Leadership: 5 Pitfalls to Avoid
Having the humility and desire to learn from our mistakes is one of the keys to leadership. Sometimes the errors are due to a lack of knowledge, a bad habit, or too much stress. And the most damaging pitfalls involve interacting with people the wrong way. Here are my top 5 pitfalls to avoid.
1. Not Taking the Time to Build Relationships
A leader who does not take the time to build relationships with those colleagues closest to them will struggle. Whatever organization or industry you are in, the job ultimately comes down to interacting with and leading people. Creating that bond with someone takes time above and beyond any pure task-oriented work. It is this connection that creates the space for shared wins.
2. Being Unavailable
One part of leadership is delegation. Yet delegation cannot mean complete detachment from the project. Good delegation relies on connection, accessibility, and follow-up regarding the milestones that lead to the successful completion of the task.
3. Conflict Mismanagement
Unresolved conflict is one of the most significant negative forces. Conflict without resolution sets the team up to be contentious, ineffective, and unhealthy. The importance of learning how to deal with and manage conflict cannot be overstated. Some of the biggest conflicts arise from differing opinions on:
Values, beliefs, attitudes, or opinions
Policies and procedures
Expectations, goals, or responsibilities
Information needs
Personality
Someone else's "bad" behavior
The most important thing to remember about approaching your team during a conflict is that proper communication is the best strategy. Listen actively, clarify your points for understanding, validate the concerns of other individuals, and most importantly, speak to your colleagues with respect. If you are in the wrong — apologize.
4. Lack of Trust
Trust in a leader is one of the primary keys to a group's success. Trust is built by doing what you said you would do, when you said you'd do it. It extends to caring about one another's welfare and interests and respecting/valuing one another's skills and knowledge. To build trust within a leadership team, all members need to commit to fostering respectful, consistent communication, demonstrating confidence in the others' expertise, and understanding of expectations.
5. Failing to Plan
When so many items need to be checked off lists on any given day, it can be hard to set aside the necessary time to plan for the desired envisioned future. Once you know where you want to be in several years, the critical step is creating an action plan — complete with a timeline — to ensure your team has clarity on where they are going and thus how to focus their time.
Failing to create a fleshed-out vision will create a more chaotic work environment and fuel a vicious cycle of reactive activity. Setting goals and creating timetables to accomplish the markers along the way is the key to moving from "putting out fires" mode to executing initiatives that bring you closer to achieving long-range goals.