The Most Common Leadership Blunders: Avoid These!

A recent US Gallup poll found only about 30 per cent of employees are fully engaged when doing their job - with disengaged workers costing employers at least $450 billion a year in lost productivity.

As a leader, you need to keep your team engaged and productive – and a good way to do this is to avoid making "leadership" mistakes.

With this in mind, a recent article on the widely respected US career and leadership website MindTools makes some excellent points about leadership and what NOT to do as a leader.

It lists some of the most common leadership mistakes - which include being too ‘hands-off’ with your staff, and misunderstanding your role.

While it is said every mistake is a learning opportunity - it is important for leaders to know how to recognise - and thus avoid - common mistakes. 

As a leader, this not only helps you become more productive and successful - but also ensures your team respects you.

Some common leadership mistakes include:

1. Failing to keep the vision

As Bill Gates says: ‘Live your vision, don’t just talk about it.’

Good leaders know how to keep the vision of the organisation fresh, focused and uppermost in the minds of their employees. A well-defined vision provides motivation, enthusiasm and purpose for all involved.

2. Modifying key objectives

Change is constant, but those leaders who are always modifying or changing their key objectives quickly lose their team’s trust, respect and confidence. The best advice is stick to your decisions and only adjust them when absolutely necessary.

3. Failing to provide feedback

This is the most common mistake most leaders make. By not providing prompt and honest feedback, you deprive your team members of the opportunity to improve their performance. Good communication also inspires action and innovation within the team – helping to foster the kind of teamwork and creativity that drives results.

4. Always micromanaging

Poor leaders spend a lot of time micromanaging their charges. Effective leaders however, recognise the importance of giving someone the responsibility to produce specific results – as well as the freedom and independence to make the decisions that will get the job done. 

5. Being too friendly

Many leaders want to be regarded by their team as friendly and approachable. However, when the buck stops with you, this friendliness can place you in a difficult position. For example, some people may be tempted to take advantage of your relationship. Thus, it is important to get the balance right between being a friend and being the boss.

6. Inability to delegate

Some managers just don’t know how to delegate – largely because they cannot trust anyone else to do key jobs properly. This can cause stress and burn out - creating ‘bottlenecks’ around them in the organisation. By delegating to others, good leaders take the pressure off themselves – and give themselves time to focus on the ‘bigger picture’.

7. Failure to recruit effectively

Filling a vacant role too quickly can lead to hiring the wrong people for your team - resulting in staff that are uncooperative, unproductive or require additional training. It can also put extra pressure on the rest of the team by forcing them to work harder to compensate for the ‘under-performer’.

8. It’s not ‘all about me’

The most effective leaders are those who are passionate about the achievements of the whole team - not just their own accomplishments. In other words, a good leader looks to others when accomplishments are completed; and to themselves when things fail.