You Might be Failing as a Leader, If …
You are not delegating – It means, you think you can create growth on your own and your teams may not be capable of contributing to the growth. This is either a sign of control freak or you have built a wrong team.
Past examples drive you – You may have achieved success in the past. But remember the circumstances have changed, the business environment has changed, and the business dynamics have changed. As a leader, you should anticipate the future. The Past can guide you, but not drive you.
You are inconsistent in application – Your team may lose confidence in you, in case you are not consistent in your ideas and thoughts. You need to stand for your philosophies and version, which will drive your ideas and thoughts. This way in course of time you will have the right team, in sync with your thoughts and vision.
You discourage more than you encourage – Discouraging a team member is like stealing their pride. Pride is what drives team members. Be an inspiring coach and drive teams through encouragement.
You think you know it all – Am not sure, why you have a team (of humans) in that case. You may know a bit of something, but maybe not all the bits. So listening to the team will make your decisions stronger and informed with better buy-in.
You think everyone likes you – Remember the information that reaches you may be highly filtered. You should strive to create an honest and transparent organization culture. As the first step towards it, you must imbibe the culture of transparency and honesty.
You think you have communicated effectively – Rather your team assumed you said “this or that”. Create a culture of openness, so that teams ask questions and are crystal clear about what has been communicated. Also, you need to ask questions to ensure teams have understood you.
You avoid conflicts – Conflicts in the organization are perpetual. Unresolved conflicts are obstacles in organizational growth. Conflicts need to be resolved at the first sign of them getting out of control.
