PITFALLS: How To Fail As A Leader, part one
Let’s explore six ways you can fail as a leader. I have failed at least at one of these at one point in my leadership career and I’ve met so many leaders who still struggle with them. Understanding these pitfalls, you can proactively work to A V O I D them and enhance your leadership capabilities.
Lack of Self-Awareness: One of the most significant stumbling blocks for leaders is a lack of self-awareness. Maybe this is your case. Failing to understand your strengths, weaknesses, and how your actions affect others will lead to poor decision-making, ineffective leadership and misunderstandings. If you add that to a lack of emotional intelligence and empathy (both often go sadly hand in hand), you’ve got a recipe for disaster. For you. And for your team.
Poor Communication: Effective communication IS the cornerstone of successful leading. When you better your communication, E V E R Y T H I N G else will rise up, like the coming tide makes everything float higher! Your failure to communicate clearly, actively listen, or provide timely and constructive vision building probably will erode trust and hinder team performance. Poor and less than-average communication draws you, your team, the mission and the vision down.
Lack of Strategic Thinking: Leaders who lack strategic thinking tend to focus exclusively on day-to-day tasks and immediate challenges without considering the long-term vision. In other words, you get so busy running daily tasks that seem urgent that you can forget the importance of thinkling forward! This can result in a reactive leadership style and missed opportunities for growth and innovation…and you DEFINITELY don’t want to live as a reactive leader!
Poor Delegation Skills and Micromanagement: Micromanagement is such a common reality for both leaders and team members, that it can become the norm, the measuring stick. After all, havent you heard the saying : “Inspect what you expect” . You obviously want to keep your team accountable but looking over their shoulder too often undermines trust, stifles creativity, and hinders employee growth. When you don't delegate effectively you become overwhelmed, while team members feel underutilized, micromanaged or even underappreciated. This is a pathway to burnout and decreased productivity.
Neglecting Employee Development: Failing to invest in the development of your team members is a surefire way to fail as a leader, unfortunately. Your team's growth and success are closely tied to your ability to mentor, coach, and provide opportunities for skill enhancement. Often, what I’ve noticed is that insecure leaders don’t want to see others grow as it would (or could!) expose their lack of growth!
Inadequate Conflict Resolution: Avoiding or mishandling conflicts will create a toxic work environment. That poison will spread, guaranteed. Plus, it will choke any spirit of innovation and suffocate your team’s willingness to go the extar mile. Dealing with conflict, or lack of it, exerts energy OUT of your people. I’ve seen worse, when feedback is given in the form of reprimands it will feel like failure and your team will try to hide. When you struggle with conflict resolution, or refuse to deal with it, you will see team morale decline.
While your path to becoming a successful leader is filled with challenges, it's essential to recognize and address these common pitfalls. By avoiding these six ways to fail as a leader, you will create a more positive and productive leadership journey. Remember, leadership is a continuous journey and you never at the end of it. READ PART TWO on how to fail as a leader for character drawbacks.