8 MISTAKES A LEADER CANNOT AFFORD TO MAKE

This article is for people who are at top leadership, CEOs, directors, founders, organization leaders, owners, etc. Your role is completely different from managers & executives. You have to deal with things that most other leaders don’t have to.

So, based on my more than a decade of experience as a leader in the IT industry and close to two decades of coaching experience I have come up with 8 mistakes that are self-sabotaging for an optimum leader.

We all play the role of a leader in some way. However, when it comes to play the top level game there are certain protocols that a leader must follow. When we are in a situation where our decisions affect a lot of lives then we have to play the role with utmost care.

1) Aggressive Behavior:

Staying calm & composed is the key to play the role of a leader with efficiency. Now, there are many leaders who have done exponentially well in their industry even though they are a bit aggressive. Yes, there are people like that but here we are talking about efficiency.

It is about having an assertive approach toward situations. Getting aggressive or submissive is a reactive approach. Staying assertive is more of a responsive approach. By staying assertive you can perceive a situation from all angles without getting emotional. This will help you to take decisions while keeping all the possible outcomes in mind.

Take the example of M.S. Dhoni who was captain of Indian cricket team during 2011 world cup and Sangakara who was captain of Sri Lanka. Both teams were in the final. India won Sri Lanka lost but the captain of both the teams had an assertive approach. Win or lose is part of business but what we learn from our success or failure that counts a lot in the future.

2) Appearing Weak:

I know this might sound a bit shady advice but there are couple of things that we need to understand first. We live in a civilized society but still our minds are ruled by many primitive tendencies. There are many behavioral aspects that we are not even aware about. Many different researches have shown from time to time that in social situations such primitive tendencies influence our decision-making.

Psychology says when you appear weak or dependent it gives power to other people. Other people may not be good with that power.

During one of the down phases of my business, I was going through a lot of stress. I would appear stressed and weak. My team was a family. However, one of the member who was in the organization from just couple of months stopped doing his work sincerely. I came to know from some other team member that he would not attend the customers and would simply pass the time in office.

When he saw that I am not in a strong position and would not be able to take strong actions against him he started doing things that would damage the organization. All the team members were sincere and had trust but that single employee did a lot of damage.

So, even if you are in a compromising situation do not lose your confidence. Do not appear weak. Keep your posture straight, walk with confidence and wear a smile.

3) Avoiding Conflicts:

Conflicts are part of a team. People will have a difference in opinion. Team members may have a problem with you or they may have problem with each other. This is going to happen. The problem is not the conflicts, the problem is unresolved conflicts.

As a leader, your job is to resolve conflicts among team members. Even if a team member is having a difference of opinion with you, it is your duty as a leader to find the exact reason and dissolve it.

Because if as a leader you avoid conflict, members will have suppressed emotions. These emotions will come out at the most vulnerable situation and may do irreversible damage.

4) Try To Resolve All Conflicts:

One thing a leader needs to keep in mind is that not every conflict needs to be resolved. Every conflict has a right time to dissolve it. If you as a leader try to resolve a conflict before time, it will not be resolved. People may on the surface appear that they don’t have a problem but inside they will have the same emotions.

Only when you bring out the issue at the right time you can reap maximum benefits from the situation for yourself and your team members as well. Also, as a leader one must remember that it is quite impossible to resolve all the conflicts. There are and always will be some conflicts which will not be resolved, at least not in this lifetime. So do not waste your creative energy trying to resolve every conflict.

5) Showing Dependency:

A leader is not a leader, alone. A leader always needs a tribe, a team. However, a true leader will not be dependent upon a single person. Dependency is just a state of mind. The feeling of dependency binds a person. Yes, we all are dependent on each other but mind you we are dependent on people and not a person. We need food to survive, is a reality. We need pasta to survive is an illusion.

While working with a team you may find some of the members extraordinary in their work. They would handle situations really well. When I was running my web design company, I had someone who was an expert in Flash. He would create amazing websites in no time. He soon realized he was best in his work and started expecting more. I never gave anything unreasonable to anyone. He left my organization. Not a sweat, my company survived well. Nobody missed him, nobody missed his work, and no customer missed flash websites.

But I see a lot of people being exploited by their employees just because they show dependency. One may get instant benefit by accepting the terms in such cases but in the long run they are ruining their leadership ability. For a leader the only thing that should matter is leadership.

6) Taking Risk Without Calculations:

It has been a debate from time immemorial, should one take risks in life or not. What is risk? A situation that exposes you to danger.

Let's say you are traveling alone at night through a dark road. You have two choices, walk down the road or wait till the morning. If you choose to walk down the dark road without giving it a thought it is risky. If you choose to stay till morning without thinking it is also risky. But when you calculate, what will be the worst possibility, what will be the best possibility, what will be the minimum damage, what will be the minimum benefit of all the options available then it is calculated risk.

But many of us do not wish to give our brain that much stress. This creates stress in leader’s life. Never walk the road you have not evaluated. Walk after you evaluate. You still may lose but you will lose with experience & knowledge, experience & knowledge that will empower you in next situation.

7) Resisting Change:

A leader becomes an optimum leader when he or she gets enlightened. When he or she realizes the ultimate truth. One of the verbal expressions of the ultimate truth is, “Everything Changes.”

Instagram & YouTube both have adapted the short content strategy of TikTok. Even LinkedIn has come out with similar video section.

If as a leader we are not prone to change, our position is always under threat. Stay flexible and change with circumstances. You don’t have to change your core values, but you should be flexible with your strategies.

8) Ignoring Protocols:

As a leader you should have protocols in your organization. If you don’t have you should create and always follow them. Protocols are made to avoid possible threats and accomplish opportunities.

With time we get a little careless with systems. This is common human behavior. We learn to wear a seat belt while driving, avoid talking on phone while driving but with time we get careless. We even get good at executing tasks without following protocols. It all might appear ‘OKAY’. But not for a leader, not for a top-level performer.

Kids playing football or cricket on school grounds can choose to eat whatever they want. But once you are in the big game, your every calorie counts. You cannot be careless with your discipline and protocols. Same is the case with leadership. If you choose to play the small game everything is all right. But if you want to excel in your business, you cannot compromise on protocols.

Small actions reap big results in the long run. A 5 degree of change on a ship from India will land you to South America instead of North America. So, if a leader wants to go for the long run and play the big score, he or she should carefully build protocols and never break them.

WRAP UP

·??????? Aggressive Behavior

·??????? Appearing Weak

·??????? Avoiding Conflicts

·??????? Trying To Resolve All Conflicts

·??????? Showing Dependency

·??????? Taking Risk Without Calculations

·??????? Resisting Change

·??????? Ignoring Protocols

As a leader, we constantly need to evolve. In my Life Coaching sessions, we focus on creating optimum leaders. We all have an optimum leader within ourselves. We just need to get the leader out and groom the leader well. For more details feel free to reach out.