We all know there are two types of leaders –Those who admit they are wrong and those who believe doing so is a sign of weakness. They will never admit to errors and as the boss, they are always right!

Does this sounds familiar to you? Then did you also know that those who never admit to being wrong always come undone in the end? It may not be instant but it will happen. But by then, the damage to your business could be significant. So if you have someone within your company who acts like this, deal with them immediately!

The expectation on Bosses to ‘always be right’ comes from two areas. The days when Senior leaders were mainly from the armed forces and from the industrial era when masses of people performed the same repetitive and precise tasks.

In the knowledge economy this doesn’t work. If your firm requires menial labor, you’ll eventually be priced out of existence or overtaken by more innovative companies. In order to succeed, you need intelligent, engaging staff that can think for themselves, people who won’t put up with being led by a fool.

Being wrong does not make you a fool. However refusing to accept you may be wrong, or are definitely wrong, certainly does. As a leader it is up to you to make the big decisions, the tough calls and to stand by them. But being a leader also means recognizing when you have screwed up as well as when you have succeeded.

This isn’t just an issue for entrepreneurs but all managers.
I have recently experienced this first hand with a Senior Manager. He never, ever admitted to being wrong and once he had made up his mind, he refused to listen to anyone else’s opinions. This can sometimes be seen as a strong, attractive trait in a leader to stand by their opinions – But the rot soon will set in!

Eventually staff will get worn down and then stop bothering to challenge the uncompromising manager, as it makes life easier not too. Not only do they stop thinking for themselves, they simply stop caring.

It isn’t always easy to spot this kind of behavior from the top. After all, your mangers won’t admit to their mistakes, they are likely go to great lengths to defend themselves. And those affected will not speak up, especially if the person is senior, and by doing it may jeopardise their own job. Telling tales on the boss takes a lot guts.

Bigoted managers who do not listen to colleagues and are only going to eventually fail or not be anywhere near as successful as they could potentially be, I am sure Richard Branson hasn’t achieved his success without listening to a different perspective from his staff – not true entrepreneur can do it alone.

Dean Williams

Dean Williams is a design and marketing blogger working for Print-Print Limited, promoting business and building brands through quality print marketing. If you’re interested in small business promotion then please get in touch hello@print-print.co.uk