Leadership. Essential and effective when done right, but aversive and regretful when done wrong.
I am positive you know exactly what I mean.
Leaders can provide us with both positive and negative experiences. However, we can choose to be led by people who promote good and not those who want to become masters upon others.
A successful leader is not a boss. It never has, it never will be.
A successful leader is an example to be followed.
A successful leader is honest, kind, communicative, empathic, inspiring.
You shouldn’t fear a leader but respect her. Their vision should intrigue you. Their purpose should stand out. Their creativity and authenticity should overwhelm you to a positive extent.
So, if you are not embodying these principles as a leader, maybe it’s time for a change. Here are the worst situations when leadership goes wrong.
- Not being present enough
If you think your team will work eight to ten hours a day without seeing you, you’re mistaken. If you are not present enough, you cannot require others to be. Practice what you preach. Don’t choose the easy way out. You are choosing to overwhelm others while you’re comfortably hanging out with your family. This is wrong. If others will stay after schedule to work some more, so should you. Otherwise, don’t make them to.
Taking regular breaks is necessary. So, even if you and your team work hard four days a week, allow them (and yourself) to take breaks. Instead of working ten hours on Monday, work six or seven, and then relax. Do not burn yourself out and do not burn them out. In the end, they need you and you need them.
Solution: teach others how important it is to stay active and involved. So, instead of disappearing from the office, make sure you actively contribute to your company’s mission. This includes being physically there, in the office, to make sure that all things run well. Also, ensure that you are open enough to get both positive and negative feedback from your employees – it matters.
- Lacking direction
Lacking direction as a leader is horrifying. When you lack direction and don’t know where you’re heading, chances are you’ll mislead your team as well. As a leader, you should know your company’s growth goals, the ways to get there, the way in which you’ll keep the business afloat, etc. When leaders lack direction, they can bring a company to the point of failing.
If you are in the leadership team, you should be well aware of your reasons for working at this company. How are you encouraging your employees to succeed? How are you making sure that the business thrives? What direction are you heading towards and how will you get there? Answering these questions is essential to your success.
Solution: understand the company’s objectives. Understand your department’s duties. Keep an open door for regular check-ins. Plan weekly meetings. Follow up with updates constantly.
- Lacking transparency
As humans, we have an incredibly good ability to feel when something’s not right. Sniffing out mistruths is one of our skills. So, holding essential information back from your employees is wrong. You should never do that because you will lose credibility within the company when employees find out the truth.
Any successful business must trust its leader, so ensure that your employees trust you. If they cannot trust you, you’ll have a hard time staying in charge. Having worked for a college papers service, I know that from personal experience.
You don’t want to lose your job and future recommendations. So be honest. Honesty and transparency are two of the most important qualities of any leader.
Solution: always be honest and open. This can be challenging during hard times, for example, heavy losses or layoffs, but it’s a must-do. The more honest you are, the more they’ll trust you and rely on you. Keeping everyone updated on the news is important, regardless of their title. Respect them enough to tell them the blunt truth. If they cannot handle it, they should not be working for you.
- Lacking authority
Bossy leaders are incredibly quick to notice and can easily become unbearable. You will spot them when they make questionable decisions, don’t make any good changes, and give unhelpful feedback.
Such a leader can cause serious problems within a company. Employees might start lacking motivation and as a result, productivity might drop. Dancing around decisions and not taking enough action will distract workers, so if you’ve encountered such a leader, make sure you have an open discussion about it.
Solution: ask yourself where you are. If your weaknesses are affecting the team, that’s not a good sign. Ask yourself, do you steer the team in the right direction? Are you helping them become successful? If you are concerned that you might not, approach these issues and start working on them.
- Not listening
A bad leader won’t listen to understand, he will listen to reply. And this is not beneficial for anybody, especially when his strategies are not beneficial to the company. Since he has so much power over the company, employees will be less likely to challenge his view. Lack of initiative from employees along with poor leadership listening skills can drag a company in the ground.
Solution: ask for feedback and listen to all the important details. Be humble enough to understand when you’re mistaken. Listen to your inferiors and treat them as friends.
- Lacking faith
If you don’t trust your employees enough, you’ll want to control them. That means you’ll micromanage them to the worst extend. Meanwhile, they won’t do their jobs right. This is what happens when you lack faith in your employees. Non-effective, non-productive outcomes will show.
Solution: leave the expert subjects to the experts. Question them when you find it necessary, but don’t look over their shoulder. Keep good faith in them and let them succeed by following their own process. Trust.
Wrapping Up
Leading is not easy; it requires an exhaustive skill set, and that can be challenging to acquire. Ensure you’re following our advice and you’ll be all set. Good luck!
Author Bio:
Leon Collier is a lab report writer from the UK who loves to offer assignment help to students.
He writes about everything from pop-culture, history, travel, self-development, to education and marketing.
When not writing, you can find him on the best assignment writers UK webpage, probably writing a new book. Follow him on Twitter @LeonCollier12.
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