The delicate balance of leadership strengths and weaknesses

Clear, confident and compelling, are all synonyms of a leader that you look up to. They are upfront with their expectations, convincing with their ideas, and confident in their decisions. Even without a visual, an image of a perfect leader can start appearing in front of you.

But do your people need a perfect leader or a people-oriented leader?

I have had exciting opportunities to learn and expand my horizons on a personal level, as an individual. What I recognized, though, was that my objective was never to reach milestones alone. My priority was to take my team along on the path to development. Another thing that enlightened me was that gaining more skills and growing as a traditional leader is much easier than as a leader whose intention is collective growth.

From there began my self-awareness journey, which revealed that even strengths can have adverse effects. ?

How can your assets become everyone’s liabilities?

In no way is it being insinuated that honing your strengths, working on them, and going out of your comfort zone in order to perfect your skills is harmful. However, viewing everyone with the same lens can unintentionally become the reason for their long-term problems.

Loss of connection and lack of communication: The gift of gab that the leader has, whether it is while pitching their ideas, engaging you in a story or imparting a lesson, is laudable. But leadership in today’s day and age cannot be sustained on a disconnected foundation. Neither automated devices nor artificial intelligence can replace the connection that direct and genuine dialogue can create.

A leader is sometimes an orator and most times a mentor. Coaching and mentorship require embracing the art of active and patient listening. @CCL recognizes listening as a building block of compassionate leadership. Without lending ears and paying attention to the issues and inputs of your people, your words might dominate the discussion. As a result, employees might feel unheard, which can also hamper their engagement levels.

High and unrealistic expectations: Leaders’ eye for potential can translate into setting the same standards for their people as they set for themselves. The problem-solver present in the leader might have taken charge of reaching the solutions, but expecting the employees to have the answers is unrealistic. This disturbs the psychological safety at the workplace since people feel discouraged from sharing their creative ideas.

An inhibition of creativity means a hindrance to innovation. Not being able to match the high standards of the leader, employees start to doubt their own skills. Unable to experiment and make mistakes, the block in creativity leads to a decline in engagement, which eventually results in burnout. As people look for better work environments, the employee attrition rate also spikes. McKinsey & Company’s survey shows that unsustainable work performance drove 35% of?people to leave without having an offer in hand.

Fixation on perfection and tradition: When we attain the objectives, we find out a certain, full-proof method to achieve results. The entire path to development is then ideated and executed according to this tested formula. However, human leadership understands that processes are in place to benefit people, not the other way around. So, if the systems do not align with the evolving demands of people, they need urgent modification.

Holding on to conventional methods and focusing on perfection are also detrimental to inculcating change. The resources, funds, energy, and time invested in developing a perfect product could have been contributed toward experimenting to navigate through the new challenges. In the battle between progress and perfection, only the former can ensure the prevention of stagnancy.

By being aware of the duality of strengths, you can learn to identify the positives and pitfalls of strengths. When you balance the intentional utilization and deliberate prevention of their misuse, not only do you become more effective as a leader, but your people are also empowered.