It’s a shame that someone can spend countless hours building a company and then have it all come crashing down due to some easily avoidable mistakes. I’m talking about the 5 deadly sins of the CEO; those 5 behaviors that cause contempt, dissent, mistrust, apathy, and ultimately failure within an organization. Whether you’re the president/CEO, boss “whatever,” or just a leader somewhere on a large organization chart… you can learn to avoid these mistakes and help build a world-class organization that develops people. .

Let’s dive into the 5 sins you can avoid and how you can counter them with more effective leadership skills.

1. Stop listening to your people

When you stop listening to your people, it’s incredibly destructive to an organization. Your people will stop trying to give you valuable information. This disconnects you from what is really going on with your customers, with your products and services, and with your staff. You cannot lead people you are disconnected from. Not listening also communicates that you don’t value them. You will find it difficult to lead people who do not feel valued by you.

So what should I do? Listen, listen, listen and keep listening. Don’t get defensive or argue, and don’t be nasty either. Instead, just listen. Even if you don’t agree, say, “I can tell you’re really worried about this topic. Let me think about it for a bit and I’ll get back to you.” If she comes back later and says that she thought about it… but doesn’t agree, at least you’ve communicated that she seriously considered what they had to say and will continue to do so. Final tip: if you say you’re going to think about it… really think about it. Don’t wait an hour and then say no. Think about what they said and be open to considering it or open to changing your mind about something.

2. Let your ego grow

There’s no better way to breed bitter contempt within your organization than to act bigger and better than everyone. When you insist on saying or showing that you are more important, smarter, faster, more effective, and just plain better than them, they will… prepare for this… despise you. In fact, you can be ALL of those things. You are the CEO and not everyone reaches that level. But is your ego so big that you still need to lord it over people? Looking to serve yourself?

Do you seek to be praised and receive compliments from others? Are you constantly trying to feed and grow your ego? Do this… and you will cut yourself off completely from your people. It will create a ME vs. Everyone attitude that people will see from a mile away. Again, you cannot lead people who secretly despise and disrespect you. Oh, and here’s a hint: you may believe that because of your incredible talent, work ethic, and skills, people will naturally respect and follow you. Think again. Put your ego on a pedestal and you will lose ALL respect.

So what should I do? Be humble. It’s ironic, but if you just humble yourself, try to praise others, give praise to others, and point out other people’s accomplishments… YOU will stand up in the eyes of your people. You will be well thought out. You will be respected. People will WANT to follow you. Think well of others FIRST, and others will think well of you.

3. Say but don’t do

People don’t easily follow a leader who has a “do as I say, not as I do” mentality. It creates an atmosphere or culture that is immediately divisive. An example would be a leader who demands that his employees cancel vacation plans to meet a deadline, but then he is the first to state that he needs to maintain a good work-life balance. And more importantly, when their vacation time rolls around, you better believe they’ll take it no matter how hard you have to work to make up.

So what should I do? To begin with, do not ask anyone to do what you are not willing to do. If you need people to work late to get something done, join them. If you want people to prepare like crazy before a big presentation, how much are you willing to prepare before one of your presentations? If others need to focus on the details, you need to focus on the details. You get the idea; do what you say and do first what you expect others to do.

4. Lies or shows distrust towards your people

Many leaders feel that lying to their people is appropriate. Whether it’s upcoming layoffs, or a closing division, or the cancellation of Christmas bonuses… the easiest route seems to be lying or willful evasion. It takes a lot more character and integrity to be honest. An honest statement like “Yes, times are tough and yes, we are going to make some significant reductions…we must do these things to survive as a company” will sting, but trusting your people with the truth will create more willing followers. When you lie or avoid discussing difficult situations, you are actually expressing distrust that your people can handle it. My experience suggests that when people are told the truth directly, they handle it in a more professional and positive manner.

So what should I do? Taste the truth! Trust your people and respect them enough to be honest with them. If you do, they will see you as a leader with integrity.

5. Intervene and override your followers’ decisions (often)

For people who have built a business from scratch or have risen through the ranks, it’s sometimes hard to leave what they used to do. To get promoted, hire or delegate lower-level tasks to a competent replacement. If you loosen up and let the new person try/fail/learn (repeat), they will come out more confident and competent in the end. But if you continually intervene or override his decisions to avoid the negative consequences of a bad decision, you end up deflating his self-esteem, slowing his development, and creating a dependency that won’t go away anytime soon. People will become apathetic because they will be waiting for you to step in and save the day before they need to act.

So what should I do? Let people fail, learn and grow. People will learn a lot more by making a bad decision than by telling them the right solution. It is a time-tested method for accelerated development.

Being a leader is serious business. It takes a strong leader to listen, to be humble, to have congruence between his words and actions, to be honest and direct, and ultimately to lead and get out of the way. But if he learns to avoid the 5 deadly sins and counteracts them with more effective leadership habits, he will catapult himself and his organization to world-class status.