Some personal power is organizationally bestowed. Others are self-earned. Each is effective when wielded in the proper place and time. Yet the absolute degree of influence each power differs greatly, dependent on the value offered which is further influenced by the circumstances surrounding the power’s use.
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It is no news that being a leader requires quite a lot of perseverance and personal strength. For some people becoming a leader has been a meticulous decision and a result of many years of hard work, whereas some others might have got a leadership position without ever striving for it. The luck of the draw!
In both cases, the expectations are high and the stress is unavoidable. Not only should a leader outperform themselves and make sure all the objectives are met but they should also ensure their entire team feels happy and satisfied with work. Not an easy task to do!
Regardless of how many years of professional experience and personal training leaders possess, all of them tend to commit certain mistakes because they are all human beings. But what distinguishes a good leader from the rest is their ability to be able to recognize their mistakes and find solutions to avoid them when they get a second bite at the cherry.
For those leaders looking to improve their leadership qualities, we have compiled a list of 3 most common leadership mistakes and ways to avoid them in 2019.
Let’s take a closer look at each mistake.
#1. Not communicating the vision and the goals
Having a vision and setting clear goals is one thing, being able to communicate those to your employees is a completely different thing. Many leaders think that if they have a clear vision, that is more than enough for employees to succeed. While there is some truth to that, constantly communicating the vision and the goals is more than essential to guarantee a successful team work.
Leaders should remember that their employees have different personality types and they do not necessarily function in the same way. In order to ensure that the whole team is on the same page, leaders should remind them about the significance of the vision and how it translates into everyday tasks for each employee.
Sharing the vision, sticking to it and showing how every employee can contribute to that vision every day is key to creating a successful working environment based on common goals.
Top Tip: constant communication of the vision can be executed through monthly email reminders, oral reminders during meetings or via audiovisual support materials like TV screens around the office. Make sure every employee knows the vision and knows how to contribute to it.
#2. Poor delegating of tasks
Poor delegating of tasks is equally harmful as not delegating at all. Recent research has shown that leaders who skillfully delegate tasks achieve three-year growth rates that are 112% higher than those who don’t delegate at all or who do so poorly.
Delegating tasks will not only let a leader concentrate on more important tasks of strategic value to the company but will also empower employees because by doing even the smallest task employees feel like a valued member of a team, especially when those tasks correspond to their strengths.
Here is how to delegate tasks successfully:
Identify the tasks to delegate
Choose who to delegate the tasks to, based on their strengths
Be clear about the tasks to implement
Monitor progress and give continuous feedback for improvement
Be able to redelegate when something goes wrong
Show constant appreciation
It has been proven that employees who have a chance to use their strengths and character traits are on average 74% more engaged at work. Moreover, the mere fact of knowing each other’s strengths makes the team 12% more effective.
Top Tip: delegating tasks based on strength finder results will help leaders achieve maximum efficiency. Sharing each other’s strengths can be of huge help to team members who work together as well as for leaders who manage those teams.
#3. Failing to adjust to changes
In today’s ever-changing world the ability to adjust to changes is crucial to successful leadership: continuous tech developments, new customer relationship management practices, employee motivation roller-coasters, and much more.
One of the main differences between a leader and a manager is the aptitude to embrace change. Real leaders know that change leads to new ways of growth and accomplishment. While there is no perfect formula for managing change, the secret of succeeding is realizing that change is inevitable and that growth happens when things change.
Top Tip: learn to be flexible as a leader: listen to your employees, constantly follow the trends and keep an open eye on market developments. Remember to surround yourself with people who can complement you in areas where your strengths are not enough to help you with your weaknesses.
There is no special school for leadership that teaches how to be a true leader. It takes a lot of everyday practice and a great deal of flexibility to be able to adjust to people, places and different developments.
“The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails.” John Maxwell
About the Author
Anatoli Chernyaev is a content marketing manager born in Armenia and currently residing in France. He writes about various topics such as self-awareness, positive thinking, personal development, and career advice.
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We know that taking care of ourselves at home is important. We know that eating well and exercising regularly is what will keep us healthy. But what about our work? As a business owner, you will probably find there are times that you feel stressed and anxious, or that you work long hours and neglect your own self-care due to this.
If this is the case (as it is for many small business owners), it is essential to take a step back and think about your own self-care. After all, taking care of your physical and mental needs can improve your business. Here’s how it works.
You Can Say No
Being able to say no in business is important. If you say yes to everything that anyone asks of you, you will soon become overwhelmed and exhausted. Not only that, but you will use up all of your time doing things that are of no benefit to you, leaving little time left to do anything that will help to grow your business.
Practicing self-care means that you will be stronger and more able to say no. You will be able to look at each situation objectively and determine whether it is going to be something that you can do well and whether it will positively impact your business.
You Can Do More
Those days when you struggle into the office even though you’re feeling unwell are not productive days. It would be better if you stayed at home practicing self-care, looking after yourself and resting. That way, you will heal more quickly and get back to work sooner, resulting in less time off than if you tried to go in and became more unwell. You will also find that just a few days off to rest and mend will mean you are more productive when you return, and the quality of the work you do won’t suffer.
The more severely ill you are, the more time you will need to take off. There may be other complications including a hospital stay or the need to use The Medical Negligence Experts to help you once you have recovered if there has been a problem. No matter how long you need to take off work, rushing back will only make things worse. In these cases, insurance or a good manager will need to be used to help you.
Good Company Policy
At some point, you may well hire other people to assist you in your business. You need them to be happy and function well, and if you can lead by example this will be beneficial. Practicing self-care by having scheduled breaks throughout the day, having set working hours, taking the time to relax and exercise where possible, and eating well is something that you can instill in your employees. This will make the business somewhere that is good to work in, and your employees will be more loyal to you if they know you have their best interests at heart.
Make it company policy that self-care needs to be a priority and your workers will be more productive and much happier in their jobs.
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Leadership development refers to specific programs utilized by organizations, in order to train or coach an employee(s) about effective leadership requirements. These programs focus on improving the skill-set and attitudes of the individual or group of individuals.
Why is leadership development important?
The productivity of a workforce is largely dependent on the capability of its leaders. The importance of leadership development programs are manifold and are crucial to the development of organizations. These include:
Effective leadership development program helps people to execute and identify improvement strategies which will increase the productivity of valued resources and organizational success.
The more a company focuses on internal leadership development, the easier it is to achieve specific organizational objectives and goals such as, strategy change, reorganization, and cultural transformations among others.
Leadership development has been shown to help people become more open to constructive feedback and develop self-awareness, clarify behavioural patterns that may hinder job effectiveness, and also identify strengths and personal development needs.
Through proper coaching, a leader’s ability to assimilate is heightened, and a high-potential leader is developed. Thus, creating a highly effective manager who will undoubtedly assure success in new assignments.
In the long-run, having leaders that can foster a positive culture will provide a big impact on the organization.
Two Approaches to Learning about Leadership Development
There are two major approaches to leadership development and training programs which are individual or Self-directed approach and collective or other-directed approach. It’s essential that you learn and understand the approaches you can implement in improving your leadership development.
Formal vs. Informal training
Formal approaches are well structured, organized, pre-planned and forward-looking in order to achieve a specific outcome. While informal approaches are the knowledge you gain while on the job, carrying out your various day-to-day activities, reading a book or having discussions with a friend or colleague.
Regardless of the approach, that is, informal or informal, it is vital to capture and recognize that learning is a continuous process. You can’t just read a book or two and claim to know all about effective leadership.
If you are to become a great leader, then you need to learn to learn, and continue on the pathways to leadership development. The tip for continuously learning is to develop the ability to reflect on your past experiences as well as the experiences of others.
Individual or Self-directed Vs. Collective or Other-directed training
Individual development has been the targeted approach for a while now. Just as the name implies, it focuses on the development of a particular person or individual, solely to identify the person’s weaknesses and strengths, and in turn, train and improve his/her ability and trait.
This can be achieved through strategies like attending different seminars or workshops, reading books or other educational resources, one-on-one coaching, and questionnaires, among others.
The advantage of this approach is vast. The most important being undivided attention on the individual which will boost or speed up the individual’s skill and trait. However, this approach can be difficult to implement, costly and also send mixed messages within an organization.
Collective or Other-directed approach
A more recent approach is the collective approach, which focuses on training a group of people rather than an individual. This approach is easier to implement and can also produce powerful results in terms of leadership succession.
However, due to a lack of focus on individual skill-set, people may end up learning skills that do not fit their personalities or personal values or end up developing skills they already have.
Guidance for constructing a leadership development Program
Communicate your vision by outlining the qualities and skills required to occupy specific leadership positions in your organizations.
Focus on the outcomes by monitoring the performance of the leader at every step of the way, through a regular meeting.
Tips for personal leadership development
Strategic thinking
Have a broader business perspective. Learn to ‘think outside the box’ and see the big picture. Also learn to understand the ‘why’ and not just the ‘how’.
Coaching
Learn to direct and guide your team rather than always telling them what to do.
Financial Shrewdness
Fine-tune your financial literacy to better understand and interpret the company’s financial statements.
Active Listening
Tone up your ability to pay more attention and demonstrate that you value what other team members have to say.
Industry, competitive and customer knowledge
Understand what your customers need, have a vast knowledge of the industry you are in and know your competitors.
Point balance
Leaders need to know how to balance their strengths and use them when needed and to ‘put a leash’ on them when they are not appropriate. Strengths overused can easily turn into weaknesses.
Time management
Manage your time appropriately and learn to prioritize. Make a step-by-step plan for resolving tasks and avoid seemingly unproductive ventures and focus more on value added activities.
Talent management
Have a succession plan for your position, fill all positions with ‘A players’ and do not be afraid to let go of toxic employees. Refine your ability to hire, promote, delegate, assess and promote your staff.
Leadership Presence and Effective Communication
Learn the ability to ‘command attention’, communicate with people whose styles and perspectives may differ from your own and also respect their perspectives. Utilize available technology to improve internal communications and collaborate virtually.
Integrity Building
Inspire your employees to be people of unquestionable integrity when you stick to your values and core beliefs, do not make unreasonable demands of your team nor make false promises.
Change Management
Learn to summon others to change, instigate changes, be flexible to change, bring needed changes to light, drive company-wide inspiration and motivation to change, and also set the parameters for developing a culture of change within the organization.
Develop an effective collaboration with employees.
Conflict and confrontational management
Cross functional knowledge and perspective including the ability to network across boundaries
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Landing the best jobs is often about who you know; from referrals to outright hires. But what happens when who you know is not the hiring manager?… Business Politics!
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Business Programs
Business Politics Players – Influential Strength of Each Personal Power
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3 Most Common Leadership Mistakes and How to Avoid Them in 2019
/in Management & Leadership, Practices for Professionals/by Anatoli ChernyaevIn both cases, the expectations are high and the stress is unavoidable. Not only should a leader outperform themselves and make sure all the objectives are met but they should also ensure their entire team feels happy and satisfied with work. Not an easy task to do!
Regardless of how many years of professional experience and personal training leaders possess, all of them tend to commit certain mistakes because they are all human beings. But what distinguishes a good leader from the rest is their ability to be able to recognize their mistakes and find solutions to avoid them when they get a second bite at the cherry.
For those leaders looking to improve their leadership qualities, we have compiled a list of 3 most common leadership mistakes and ways to avoid them in 2019.
Let’s take a closer look at each mistake.
#1. Not communicating the vision and the goals
Having a vision and setting clear goals is one thing, being able to communicate those to your employees is a completely different thing. Many leaders think that if they have a clear vision, that is more than enough for employees to succeed. While there is some truth to that, constantly communicating the vision and the goals is more than essential to guarantee a successful team work.
Leaders should remember that their employees have different personality types and they do not necessarily function in the same way. In order to ensure that the whole team is on the same page, leaders should remind them about the significance of the vision and how it translates into everyday tasks for each employee.
Sharing the vision, sticking to it and showing how every employee can contribute to that vision every day is key to creating a successful working environment based on common goals.
Top Tip: constant communication of the vision can be executed through monthly email reminders, oral reminders during meetings or via audiovisual support materials like TV screens around the office. Make sure every employee knows the vision and knows how to contribute to it.
#2. Poor delegating of tasks
Poor delegating of tasks is equally harmful as not delegating at all. Recent research has shown that leaders who skillfully delegate tasks achieve three-year growth rates that are 112% higher than those who don’t delegate at all or who do so poorly.
Delegating tasks will not only let a leader concentrate on more important tasks of strategic value to the company but will also empower employees because by doing even the smallest task employees feel like a valued member of a team, especially when those tasks correspond to their strengths.
Here is how to delegate tasks successfully:
It has been proven that employees who have a chance to use their strengths and character traits are on average 74% more engaged at work. Moreover, the mere fact of knowing each other’s strengths makes the team 12% more effective.
Top Tip: delegating tasks based on strength finder results will help leaders achieve maximum efficiency. Sharing each other’s strengths can be of huge help to team members who work together as well as for leaders who manage those teams.
#3. Failing to adjust to changes
In today’s ever-changing world the ability to adjust to changes is crucial to successful leadership: continuous tech developments, new customer relationship management practices, employee motivation roller-coasters, and much more.
One of the main differences between a leader and a manager is the aptitude to embrace change. Real leaders know that change leads to new ways of growth and accomplishment. While there is no perfect formula for managing change, the secret of succeeding is realizing that change is inevitable and that growth happens when things change.
Top Tip: learn to be flexible as a leader: listen to your employees, constantly follow the trends and keep an open eye on market developments. Remember to surround yourself with people who can complement you in areas where your strengths are not enough to help you with your weaknesses.
There is no special school for leadership that teaches how to be a true leader. It takes a lot of everyday practice and a great deal of flexibility to be able to adjust to people, places and different developments.
About the Author
How Self-Care Can Improve Your Business
/in Entrepreneurship/by StrategyDrivenIf this is the case (as it is for many small business owners), it is essential to take a step back and think about your own self-care. After all, taking care of your physical and mental needs can improve your business. Here’s how it works.
You Can Say No
Being able to say no in business is important. If you say yes to everything that anyone asks of you, you will soon become overwhelmed and exhausted. Not only that, but you will use up all of your time doing things that are of no benefit to you, leaving little time left to do anything that will help to grow your business.
Practicing self-care means that you will be stronger and more able to say no. You will be able to look at each situation objectively and determine whether it is going to be something that you can do well and whether it will positively impact your business.
You Can Do More
Those days when you struggle into the office even though you’re feeling unwell are not productive days. It would be better if you stayed at home practicing self-care, looking after yourself and resting. That way, you will heal more quickly and get back to work sooner, resulting in less time off than if you tried to go in and became more unwell. You will also find that just a few days off to rest and mend will mean you are more productive when you return, and the quality of the work you do won’t suffer.
The more severely ill you are, the more time you will need to take off. There may be other complications including a hospital stay or the need to use The Medical Negligence Experts to help you once you have recovered if there has been a problem. No matter how long you need to take off work, rushing back will only make things worse. In these cases, insurance or a good manager will need to be used to help you.
Good Company Policy
At some point, you may well hire other people to assist you in your business. You need them to be happy and function well, and if you can lead by example this will be beneficial. Practicing self-care by having scheduled breaks throughout the day, having set working hours, taking the time to relax and exercise where possible, and eating well is something that you can instill in your employees. This will make the business somewhere that is good to work in, and your employees will be more loyal to you if they know you have their best interests at heart.
Make it company policy that self-care needs to be a priority and your workers will be more productive and much happier in their jobs.
The Effective Guide to Leadership Development Programme
/in Talent Management/by StrategyDrivenLeadership development refers to specific programs utilized by organizations, in order to train or coach an employee(s) about effective leadership requirements. These programs focus on improving the skill-set and attitudes of the individual or group of individuals.
Why is leadership development important?
The productivity of a workforce is largely dependent on the capability of its leaders. The importance of leadership development programs are manifold and are crucial to the development of organizations. These include:
There are two major approaches to leadership development and training programs which are individual or Self-directed approach and collective or other-directed approach. It’s essential that you learn and understand the approaches you can implement in improving your leadership development.
Formal vs. Informal training
Formal approaches are well structured, organized, pre-planned and forward-looking in order to achieve a specific outcome. While informal approaches are the knowledge you gain while on the job, carrying out your various day-to-day activities, reading a book or having discussions with a friend or colleague.
Regardless of the approach, that is, informal or informal, it is vital to capture and recognize that learning is a continuous process. You can’t just read a book or two and claim to know all about effective leadership.
If you are to become a great leader, then you need to learn to learn, and continue on the pathways to leadership development. The tip for continuously learning is to develop the ability to reflect on your past experiences as well as the experiences of others.
Individual or Self-directed Vs. Collective or Other-directed training
Individual development has been the targeted approach for a while now. Just as the name implies, it focuses on the development of a particular person or individual, solely to identify the person’s weaknesses and strengths, and in turn, train and improve his/her ability and trait.
This can be achieved through strategies like attending different seminars or workshops, reading books or other educational resources, one-on-one coaching, and questionnaires, among others.
The advantage of this approach is vast. The most important being undivided attention on the individual which will boost or speed up the individual’s skill and trait. However, this approach can be difficult to implement, costly and also send mixed messages within an organization.
Collective or Other-directed approach
A more recent approach is the collective approach, which focuses on training a group of people rather than an individual. This approach is easier to implement and can also produce powerful results in terms of leadership succession.
However, due to a lack of focus on individual skill-set, people may end up learning skills that do not fit their personalities or personal values or end up developing skills they already have.
Guidance for constructing a leadership development Program
Focus on the outcomes by monitoring the performance of the leader at every step of the way, through a regular meeting.
Tips for personal leadership development
Have a broader business perspective. Learn to ‘think outside the box’ and see the big picture. Also learn to understand the ‘why’ and not just the ‘how’.
Learn to direct and guide your team rather than always telling them what to do.
Fine-tune your financial literacy to better understand and interpret the company’s financial statements.
Tone up your ability to pay more attention and demonstrate that you value what other team members have to say.
Understand what your customers need, have a vast knowledge of the industry you are in and know your competitors.
Leaders need to know how to balance their strengths and use them when needed and to ‘put a leash’ on them when they are not appropriate. Strengths overused can easily turn into weaknesses.
Manage your time appropriately and learn to prioritize. Make a step-by-step plan for resolving tasks and avoid seemingly unproductive ventures and focus more on value added activities.
Have a succession plan for your position, fill all positions with ‘A players’ and do not be afraid to let go of toxic employees. Refine your ability to hire, promote, delegate, assess and promote your staff.
Learn the ability to ‘command attention’, communicate with people whose styles and perspectives may differ from your own and also respect their perspectives. Utilize available technology to improve internal communications and collaborate virtually.
Inspire your employees to be people of unquestionable integrity when you stick to your values and core beliefs, do not make unreasonable demands of your team nor make false promises.
Learn to summon others to change, instigate changes, be flexible to change, bring needed changes to light, drive company-wide inspiration and motivation to change, and also set the parameters for developing a culture of change within the organization.
Business Politics Lessons Learned – Who Hired You and What About the Person You Actually Work For?
/in Business Politics Lessons Learned, Premium/by StrategyDrivenHi there! Gain access to this article with a StrategyDriven Insights Library – Total Access subscription or buy access to the article itself.
Sign-up now for your StrategyDriven Insights Library – Total Access subscription for as low as $15 / month (paid annually).
Not sure? Click here to learn more.
Don’t need a subscription? Buy access to Business Politics Lessons Learned – Who Hired You and What About the Person You Actually Work For? for just $2!