Top 5 Leadership Fails (And How To Fix Them)
As an aspiring leader, you will – if you haven’t already – go through seasons of doubt and insecurity. After all, the leadership road is tough, and it’s certainly not for everyone.
To be successful at leadership requires not only hard work, but sacrifice and diligence. The bad news is that the chances for failure along the way hover right around 100%.
The good news? Failure is a fantastic teacher! It causes us to come to terms with our weaknesses and evaluate how we can be better at our craft.
Leadership Fails One-By-One
So, if you have the stomach to do some serious self-evaluation, then read on about the top 5 reasons you may be failing at leadership…
1. You Think Only Of Yourself
Face it, you’re selfish. We all are. It’s in our nature to care more about ourselves than we do others. The question is what are you going to do about it?
Effective leadership requires a willingness to be inconvenienced. That means at some point, you have to discipline yourself to start caring more about those you are charged with leading than you do yourself. You have to practice it until it becomes second nature.
Sure, you can climb the “ladder of success” for a while using your subordinates as the steps. But, eventually you will find that you are feared rather than respected, and resented rather than appreciated.
Some will certainly choose to be feared. After all, it’s much easier to care about “me” than “we.” Those on that path usually end up bitter, alone and asking themselves, “why does everyone seem to hate me?”
Is this you? Are you living your own dream while blind the dreams of others? If so, you are missing so many opportunities to feel the joy and fulfillment that comes with being a servant leader. Practice thinking about and doing things for other people and watch your respect and your leadership stock rise!
Some of you who are defined by #1 will take these words to heart and begin your own change project. Some of you will stop reading here because you want a quick fix that doesn’t involve the responsibility of having to point the finger at yourself.
For the rest of you with the courage to read more about why you may be failing at leadership, see #2…
2. You Don’t Seek Out And Heed Wise Counsel
When in leadership, it is very easy to fall into the trap of thinking you have to know everything.
At some point along the way, you may have found yourself being promoted to a leadership position based solely on your expertise in a particular area. Now, you feel you must continue knowing all the answers in order to be justified in your leadership role.
The fact is that your talent in a particular area makes you just that – talented. But, talent alone doesn’t make you a good leader.
If you are bent on being the smartest one in the room and getting credit for every good idea, you are going to end up stressed out, frustrated, and wondering why your people may be tuning you out and not engaging. But, if you are willing to listen to good advice, you may be able to let someone else take the “depreciation” on those lessons.
What do I mean by “depreciation?” Consider this…
If you go to a car lot to buy a new vehicle, you are going to pay new vehicle price. As soon as you drive it off the lot, its value drops significantly. You will likely not be able to recoup anywhere close to the purchase price if you decide to sell it. But, if you buy a vehicle that has been slightly used from the first owner, they have taken the depreciation for you. You still have a great vehicle that you can likely sell the next day for what you paid for it.
It’s the same with leadership.
There are many great leaders that have learned some tough lessons along the way. Wouldn’t you want to seek out and listen to their advice on those matters so you can avoid making the same mistakes they made? It’s simply crazy not to.
But, pride and arrogance will often trick you into thinking you don’t need help from anyone. Sooner or later, your desire for recognition and fame will likely culminate in a spectacular crash and burn – a disaster that could have been avoided by simply being a good “asker” and a good listener. I have found many times that the best answers to tough questions are in the minds of the members of the team, not mine!
Maybe the reason you are failing at leadership is that you are stuck here in #2, failing to seek out and heed wise counsel. Have mentors. Ask them questions. Listen to their answers and heed their advice. In doing so, you will save yourself from many hardships.
3. You Don’t Have A Vision OR You Don’t Communicate It Clearly
If you have been in a leadership position for a while, you will certainly have learned that sometimes there are individuals who simply won’t “get with the program.”
However, many times a leader cannot get people to buy in because there is no program!
Sure, there are some people that simply won’t fall in line, but unless you have a vision, it’s a leadership problem long before it’s an employee or team member problem.
As the leader, your responsibility is to set the tone for your team, business or organization. Setting the tone not only requires that you model how your team members should act, but also what they need to do to be successful.
This requires the leader to clearly communicate what the expectations are. Be sure your team is hearing and understanding your clear, singular message. Specifically, you need to communicate where you are going and what the plan is to get there. Be clear about how the team will execute the plan and what success looks like. If no one knows what they’re working toward, then how will they know when they get there?
If all of this leadership responsibility sounds intimidating… it can be! If it sounds like a lot of work… it is! That is why you need to revisit #2 often and seek out wise counsel!
When you are purposeful about having a vision and communicating it clearly, you will find that most people enjoy being a part of something bigger than themselves. They just need someone to show them the way. If you are the leader, then YOU are that person!
4. You Don’t Follow Through
Perhaps you have vision-casting down to a science. You are captivating and people are quick to jump on board when you have a new idea. But, you find that you are still struggling to make the vision a reality.
Did your vision represent and unattainable goal? Maybe. But, many times it’s simply the fact that you are great at casting vision, but not so good at following through.
Lack of follow-through can come in many forms, but usually it is the result of leaders who allow their teams to become lazy toward the mission.
Your vision, whatever it is, might be noble, ground-breaking, or even life-changing. But, if your people don’t have the vision reinforced in front of them often, they will lose sight of it and begin to wander. Apathy and laziness will set in. And whose fault is it? Many leaders get frustrated and begin blaming their people. However, a leader needs only to look in the mirror to see who is at fault.
Teams need to be reminded often of what they are trying to accomplish, because the shine can wear off even the best of ideas.
It’s human nature to let off the gas pedal. People get tired. They get disinterested. They need fresh challenges. Many leaders will argue that they constantly remind their teams of what the vision is and still they are frustrated at the lack of results they are getting.
Often, it is because the leader is guilty of #5…
5. You Don’t Encourage
Success has a different definition for each individual.
For some, success means winning an award. For others, it’s reaching various goals that had been set. The bottom line is that regardless of how you define it, success feels good.
But, success lies at the end of the road. It’s the journey on the road itself that is the most difficult part, and everyone is on their own version of it.
In leadership, and in life, you will be reminded that some people are just more motivated and driven to succeed than others. But, we all share something in common – we all need and enjoy encouragement!
For every team that constantly struggles with low morale, infighting, and being on the verge of implosion, there is a leader nearby who is failing at encouragement.
And, while the word encouragement may seem warm and fuzzy, it is extremely dangerous to leaders who not only don’t practice it, but who use it with false motives. If you are stuck above in #1 (thinking only of yourself), then when you say encouraging things to your team, you are not encouraging them at all – you are manipulating them to get what you want. That may actually work for a little while, but your people aren’t stupid. They will eventually see that you really don’t value them at all, and that you care only about yourself. What typically follows is resentment and apathy, culminating in the loss of even the most valuable team members.
As with any learned skill, encouragement must be practiced.
You have to practice looking for things that warrant compliments. You have to practice noticing people that need encouragement. And, of course, you have to practice actually saying encouraging words.
But, be warned, if you do it long enough you might actually become good at it – and for the right reasons!
Leadership Fails… You CAN Change!
You may have been failing at leadership with no clue as to why.
Hopefully, you will purpose to improve and monitor your progress in the aforementioned 5 leadership fails and turn them into strengths below:
- Think Of Others
- Seek Out And Heed Wise Counsel
- Clearly Communicate Your Vision
- Follow Through
- Encourage Often
If you’ll be purposeful in the five categories above, your Leader Meter will start to read much higher!
