Being a leader is a difficult path and one that has many potential pitfalls. When taking on a leadership or management role there are some common mistakes to watch out for, here are a few of them to keep an eye on in particular.
- Not Creating Bonds
Take time to create a bond with your team and learn about them as individuals. Your team are human, if you don’t view them as such then you are missing the mark in a pretty serious way. While you don’t want to be too friendly or seen as a pushover, take time to get to know each person and what it is that drives them.
- Being Inaccessible
This is twofold, first is not being available to talk to about any issues as they arise. Make sure your team knows they can approach you about anything and respect their privacy on delicate matters. If you make it less intimidating for people to approach you then you start to get a view of any issues early on so they can be fixed.
The second is delegating a task and then just walking away. This is so tempting to do; the work is someone else’s now so you don’t have to worry about it right? Not so as writer Michelle Martin, OXEssays and Dissertation Help, warns “If someone can’t clarify certain details or request help when needed then you’ll end up with twice the workload and a lot of unhappy customers when products aren’t up to scratch”.
- Not Focussing on Talent Development
We humans are driven by curiosity and a desire to learn, if people don’t get opportunities to grow and develop then they can become frustrated and their work becomes stagnant. Take some time to work with your team to find out what their talents are and provide them with time to work on those areas.
- Not Giving Feedback
So many managers keep feedback to basic half-year and yearly reviews, but this is just a tick the box exercise that doesn’t provide real benefit on a day-to-day basis. Let people know when they’ve done a good job and, perhaps even more importantly, learn to deliver criticism or hard truths in such a way that people learn and grow from the experience. If someone has not done something right telling them the truth and giving them the opportunity to try again is far more beneficial than simply not telling them the truth and waiting for them to make the same mistake again.
- Misunderstanding Motivation
Not everyone has the same factors driving them and if you don’t understand what drives a person’s progress then you are setting yourself and them up for failure. Not everyone is working for the desire of bonuses or promotions, some people just want to be challenged or to learn something new. “Understand what drives your team and you’ll find that you become a better leader easily able to motivate people to achieve their goals,” encourages leadership blogger Leslie Munk, Paperfellows and State Of Writing.
- Not Defining Goals
I cannot tell you the number of times I’ve heard a manager say “well you come up with the goal” and leave it at that, then get annoyed when the goal isn’t exactly what they expected. Setting a clear and defined goal is important and makes sure everyone is on the same page. If you cannot set a defined goal, then you clearly don’t understand what you are trying to achieve and it’s time to go back to the drawing board.
- Not Practicing What You Preach
This is a big one, if you tell your team to do one thing and you do another then all you are doing is building resentment and creating an environment that is toxic to work in. Remember as a leader you need to act as a role model for your team and set an example. This can be things like not allowing employees to make personal calls during work or more positive practices like taking regular breaks. If your employees see you doing these behaviours then it doesn’t feel like one rule for the elite and one for the common working man.
Overall, the main thing about being a leader is remembering that you and your team are human. Humans make mistakes, and that’s ok as long as we learn and grow from them. Take time to understand your team and don’t be a hypocrite and things should fall into place.
Blogger and writer Madeline Miller, Pay For Essay and Custom Writing Service, writes about leadership for Custom Essay.