Four Leadership Mistakes And How To Correct Them

There is no single formula to build or enhance leadership skills. Successful leaders incorporate natural leadership qualities with years of combined learning and practice – including making mistakes.

It’s in making mistakes that a leader can show personal growth and cultivate a solid, connected team.

1. Not making time for your team and not providing feedback

Your time as a leader is valuable, and your availability to everyone may be limited. However, if you are unable to t make yourself accessible to your team, they can feel less important than colleagues and become disconnected to their work. If your employees can’t approach you with issues or to seek advice, you’re not successfully leading. Everyone on your team should be comfortable approaching you with problems.

Not being accessible to your team can also lead to a lapse in feedback. Strong leaders utilize constructive criticism to acknowledge employees’ strengths, help them improve weak areas, and foster camaraderie. If feedback isn’t being provided, your team won’t know if they’re moving in the right direction, or how to course-correct if changes are required.

Build a sense of connection with your team by actively being available to them. It may be through a designated channel, such as email, or with a consistent meeting set specifically for a team pulse check. Setting aside time for discussions and feedback can transform employees into a high-performing, engaged team.

Jeff Bartel, chairman and managing director of Hamptons Group, says constructive criticism and respectful dissent should be encouraged to foster a culture of continuous improvement.

2. Not balancing management involvement

In a leadership role, there’s a fine line between micromanaging employees and handing off responsibilities that results in becoming unaware of the ins and outs of your team. One leadership mistake is shifting to a hands-on or hands-off management approach. Your workday would be overwhelmed if you needed to know every small detail about your team’s activities. However, a completely hands-off approach would be potentially devastating.

A successful leader strikes a balance for management and delegation. Efforts must be made to simply understand important projects, deadlines, and goals of your team. Trust those you’ve put in management positions to run operations smoothly. By striking a balance, you can put a significant focus on your own responsibilities, without being caught off-guard if something requires attention from your team.

3. Failing to define goals

As a leader, your job is to define big picture goals and steer your team towards achieving them. However, larger objectives are only reached through many smaller goals and successes. A failure to define those smaller goals and expectations in tandem with larger ones can leave your team struggling to understand if their work is effective. When a team lacks clear goals, they cannot accurately plan to reach them. It may result in a lack of accurate resource planning, not correctly estimating metrics for success, and not understanding the progression of tasks.

When setting large goals, keep the entire path to team success in mind. What needs to be accomplished to get from point A to point B? What team roles are necessary for success? How many goals should be set on the way to successful completion? Clarify what is needed from your team, be transparent about goal setting, and work with them to design a roadmap for success.

4. Not allowing employees to develop a sense of ownership

Employees are the backbone of business success, and a strong leader is a guide for a confident and constructive team. Each team member must be actively engaged and proud of their work individually, so the team can be successful as a whole. Leaders that do not foster a sense of ownership by team members often see diminishing standards in work output.

Ensure employees feel invaluable as part of the team, and that they are listened to and appreciated. Ask team members to share opinions and ideas about a broad range of topics, including issues that may be hampering productivity or affecting their work life. If you show respect, equality, and fairness to your team, then higher engagement, productivity, and a sense of ownership at work ensue.

It’s not uncommon to make mistakes as you progress as a leader – they are a natural part of building leadership skills. The key to growth is learning from mistakes and moving forward. By keeping communication open, staying proactive with your team, and being flexible to change, you can effectively correct any mistakes you face and develop strong leadership skills with an effective team working beside you.