Ethical Leaders: 10 Behaviors to Avoid

By Linda Fisher Thornton

In the lifelong quest to become our best selves, we need to stretch and grow and learn from our mistakes. Being a flexible and willing learner, we will more easily stay competent as the world changes around us.

Here are 10 things to avoid if we are to accomplish the elusive goal of becoming our best selves:

Just Say No To 10 Behaviors That Kill Competence

Being Too Busy For Professional and Personal Development
Refusing to Use Time-Saving Tools Because We Don’t Want to Learn Them
Ignoring Signs That We Need to Change
Thinking Current Trends Are “Just a Fad” That Will Pass
Refusing to Read or Be Open To Anything That Disagrees With Our Point of View
Working Harder But Never Smarter
Refusing to Listen To Feedback
Thinking We Can Treat People Any Way We Want To, Using Any Kind of Colorful Language
Stubbornly Clinging To An Opinion In the Face of Overwhelming Evidence To the Contrary
Doing The Same Things We’ve Always Done (As the World Changes….)

Why Are These Behaviors Competence Killers?

If we say Yes to any of these behaviors, and decide that we will not change, we are no longer adding value. We are no longer learning.

We have moved from being an organizational asset to being an organizational liability.

Competence is a critical part of responsible leadership. We may miss some steps along the way and make mistakes as we learn, but we should always make it a priority to stay competent. Say NO to these 10 behaviors that kill competence.