There are people for whom customer service is a core value, one that is always present in their personal and professional lives. When these types of people lead customer service teams, their teams tend to work magic.

There are also people who don't truly believe in customer service. When these people lead customer service teams, service failures tend to be the norm. They may talk a good game to try to convince their customers, their employees, and even themselves that service is indeed important. However, their true colors are eventually revealed by their bad habits. 

Here are ten examples of bad leadership habits that cause service failures:

1. Unable to clearly articulate what outstanding customer service looks like.
2. Too impatient to do things right.
3. Focused on catching employees doing things wrong instead of helping them do things right.
4. Too busy to provide employees with training, coaching, or direction.
5. Failing to respond to email and voice mail in a timely manner.
6. Allowing employees to continuously provide poor service.
7. Disciplining employees for behaviors they regularly exhibit themselves.
8. Treating employees disrespectfully.
9. Asking employees to do things they wouldn't do themselves.
10. Making excuses for any of the above.

What bad habits would you add to this list?

Jeff Toister is the author of Service Failure: The Real Reasons Employees Struggle with Customer Service and What You Can Do About It. The book is scheduled to be released on November 1.

You can learn more about the book at www.servicefailurebook.com or pre-order a copy on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Powell's Books.