Bad Leaders Aren’t Always Bullies — Lorraine Hamilton
Back in the Day…
Now you or may not know this I used to be an engineer and one of my roles was to design the first pure 3G mobile phone network in the UK. It was a really exciting project to be part of. And I was so excited for the challenge. It was real cutting edge stuff in the early 2000s. If you follow my work on leadership, you would have heard me define legendary leadership as creating a space for everyone to be at their best. And this is the story of what can happen when leaders don’t do that.
Not a Legendary Leader
I had a manager who was technically brilliant at being a radio frequency engineer, which is quite a specialized thing. He knew the details of his craft, and it was that that had put him in the running for leading a team of engineers just like him, but his technical brilliance did not make him a great leader or manager. He was great at finding technical solutions, but he was a completely inflexible communicator coupled with the fact that he seemed genuinely terrified of doing something wrong with having a female engineer in his team, which was something that he’d never experienced before.
That inflexibility and fear combined to make an environment that was anything but supportive for me. And it meant that no matter what I did, I felt like I couldn’t achieve.
Now that was hugely damaging for me because one of my core values is to achieve and to contribute and do a good job. And the environment I was in, wasn’t allowing me to do that. I didn’t fit the mould of his engineers. So I always felt like I was less than, or not good enough. I felt like I was slipping backwards and not doing a good job. And that was playing havoc with my mindset.
The Consequences
To be honest, it got really serious and I got quite unwell, but it was this experience that completely ignited my passion for coaching, communication and leadership. And I’m really thankful for it today, even though at the time, it was really a true low point in my life.
I wanted to share it with you today because I think we have an idea of what a poor leader looks like, and that being something as being bold or brash or selfish or some sort of bullying, but that wasn’t the case with my manager.
My manager was a man who deeply wanted to do a good job, but he hadn’t been given the skills. He hadn’t been given the tools. He hadn’t been placed in an environment where he could be his best. And that led to me having the experience that I did.
Leadership is an art in itself and leaders need to be given the right tools to step up and be the best that they can be too.
Not all bad leaders are bullies.
I’d love you to leave me a comment or reach out and get in touch and tell me your experience of leaders and leadership.
Originally published at https://www.lorrainehamilton.net on October 29, 2020.
