We came across an interesting article from Jack Welch of Strayer University, which looked at leadership and common ways that bosses can get it wrong. Below, we have summarised accordingly.
Leadership can be a difficult thing to master and not being good at it can have a huge impact on a business. Here are some of the most common leadership mistakes:
Being or having a know-it-all leader is when the manager has an opinion about everything from your sense of fashion or what car you drive to where the company is going and what the future holds. It is an unfortunate personality trait in a leader because they do not listen, new ideas from others are rarely heard, debated or improved and other staff members find the know-it-all insufferable. No single individual can have all the answers for a business, innovations happen through open discussions and new ideas of all the staff and a know-it-all leadership just creates silence.
A stand-offish or remote leader can be just as bad, these are the emotionally removed leaders who distance themselves from others. They attend meetings and functions but are usually happier hiding in an office than digging in with the rest of the team. A cold remote leader will never inspire confidence or innovation in their staff and this can be dangerous to a business’s growth.
A bully boss is another leader who is just plain nasty to other staff as they encourage an insensitive, abusive and destructive culture through their lack of respect for others. This is dangerous as this type of leader usually ends up self-destructing and damaging the team around them.
At the opposite end is the much-too-nice leader who cannot make the difficult decisions and has no edge. They often say ‘Yes’ to keep people happy and often end up causing confusion. They justify this approach as trying to build a consensus within their team but really they just cannot deal with confrontation.
The last type of boss to avoid or avoid being is one who cannot differentiate between good and bad. Some leaders sprinkle their decisions to invest, like cheese over pizza and never have one clear or definitive path. This results in a lack of progression at best and a bad investment at worse. This is also apparent when giving staff reviews where everyone gets a similar review rather than an honest appraisal that keeps the staff positive, motivated and on target.
All of the categories of weak leadership have a similar issue with a serious lack of self-awareness that makes them a lousy leader, which in turn negatively affects the team around them. As a leader you should try to review your own strengths and weaknesses within your role as well as the team around you.
Castle Hill House