Leaders Asleep At The Wheel

It is no mystery why so many leaders are asleep at the wheel. These days it is not uncommon for the best and the brightest to opt for opportunities that offer more life balance. Ten years ago, a bevy of baby boomers emerged, excited about the prospects of entering senior leadership roles. A ...It is no mystery why so many leaders are asleep at the wheel. These days it is not uncommon for the best and the brightest to opt for opportunities that offer more life balance. Ten years ago, a bevy of baby boomers emerged, excited about the prospects of entering senior leadership roles. A decade later, the bloom is off the rose. The entire do-more-with-less philosophy is partially to blame. Equally to blame, however, is the fact that culture changed. Now leaders are expected to listen, be open, and seek differing opinions.
Smart individuals, who want to lead, get with the program and understand the new culture. Unfortunately, there are still some who have not learned these new principles. Consequently, there are not enough qualified people to handle all the leadership roles available. The void is often filled by people with no innate ability to lead and/or by those with no formal leadership training.
These leaders are asleep at the wheel. They are sometimes difficult to identify because they are almost always incredibly busy. Being asleep at the wheel doesn’t mean that they are lethargic or lazy. It simply means that they have not mastered the work-smarter-not-harder methodology that good leaders make their credo. Their hectic schedule often causes them to miss the big picture. It becomes about finishing projects as opposed to finishing projects right. The process becomes unimportant.
Leaders who are asleep at the wheel are certain that they are smarter than the rest of us. They know what we need and want, without asking. They talk a lot about listening but rarely do. This occurs frequently, even in some of the less important leadership roles. These leaders suffer from a serious lack of vision. They honestly believe that they are in touch with the very pulse of their community. Because they are so certain they are right about everything they miss the obvious. They may represent their position as the voice of a particular organization or that of an entire industry.
Leaders who are asleep at the wheel aren’t totally to blame. The life balance scenario is very appealing. Plenty of people want to work or serve their organization. They just don’t want to be in charge. This means many leadership decisions go unchallenged. Unfortunately, this makes the leader feel more powerful and even the slightest criticism can be interpreted by the leader as a major threat. This results in people realizing that speaking up may have consequences.
Even our churches are suffering from leaders who are asleep at the wheel. In a recent Wall Street Journal article it was reported that members are ostracized or shunned by their congregations because they questioned the pastor or asked to see the financial records of the church. So, it is often tempting to sit back and let the other person drive even though it is dangerous.
The Enron financial fiasco that first came to light in 2001 is a perfect example of leaders asleep at the wheel. Although it will be a point of debate for many years to come who was actually responsible for the debacle, there were many leaders of departments simply not paying attention. They had been encouraged not to worry by their supervisors. They were receiving compensation at a level that must surely mean they were doing the right thing. No one questioned the situation and those who did were deemed ungrateful or unworthy.
There are thousands of examples where businesses lost out or went under because leadership was asleep at the wheel. Consider a recent example with CompUSA. CompUSA started a customer loyalty program called The CompUSA Network. Rewards were earned for purchases. However management leadership failed to properly promote the program and it was suspended. Customers who liked the program were infuriated. This lack of leadership attention contributed to the closing of 126 stores.
Former FEMA director Mike Brown, wasn’t listening when he responded too slowly to the urgent requests for help associated with Katrina. Embarrassing emails revealed that he was sure he had the situation under control. He was asleep at the wheel.
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez was certain that he could abolish presidential term limits. He discovered, to his surprise, that he did not have the pulse of the people.
Leaders who are asleep at the wheel rush to judgment, misuse their resources, and repeatedly use failure-prone tactics to make decisions. They are incapable of changing things on their own or seeing the situation through a different lens. As good members of a team, everyone needs to be prepared to speak up, ask questions and hold our leaders accountable.