Simon Senek said ‘Leadership is not about the next election, it’s about the next generation,’ but it’s in your hands to influence the next generation or complete your term. Perfection is not real and perfect is no one, but you can avoid certain mistakes to be the one.
Choice of Medium for Urgent Matters
Sending an email to 10/20 people at once by marking it as read and urgent is very easy and tempting, however as an inspirational leader you should avoid doing so. For the matters that require immediate attention, it is better to have face to face communication.
It’s an old-school theory but still stands valid; actions speak louder than the words. When you communicate the urgency physically, it has a more significant impact and guarantees a quicker response.
Leadership is not merely about a name or a designation. It’s about impact, influence, and motivation. Impact means getting results, influence is about spreading the passion you have for your work, and you have to encourage team-mates and clients.
Using an Informal Medium for Official Matters
In today’s world WhatsApp, etc. are as essential as anything, and almost no one is there who is not familiar with their use. You can keep in touch with your staff by having a group formed. But for official matters and things that need to be emphasized like discussing work issues, coordinating meetings, prioritizing tasks or communicating internally, AVOID WHATSAPPING.
Reluctance in Taking a Stand for the Team
A real leader is one who supports his followers in good and bad times. If the project that holds a stake of many goes wrong, how you handle the situation will determine your inspiration leadership qualities. Remember leading from the front is the virtue of a real leader. How you manage your team will assess their performance and bring out the best in them.
Greatness comes from doing a few little and crafty things each day. Comes from taking little steps, consistently. Comes from a making a few small chips against everything in your professional and personal life that is ordinary, so that a day eventually arrives when all that’s left is The Extraordinary.
Don’t Know How and When To Say NO
“Live your life for you, not for someone else. Don’t let the fear of being ruled, denied or condemned stop you from being yourself” Sonya Parker
Saying “no” doesn’t mean you are a bad person and as a leader, you should know how to prioritize. You can’t please everyone by saying “yes” and the ability to say “no” is one of the biggest strengths of a leader. It helps you to increase your productivity as well as that of your team. This also avoids burdening and stress. Always remember that it is better to say “no” now than regretting it later.
Meeting, Meeting, and Meeting
To run a business effectively, meetings play a vital role. Well defined and well-communicated agenda to the attendees before a meeting is the key to a successful and result oriented meeting. But meetings all the time, especially the “surprise” meeting is anything but productive.
It is also a waste of time because the meeting agenda is not met or people fail to contribute to the meeting effectively. Moreover, the implementation of action points agreed upon in the meeting could be a time taking process as it has to be approved by every single member.
Most meetings also demand individuals to make themselves physically available, therefore resulting in the slowing down of existing tasks at hand. Being a leader, you should not only avoid calling surprise meetings but also think before attending one.
Avoiding and Resist Change
Rob Siltanen explained the phenomenon of change as,
“Here’s to the crazy ones. The Dropouts. The insurgents. The agitators. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things individually. They’re not enamored of dictates. And they have no reverence for the status quo. You can value them, disagree with them, praise or vilify them… Because they are capable of transforming the world and things. They drive the human race ahead. And while some may take them as the crazy ones, we see intelligence. Because the people who are crazy enough to believe they can change the system, are the ones who able to do so.”
Most people are familiar with the term ‘Change fatigue’; almost every organization faces it while changing. Resistance from employees regarding adapting to new procedures, policies, SOPs, etc. is a common phenomenon. The fear of not coping with change is the reason why they resist but being a leader one should always welcome change and look at its positive side, e.g., increasing productivity by the introduction of automation. Change is a learning curve to being a leader you should also prepare yourself for mistakes from the team and collaborators.
Lack of Effective Monitoring System
Monitoring system gathers and uses the information to assess the performance of different resources like human capital, physical assets, financials and also the organization as a whole in light of the organizational strategy.
For a leader to be effective and impactful, 360-degree information is crucial. Performance evaluation in the year-end or month end, occasional meet up, a summary of the project, etc. is insufficient. Importance of effective monitoring system is the lifeline of a leader. Decision making in the presence of full information impacts the organization at the macro level and shows the credibility of an active leader.
No Time to Think
Thinking is an activity that is an essential part of our day-to-day multitasking. When we take time to think, it is an indulgence, and we feel a little guilty for the apparent lack of productivity. But in reality thinking time is very important and not thinking could be costly for an organization.
Before making a decision, the leader needs to assess every point associated directly or indirectly with the situation, its impact on the stakeholders, ongoing and future projects.
According to the Einstein, “The world as we have produced, it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thought.”
Work Delegation vs. Orders
Authority delegation is the ultimate indicator of success. It can generate a sense of trust among the team. It means that as leaders we trust their abilities and can share authority. Empowering the team strengthens the organization as a whole. Mistaking it for power sharing is an unforgiving loss to the business. As a leader, when you are going to delegate obligation or making any person responsible for something, make sure you permit them with a relevant measure of authorization because responsibility without authority is worthless and only produces chaos.
Being Too “Noninterventionist”
One of your team has just accomplished one of the most important projects you have assigned. The problem is that members of your team have taken the project’s specification the wrong way, and you didn’t stay in touch with them as they were completing the task or working on it. Now, they have completed the task in the wrong way, and you’ve coped with explaining this to an annoyed client. Most of the inspiration leaders around the world want to avoid micromanagement. But going to the opposite extreme along with a hand-offs supervision style is not a great idea– you need to get the things in a right way and a right direction.
Mix-Up Enthusiasm
Do you know what the things or acts that genuinely motivates your team members are? Getting bucks every month? No, not at all. Money is essential, but not the only thing. In fact, numerous things matter more than money.
Unfortunately, most of the leaders assume that their team is only working for financial remuneration. On the other hand, it’s improbable that this will be the only thing that motivates them.
Let’s take an example of people seeking a greater work/life balance, might be enthused by teleworking days or flexible working hours. Others will be prompted by determinants such as accomplishment, increased accountability, commendation, or a sense of companionship.
Overlook The Best Solution:
Unluckily, working in a corporate environment is a selfless job with lots of problems arise every day and need to be fixed. If the leader looks to fix by using a nippy solution without taking it in depth, then it is unquestionable to create turmoil soon after. Leaders need to focus on looking at the problem from all sides and allow creative ideas to stream so that the best solution is picked to deal with such issues. If this method makes use of everywhere, then it is sure to restraint and restrains many undesirable disputes.
Not Communicating the Objectives Efficiently:
It is understood that companies all over the world set up their vision and mission on a paper or is put on the show on the display boards of the corporation. But does all people working in the corporation are aware of its significance and how it links with their work every day work? If they are finding any difficulty in understanding the core meaning of the message that companies have come up
The Mindset That Never Accepts Own Mistakes
“Mistakes are always excusable if one dares to admit it” Bruce Lee
Perfection is not real and striving for it is not worthy. For a leader to be competent and admissible, accepting own errors is the solution. In the case of hardships, a leader is one who starts patrolling with himself rather than the team. Admitting your own mistakes also earns you the respect of your team.
Kevyn Aucoin explains it very nicely that “Today I choose life. Every morning when I wake up, I can keep happiness, satisfaction, negativity, worry… To feel the liberation that comes from being able to proceed to make mistakes and choices – today I choose to feel life, not to deny my humanity but embrace it.”
Not Assessing Business Continuously:
Being a leader, tasks are not simple; a leader is someone who has to evaluate the assignments and ventures that are being done consistently to find out if they are needed or outdated. Once you have done with it, the task can be reformulated with a new look or can be re-routed to get it done quickly and without flaws. This will help the business to know about the effectiveness and productivity of not only the assigned tasks but the workers.
