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The Coward Leader

I’m a retired Marine officer and have served in a senior leadership role in several Fortune 500 companies.  I’ve seen my share of “coward leaders”…I’ve even worked for a few.

The dictionary defines the word coward, when used as a noun, as “a person who lacks courage in facing danger, difficulty, opposition, pain, etc.; a timid or easily intimidated person.”

There have been a few articles written about the coward leader…several even give a listing of “signs of a coward leader” and all of them are accurate to a point.  The business world is full of coward leaders; as is the government.  Of all the factors that are used to describe a coward leader such as “always taking the easy way out” and/or “always blaming others”, the one element of the coward leader that isn’t mentioned is the basic character flaw of not having the guts to look you in the eye and being honest with you. They will try to find any way they can to avoid dealing with tough issues.  Coward leaders are scared people, refusing to confront at all costs…they’ll lie, cheat and or screw anyone they can to avoid being accountable for anything.

Coward leaders are in every organization, at every level of an organization, from the first line supervisor to the company president; government bureaucrats to elected officials…. they’re out there… they’re everywhere … like an insidious disease; they corrupt employee morale, destroy organization trust and threaten the very life of an organization. Working for one is probably one of the most discouraging experiences one can have.

True story….an employee of a small service company recently wrote to me asking for advice.  He had been asked to assume a management role in the company he worked for.  He was already fully engaged as with his day to day work but was excited to be promoted to “company management” and some extra money…well, not quite…his boss told him that they wanted him work in the role for a while then they would consider a raise….first red flag.

So, he’s been working 12-14 hour work days in the office, working at home at night and weekends, doing both jobs thinking all the while that he was doing a good job and there was a raise waiting for him.

About three weeks ago, his boss hired an old friend but no one was really sure why he was hired. It soon became apparent when his boss sent him an email stating that his “old friend” would be taking over the management responsibilities he had been assigned and that his friend would be meeting with him the next morning to discuss all the ongoing projects.  Note….I said he told him in an email… he wouldn’t look him in the eye and be honest with him….a classic example of a coward leader.

There is no easy answer on how to deal with the coward leader, particularly for an employee.  My guidance to the employee was…you have four choices and with each choice come consequences.

  • You can confront your boss in which case he may well fire you
  • You can do nothing…which means you accept his coward leadership
  • You can  resign which means you need to find another job quickly but “you showed him” or
  • You can start a serious job search, find the best job for you and then resign.

My recommendation was to go with the last option….I’m not certain which one he will take – all of them take courage.

I’ve had a lot of success as a leader by removing any filters between me and the employees.  I spent time with them, sitting at their desks, talking to them about their job, their family and their work environment.  I make a point to look them in the eye and ask them to do the same.  That has helped me to build a trust level with the employees where they felt comfortable they could give me the “straight scoop” and if there were legitimate issues such as “coward leaders”, they knew I would deal with them.

Joe Anderson
Joe Andersonhttp://www.andersonperformancepartners.com/about-us.html
JOE is a partner at Anderson Performance Partners LLC , a certified woman/veteran-owned business, working with organizations to facilitate problem solving through workforce energy and innovation. He is a retired Marine Officer and a seasoned senior business executive with more than 30 years leadership experience as a senior business executive in several Fortune 500 companies and as a business owner.

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15 CONVERSATIONS

  1. Great article, Joe! I’ve worked in at least 30 places in my lifetime and can attest to the fact that there are cowardly leaders everywhere – some of them, though, are very kind and likable. That still doesn’t excuse them from leading – not just in title only – but with a courageous heart that can be both trusted and honored. I worked for a certified bully and if it weren’t for the fact that I like myself, I doubt I would have the resiliency to overcome his oppressive behaviors. This description could have been written to describe the bully. like an insidious disease; they corrupt employee morale, destroy organization trust and threaten the very life of an organization. Working for one is probably one of the most discouraging experiences one can have.

    • Thanks Jane for sharing your thoughts. The worst sort of coward leader is the the bully who uses his/her postion as a cudgel to beat folks into submission rather than a resource to nurture and grow them.

  2. Thank you Joe. I would have what Joe Anderson said framed. Then I would hang it in a huge number of offices all over the world… In my view, what Joe Anderson said is TRUE. This kind of attitude… character, I don’t know how to describe it… is toxic, detrimental, damaging, and most of all it has nothing to do with True Leadership. Yes ok, we can leave and forget… but the fact that there are people like that in leading positions remains… Thank you.

  3. Thanks Joe, good advice, “find the best job for you and then resign.”

    Be careful when finding a new job, coward leaders are not an endangered species.

    Interviews should be all about the interviewee not the employer.

    Interviewees should not have to persuade the employer to hire them but rather the employer needs to persuade the right applicant to accept the job offer. Only the employer can know which applicants will be successful if hired.

    Since an applicant cannot know if she’ll be successful if hired, she must ask questions to learn if the employer knows, most do not. Applicants need to ask the hiring manager, “How do you know that I will be successful if I am hired?” If the answer is just a review of your resumes, education, experience, and interview performance you can be sure they don’t know if you’ll be successful. In which case be very careful since your job success and tenure depends on their answer.

  4. Semper Fi Joe, Your insightful article hits close to home. I can hear your wisdom in the words, and the stories you chose to share. I agree with you, there are no EASY answers to dealing with cowardly bosses. They are cropping up and gaining a foothold. I have encountered several at various levels. You eloquently state “Working for one is probably one of the most discouraging experiences one can have.” I would like to add, it takes hard work to recover from working in a toxic environment, and from a bad, cowardly supervisor. In my experience, it takes time to bounce back from working with cowardly coworkers as well. It’s discouraging to see what has happened to the American workplace. Thank you again, for writing this heartfelt piece of truth.
    Marine Mom Joan

  5. Great article Joe. Thanks for sharing. Cowardness is a characteric of mankind. We all have some form of cowardnesss at some time or another. We should never allow it to affect others.

    “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; snd lean not unto thine own understanding. In all yhy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy path.”
    Proverbs 3:5-6

    Semper Fidelis
    Ernest E. Johnson

  6. Hi Joe – I’m retired Coast Guard. We facilitate a workshop called “Building and Sustaining High Performance Organizations”. A significant component of that focuses on leadership and management and “the leader you would follow anywhere”. Rarely does a class go by without getting into the topic of your article. We call it “Chicken Management” – knowing about this poor/weak/non-performer and being too chicken to deal with it. We let folks (“you know who you are”) know that … “believe it or not, you are the subject of dinner table conversation”. Good article. Well stated.
    Jeff Parks

  7. Hi Charles, appreciate your feedback. Your comment that “they probably don’t even know of the disease” is spot on. In an earlier response, I mentioned I was a big fan of the old “Mash” series and the character of Frank Burns was an excellent example of a coward leader and he was clueless. Thanks, Joe

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