I was encouraged to read a lot of leadership books or articles when my supervisors were reviewing my performance last year. Since then, I read several sources which discuss how to become a good leader. It certainly helped me from a theoretical point of view. However, apparently it is not too useful to make leaders realize their mistakes and how they should overcome them.
When a leader is making a mistake, sometimes it is done unconsciously. Especially when he or she has a lot of tasks and it makes them unable to think clearly. Here are the top five leadership mistakes which I often see in the field that you should avoid.
- Unavailable and inaccessible
When leaders are pressured by a lot of work, they transform into a stressful person and are not friendly to their surroundings. Their subordinates are often afraid to approach the leaders, because they do not want to add more pressure. This situation is not right. A good leader should be available and accessible to everyone in his/her team and in everytime. If you have so many things in your hand, try to give heads up to your team. Let them know that you can be reached for urgent matters through personal chat. This will be a very helpful way for your team to approach you.
- Not giving feedback regularly
Evaluation is important for people’s improvement. Someone is able to reach their maximum capacity when they are given feedback about their performance. Leaders sometimes ignore this because they focus too much on the tasks. Make it a habit, give your constructive feedback or even credit to your team every time you have checked their performance or after you have finished a project. Also make sure that you deliver it appropriately, thus they will feel motivated to do a better performance.
- Ineffective problem solving
When you are trusted to become a leader, it means that you are also responsible to find an effective solution every time your team is facing a problem. This situation is prone for a leader to get mad on every little thing that does not work according to his/her wish. Obviously, this bad emotion is not a solution to your problem. Even worse, your team will not listen to what you are saying because they are offended. Next time, try to focus only on effective solutions. Involve your team to find the best solution and not make them as your rebound because you are stressed with the situation.
- Not focusing on people development
If your team is serious about their career growth, they surely care with their personal development. Again, because there are so many things on your hands, you are not aware that as a leader you need to develop your team members’ skills. A good leader creates more leaders. Therefore, it is important to involve them in every process, ask their thoughts about the client's issues, and let them do their job until it is finished. As a leader, the most important thing is to guide your team to do the right thing.
- Not taking to bond with the team
Last but not least, it will be easier to work with someone that you are close with. Thus, it is important for a leader to bond with the team. Even though your work is piling up, remember that having a solid bond with your team is also essential. After working hours, try to spare time to have a light chit chat with your team, or watch a good movie on the weekend. The closer you get with your team, the smoother the coordination.
If you are facing challenges in dealing with your team members, you probably have made some of those mistakes I explained above. The tasks are important, yet I believe it will be way easier if you do it with your team through the right guidance. Now that you are aware of your mistakes, try to focus on finding the solutions. Remember a good leader creates more leaders. The feeling is immeasurable when you finally succeed to create a leader because of your guidance.
