Effective leadershipis not about managing your way through a maze of to-do tasks that do nothing but add to the misconception that you’re actually doing something important. In most cases, you’re not. You’re just getting good at busy work.There are many of you who start out having good “intentions” about being an effective leader, but your actions result in you falling woefully short. These shortfalls turn into real barriers to your ability to lead effectively and achieve any meaningful level of success. The source of these barriers and their solution can be found in the same place: within you.Many of you are unwilling to take ownership of these barriers. In fact, many are even unwilling to admit that these barriers exist.A former client always “talked” about the need to be a better leader but never made the commitment to himself to embrace the need to change. Rather, he surrounded himself in his comfort zone of busy work going from task-to-task with nothing tangible to show for it.
Take a look at a few of these barriers. If you’re guilty of any of them, ask yourself, are you ready to put your intentions aside and act?
“I want everybody to like me.”Related:
Make 2019 the Year of NOEffective leaders understand that making tough and unpopular decisions are a very necessary part of what they do. They allow their need to be liked to become a barrier to taking the right actions as required. They believe that being liked is more important than being respected. The result: a team that lacks leadership and is unable to get to the next level.
The need to study all the sides of a circle.Leaders who cannot make timely decisions personally experience (and cause) anxiety, frustration and anger within their team. Ultimately the team has little or no confidence or trust in the leader to lead.
Fails to set the right performance expectations for their team.This type of leader fails to see the value of spending time
properly developing and utilizing their team. They avoid any meaningful one-on-one discussions with their team members. They also avoid providing meaningful and constructive feedback. In fact, they are afraid to take this critical leadership action. They just talk about it, leaving their teams unclear on what their purpose is and how they are doing achieving it. Effective leaders know that one of their primary roles is to help their people grow in their jobs.
