20 Often Unrecognized Habits that Hold Successful People Back From Reaching the Next Level of Leadership Development
- Winning too much: the need to win at all costs and in all situations – when it matters, when it doesn’t, and when it’s totally beside the point.
- Adding too much value: the overwhelming desire to add or two cents to every discussion.
- Passing judgment: the need to read others and impose our standards on them.
- Making destructive comments: The needless sarcasm and cutting remarks that we think make a sound sharp and witty.
- Starting with “no,“ “but,“ or “however“: The overuse of these negative qualifiers which secretly say to everyone, “I’m right, you’re wrong.“
- Telling the world how smart we are: They need to show people we’re smarter than they think we are.
- Speaking when angry: Using emotional volatility as a management tool.
- Negativity, or “let me explain why that won’t work“: The need to share your negative thoughts even when we weren’t asked.
- Withholding information: The refusal to share information in order to maintain an advantage over others.
- Failure to give proper recognition: The inability to praise and reward.
- Claiming credit that we don’t deserve: The most annoying way to overestimate our contribution to any success.
- Making excuses: The need to reposition our annoying behavior as a permanent fixture so people excuses for it.
- Clinging to the past: The need to deflect blame away from ourselves and onto events and people from our past; a subset of blaming everyone else.
- Playing favorites: Failing to see that we are treating someone unfairly.
- Refusing to expressed regret: The inability to take responsibility for our actions, admit we’re wrong, or recognize how our actions affect others.
- Not listening: The most passive-aggressive form of disrespect for colleagues.
- Failing to express gratitude: The most basic form of bad manners.
- Punishing the messenger: The misguided need to attack the innocent who are usually only trying to help us.
- Passing the buck: They need to blame everyone but ourselves.
An excessive need to be “me”: A.k.a. exulting our fault as virtues simply because they are who we are.