In a conversation I had with John Spence on Friday, he told me he had just returned from a leadership development course that was held at a game preserve that featured lions and rhinos. That prompted me to ask him if he had seen any LINOs while he was there. “What’s a LINO?”, he asked.
“A Leader In Name Only”, I replied.
I won’t tell you his answer, but we both agreed that LINOs are far too common. Unlike rhinos, they are unfortunately not an endangered species. They are abundant and actually quite easy to spot—unless you are one, in which case you usually don’t know it and might need a little bit of help. So here goes.
You might be a LINO if…
- You talk more than you listen in meetings
- The only tool in your box is a hammer
- You think everyone laughs at your jokes because you’re really funny
- People change the subject when you walk in the room
- You think rules are always rules, no matter what
- People do exactly what you pay them for, and no more
- You’re always right
- You’re smarter than everyone around you
- You never try to catch people doing things right
- None of your subordinates ever get promoted into other parts of the company
- Morale always improves when you leave
- You’re absolutely certain none of these apply to you
