immaturity rules over all. When a deadline looms, it is a challenge to authority. No responsibilities allowed. This is a ruthless personality, measuring everyone else according to how they can manipulate through emotion.

3. Do You Really Love Me:  Also known as Keep Others Guessing. They are never fully accountable. They do not need to be. This kind of leader appears insecure, but they are far more callous than vulnerable, more dangerous than uncertain.

4. Attention Must be Paid:  A Boot-Strapping personality tied to suffering for success. Unfortunately, they assume that all in their domain must also suffer and will assure they do.

5. Passion This, Passion That:  The ultimate Passive Aggressive. This is a very common and lazy cliché leadership style and personality. When they are feeling happy, they perform; when they are less enthusiastic for any reason, bored or underwhelmed by the attention of others, they simply do not show up. They like to think of themselves as committed and excited but they are usually commitment-phobic and self-righteous.

Each of these styles is a reaction to a reaction, a kind of default emotionality that is easy to ingrain and hard to shake. If you are working for or with someone like this, learn navigation skills to manage your job without propagating these traits in your life. If you recognize any of these behaviours in your own self, re-route your thinking as quickly as possible. Shifting away from the pitfalls of a negative habitual leadership style is essential to good personal governance. It is as easy as brushing one’s teeth and should be as routine.