Leadership isn’t about having a huge office or the authority to make important business decisions. Great leaders know for a fact that their failure or success depends on their ability to guide and inspire their teams. This is a big challenge for leaders because it takes a special quality to keep employees and workers motivated in their jobs.
Here are 5 major reasons why new leaders may not be able to succeed in leading their teams:
a. Too much or too little confidence
Knowing what you have to do as a leader is easy, but doing it can be very challenging. As a leader, you know how to be a good one, and perhaps you also know what you may do that will make you a bad one. The problem with many leaders is that they often forget what they know and become full of themselves, and there are those also who are not so sure of themselves. It is because of these uncertainties that they end up being ineffective.
b. Having wrong expectations
Leaders are also likely to be unprepared to handle the realities of managing a group of people. All they think about is how to please the higher management, and in the process, they either react poorly to issues concerning workers or they ignore those issues completely. To be an effective leader, you need to be very realistic in your expectations. Your job will not be as easy as you may think it is, mainly because you have to deal with people.
c. Not having the right training for the right skill set.
There are various competencies you need to have in order to be a good leader. Keep in mind that when you become a leader, it’s not going to be just about you. Your success will come only after the success of your people comes. Instead of focusing only on your tasks, you need to support the people who are doing the tasks.
d. Taking for granted the need for strong relationships
Leading is about building relationships. It’s about developing trust, forming teams, and making use of your excellent interpersonal skills. If you ignore the vital process of building good relationships, you are going to pay the price.
e. Lack of active listening skills
Bad leaders are those who think they know everything. Good leaders, on the other hand, are aware that there are still many things they need to learn. When you have a mindset that you are still in a learning process, you naturally become a good listener because you think that knowing other people’s opinions is a way to acquire knowledge. Good and effective leadership can only come from someone who is willing to listen and learn from the people he or she is leading.