Leadership !!!! 6 Things to avoid

I have read and heard a lot about what is leadership, how a leader should be. But rarely do you see anything on what is not Leadership, how a leader shouldn't be. I have worked with many managers and leaders where many of them call themselves leaders but still they commit very common mistakes, which should be completely avoided.

"Everyone makes mistakes; some says make mistakes but not the same mistakes. Even Thomas Alva Edison made 1,000 mistakes before he could invent Bulb, but do we have that much time in our professional and personal lives? I doubt that, it would be much better to avoid making mistakes in the first place."

In this article I am looking the 6 most common management errors and highlighting what you can do to avoid them

Don't force your decisions on the team,

We are so fond of taking decisions and force them onto others, which many of them find difficult to accept, but since you are their superior the team will have to follow your decision. Have you ever thought about the acceptance ratio of the decisions that you have made? As a leader you are being a dictator of the team which in our current business environment is a big leadership crime.

Do just one thing; orchestrate the decision from your team by inviting inputs from all who are involved. Surely you don't expect 100% acceptance for any decision but there will have to be clear majority.

Never say No to Innovation.

How many leaders support innovation or cultivate such a culture in the business? The number of such leaders is still less than average, which in the current business climate is too risky. As a leader fostering innovation is very significant for the organizations growth as well as its a great employee engagement tool.

So never say no to innovation when someone comes to you with their proposal, look into its potential and take that decision to accept or reject rather than giving reasons that the senior management may not accept this. Every idea is worth a look and give a response with your rationale for acceptance or rejection.

Don't be too busy to listen to your team.

As you are the leader for the people in your organization or business group, it is important that you don't ignore what your team says. Listening to your team is as important as any other significant activity you may be performing in your organization. It is always important you are not busy for your team, its to avoid a feeling by people that you don't care about them

Never have your answer ready before you understand your team's point of view completely. Give your team the confidence, that you listen to them and support them.

Be friendly, but don't go overboard.

Most of us want to be seen as a friendly and approachable person for your team, after all everyone would love to have a manager they get along well with. But sometimes you may have to take tough decisions with regards to your team members based on their performances or any activities that may need disciplinary actions. Make sure you set clear boundaries so that your team members are not tempted to take undue advantage of you.

Don't follow the philosophy "Do as I say, not As I do'.

This is another mistake most leaders commit, you are supposed to "walk the talk". Your team look up to you for examples which can change their life, but a rule for you and another for the team? The team would love to follow you when you demonstrate the values of the organization.

Let's not go with the philosophy "Do as I say, but don't follow what I do".

Do not manage people.

The wrong notion about the word Leadership has always been about managing people, but as a leader you should be leading, guiding, inspiring or motivating your team towards the organization's objective.

Leaders take ownership of the people and their actions while paving the right directions for them to walk through. So lets not manage people but lead them to your and lets start managing things.

Leadership is an evolving science, which has been changing for centuries, but the principles have been same though the approach is different at different situations. Every leader has some weak points which have to be identified or diagnosed and given the right treatment to be eliminated.

After all everyone likes to be perfect, don't you?