Leadership plays a crucial role in the success or failure of a team. More importantly, the way a leader chooses to lead will have a huge impact on the entire team. In our crew, we have many young and talented rovers who are gradually developing their leadership and managerial skills. Therefore, it would be worthwhile to review the eight huge mistakes that leaders around the world tend to make:
1) Getting stuck in “My Way Or The Highway” thoughts
When you are in charge you need to learn to guide your team to discover the right decisions but let them make these decisions on their own. A leader who sets a tone of my way or the highway will create a toxic environment for their team. If your team sticks around with this kind of leader they will not be satisfied or happy in the long run.
2) Micro-Managing
This doesn’t mean you don’t hold your team accountable, it means to judge their results, not their actions. A good leader wants their team to be productive on their own. They will focus on the results the team produces, not how they go about producing them. Micro-managers do just the opposite, they focus on what the team is doing daily, always tracking their activity.
3) Using Fear To Motivate
Only use fear motivation as a last resort. There of course is a time and a place when using fear to motivate your team is necessary but know that the motivation will not last long, and if used too often it will not work to begin with.
4) Demanding Respect
Excellent leaders will be respected by everyone because they are great, they will not demand the respect of others just because they are the boss. If you are in a management role and demand the respect of others, your team will pick up on this ego and it will create a negative environment that you may not be aware of until it’s too late.
5) Acting Like You Care When You Don’t
Great leaders will know about their team’s personal life, they will remember the names of their family members and get to know them too.
6) Creating Chaos
Part of your responsibility as a leader is to delegate responsibilities to others, however when you are passing off a task, make sure you provide adequate details, the task objective and allow sufficient time to complete the task. Leadership fails in this category will leave your team frustrated.
7) Passing The Buck
Everyone is human, we all screw up at one time or another, however as a manager, you need to accept when your team downfall is because of your doing. The best of leaders will have their team’s back, they will not only take the heat when they have created a problem but will also help redirect conflict which the team may have mistakenly created on their own.
8) Acting Like You Are Above Your Team
Everyone knows that you are in charge and you have important things to do, however if are unwilling to get your hands dirty when the time comes, you will quickly lose the respect of those who work for you.
The 180th Pacific Coast Scout Group is a premier development program for young adults aged 18 to 26 years old in Metro Vancouver. We are committed to contributing to the success of Scouts Canada, the nation’s leading youth-serving organization, through leadership and management training of members in our group. If you are interested to find out more about our program and join us, please fill out this online form.
Source: Adapted from Leadership Fails – Avoid These 8 Mistakes