How BP Boss Tony Hayward Lead His Way Out of a Job

He may be out of a job but former British Petroleum CEO, Tony Hayward, won?t go hungry. ?BP is giving him a new career opportunity with its Russian operations.? Memo to Tony: Bring lots of jeans, cigarettes, and toilet paper.

While it?s doubtful that any CEO would have survived the aftermath of the Gulf oil spill, Hayward didn?t help himself.? There?s a lot we can learn from his weak approach to crisis management:

Accept Responsibility: No matter who or what caused the problem, if your oil well is leaking, then it?s your problem.? People don?t like leaders who try to pass the buck or minimize their blame.? Good leaders often inherit problems they didn?t create but must solve. ?If you actively respond to challenges, you can be and appear decisive.? You can?t try go ignore the fact that you?ve got a big mess to clean up.? When he appeared before Congress, Hayward appeared weak and indecisive.

People Don?t Care About Your Problems: Hayward may have been exhausted when he made his comment about wanting to get, ?…back to his life,? but this was a big mistake.? Leaders are expected to do whatever it takes to get the job done.? If you want to work 8 to 5, then you don’t accept a leadership position.

In addition, pretty much everyone alive thinks they they work hard and that their work is under appreciated.? Don?t get in a battle with them by saying that your life is worse than theirs.

Don?t Try to Do It All: Hayward appears to have cornered the market on unsuccessful multi-tasking.? Apparently he believed that he could lead the cleanup of the world?s largest ecological disaster while also keeping the media informed of the crisis.? To lead, you need to make good use of your staff and your time.? That means not trying to do everything yourself.? Sure, it?s fun to appear on TV with your sleeves rolled up but he did he over extend himself?? A big company like BP has lots of employees who could have helped him share the burden of this massive cleanup.? When you pay people to do stuff, you need to let them do their jobs.