Around 65% of millennials believe they’re not equipped to be leaders yet, as they lack the necessary employer support for management positions.
Leadership training and coaching are very much still necessary, as people understand the responsibilities that such positions often require. To be a good leader, it is worth taking a look at the 7 deadly sins that leadership often faces:
1. Not Knowing Who You Are
It’s not uncommon for our image of ourselves to be vastly different from how others perceive us. Leaders who are not confident in their strengths and know their weaknesses can easily become their worst enemies.
2. Avoiding Difficult Conversations
It’s human nature to want to avoid difficult conversations. Yet, leaders can’t always afford this luxury. To be a good leader, you have to be comfortable with opposing views and standing your ground. Difficult conversations are often necessary to facilitate change and improve operations.
3. Focusing on Being Liked
Speaking of human nature, we all want to be well-liked in any group: family, friends, and at work. However, while being well-liked is certainly important for a leader, this idea cannot become a guiding force in your decision-making.
4. Avoiding Decisions
There’s no other way to do it: leaders must always make decisions, and some of them are hard. One pitfall is trying to postpone or even avoid the process because of the fear of failure. This can hinder organizational growth and even impact one’s growth as a leader and professional.
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5. Not Facilitating Change
A leader’s job is to help the organization and its employees grow. They are a conductor of change, which also means they need to be flexible enough to adapt to such changes. When leaders hinder change because they prefer the status quo, this is a huge issue for the entire organization.
6. Ineffective Communication
Communication skills can often make or break a leader. They must be well-versed in all mechanisms of language, be they verbal, non-verbal, or written. Often, they need to facilitate or encourage communication within the conversation, which is rather impossible without solid communication skills.
7. Not Focusing on Your Potential
People often view a leadership position as the prize in the career race. However, getting to the finish line doesn’t mean your journey of growth stops here. Good leaders know they must always grow their potential and skills and look outside themselves for assistance in leading a team or an organization.
How Can You Become a Good Leader?
We’ve seen that many times, people require specialized support to help them navigate the new challenges of leadership. One-on-one leadership coaching can help individuals get this support and navigate these seven deadly sins of leadership.
As to whether the sins can be avoided entirely – that depends. To err is human, but how a leader bounces back from these errors is much more indicative of their leadership abilities than whether they can avoid them altogether.
Creator of the KASHBOX: Knowledge, Attitude, Skills, Habits
Helping You Realize Your Potential
I help people discover their potential, expand and develop the skills and attitudes necessary to achieve a higher degree of personal and professional success and create a plan that enables them to balance the profit motives of their business with the personal motives of their lives.
