As a leader, you are responsible for setting an example for your team. Likewise, you need to be active and vocal when it comes to showing passion for and dedication to your work. Similarly, you must be willing to put in the extra effort to achieve success. However, there are times when your leadership style falls short and requires a few tweaks. Left unaddressed, your team may well begin to doubt your abilities.
A leader is responsible for building team morale, setting the tone for the organization and an example for the team.
This article discusses seven reasons why your leadership style might not be up to snuff. Therefore, keeping them in mind means you can start working on rectifying those shortcomings and watch your colleagues rise like a phoenix.
7 Reasons Your Leadership Style Might Need Some Serious Tweaks
1. You don’t take time to think things through.
You jump into every situation with no plan of action. Likewise, you are often caught off guard by what’s going on around you. Therefore, since you don’t plan ahead, perhaps you don’t know what will happen. Instead, you just react to things as they come up.
The best leaders are proactive and think things through before acting. Similarly, they always have a plan of action and are ready to execute it if the situation doesn’t go their way.
2. You don’t listen to feedback about your leadership.
Perhaps you don’t take the time to hear what your team is saying about how they feel. Maybe you don’t even ask for their input or opinion because you don’t care what they think. Or maybe you just want them to do what you say.
However, that’s not how a leader should operate — that’s how a dictator works.
As a leader, you need to take time to understand where you are going and where your team is. You need to ask for their feedback and ideas on how to improve things.
3. You don’t have the right leadership vision for your team.
The best leaders are able to see the bigger picture and plan ahead.
They are able to see things that no one else sees. They have the ability to look beyond the surface and get to the heart of what matters. As a leader, you need to set an example for your team and keep them focused on where they are going.
Your vision should be something they can follow and be passionate about. You need to motivate them to align their vision with yours so they can see what you’re seeing. That’s how they’ll have the same level of energy and passion to take the initiative and get the job done.
4. You don’t know how to delegate.
As a leader, you need to delegate tasks and responsibilities to others. You cannot do everything yourself. You need to let go and let others step up and take the lead.
Delegating is one of the best ways to show that you are not afraid to give up control. Therefore, if you are not willing to delegate, then you need to re-evaluate your leadership style.
5. You don’t lead by example.
Leading by example means that you are willing to take risks and put in the extra effort to get results. If you are not giving your best to the projects at hand, how can you expect those under you to do the same?
A child learns and copies its elders. An employee does the same. Your team members will show the same level of motivation, passion, and persistence as you.
Therefore, you need to set an example for them in every area you want them to become better, even if it is something as small as coming to the office on time.
6. You don’t empower your weak employees.
In medieval times, dictators used to execute the weakest links in their armies and replace them with better people.
In today’s corporate world, firing is the far-less-severe equivalent of execution. Today’s typical “bosses” fire those employees who struggle to get the job done due to their skills. These bosses don’t pause to consider training and mentoring those employees. They just replace them with those who can do the job.
On the contrary, a leader doesn’t work this way. She or he takes the servant leadership approach and offers the required support, training, and mentorship to help their team members become better professionally. They believe that any organization is only as strong as its weakest employee.
Therefore, instead of firing underperforming employees, leaders work on those colleagues and help them succeed. As an added bonus, this also earns them their loyalty and respect, both of which are priceless assets.
7. You don’t communicate well.
When you talk to your employees, it needs to be two-way communication. It’s not enough to simply shout orders from behind the desk. You need to be listening to what your people are saying, too.
It’s important to understand that your team members are human beings. They have different personalities, perspectives, and opinions. They are likely to have a different way of expressing themselves than you do.
In fact, 88% of employees believe lack of communication leads to workplace failure. So you need to learn to communicate with them in a way that is relevant to them and not just to you.
Parting Thoughts
If you can relate to even just one of these issues, it’s clear you need some tweaks to your leadership style. That’s OK. We all have room for growth. However, if left unchecked, these deficiencies will eventually have serious consequences on the success of your business.
I hope this article provided meaningful help for you. I further hope you will take any necessary action to improve your leadership skills.
