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Leadership Skills Training – Mistakes to Avoid

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Leadership Skills Training - Mistakes

No one’s perfect and when the average imperfect individual finds him or herself in a leadership position, there are suddenly many more opportunities to mess up. As the scope of responsibility grows the likelihood of making mistakes increases. That’s why your leadership skills training should include a look at mistakes you should avoid.

Here are five common mistakes leaders make.

Failing to respect team members.
This is amazingly common! For some reason, when a person assumes a leadership role, they completely forget what it was like to be on the other side. All those things the new leader complained about before becoming a leader mysteriously disappear and he or she becomes what they despised.

Failing to communicate.
This goes two ways. First, leaders often fail to keep subordinates informed, assuming they don’t need to know. Maybe your workers don’t need to know, but informed workers perform better. Second, leaders fail to establish a culture that encourages subordinates to communicate with the boss. The most valuable information and the best ideas come from those closest to the action. Listen to them.

Failing to articulate the mission.
Often the team doesn’t clearly understand the organization’s real mission and how they fit into that mission. Sure, they know their jobs, but they aren’t clear about where their organization is going and how they can help it get there. When a leader can explain not only the organization’s mission and goals, but also how they and the team are important to accomplishing them, their team will be much more effective.

Failing to laugh at yourself.
A good sense of humor is essential to maintaining sanity as a leader. Many leaders take themselves too seriously. The ability to laugh at your own mistakes goes a long way toward making life more bearable. That doesn’t mean leaders shouldn’t take their responsibilities seriously, just that a lighter approach works better and will help you live longer.

Love of power.

There’s a saying that power tends to corrupt. If you need an example of this, just look at most politicians. But, you don’t have to be a politician, CEO, or live in the c-suite for this to be a problem. Even a little bit of power can cause an addiction that will be disastrous for leadership success. Leaders will quickly adapt to the perks of their position, no matter how small those perks might be, and want more. Whatever small amount of power they may have will soon become insufficient. That’s when trouble starts. At first it’s minor, like flaunting their new parking spot, demanding the seat by the window or the corner office, or treating workers like servants. But, the quest for more power, or at least the perks that come with more power, can quickly lead the unwary leader down a bad road that can leads to failure or even prison. It’s best not to think of leadership as power. Rather know it for what it really is; responsibility.

If you avoid these mistakes, everything will be rosy, right? No, but if your leadership skills training makes you more aware of potential pitfalls, you will be a better leader and your team will be more effective.

Common Sense Leadership, our online leadership development course is now available on-line and on-demand. Get real leadership development for all your team members.


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