Are These Traits Killing Your Leadership Ability?
To be a good leader requires many attributes. Most good leaders possess the necessary skills to lead their teams and contribute to their companies’ success. However, no one is perfect. And even good leaders aren’t always “on.” Everyone has a bad day, or a bad moment, when they lose sight of the big picture and they do or say something they later regret.
The problem is, when you’re a leader, these actions can do a lot more damage to a lot more people. So it’s important that as a leader you always maintain self-control, even in the most difficult moments. In fact, staying in control is one of the most important things you can do in order to become and remain a successful leader.
Avoid These Damaging Behaviors
There are several behaviors that lead to poor leadership, and they all involve losing your self-control. It happens to everyone, sometimes, but you have to be able to recognize these behaviors and avoid them at all cost. If you don’t they will hinder your ability to lead. In most cases, good leaders recognize their weaknesses and they know what they need to change. So if you struggle with any of these bad behaviors then now is the time to work on them.
Just let me take care of it –this might sound something like this in your head: “It’s all up to me,” or “I’m the only one that can do this right, so I better do it.”
It’s not my fault – when something goes wrong and you get upset you immediately look to find someone else to blame. This leads to criticizing and belittling.
It’s all my fault – this is exactly the opposite. You over-obsess about your performance and blame yourself for everything.
Being too politically correct – we all know it’s important to watch what we say and how we say it. But you have to be careful not to only present what’s socially acceptable or “politically correct.” Sometimes, you have to be direct and blunt.
Negativity – if you find yourself always being negative or cynical then you need to change. Always assuming something will go wrong will usually lead to things going wrong.
Sarcasm – while it might get a laugh, sarcasm has a way of defeating people. Don’t let your words cut people down. This will damage your reputation and cause people to lose trust in you.
Intellectualization – if you constantly challenge everyone else’s ideas you need to check your ego.
Domination – this is one of the worst kinds of behavior from a leader. Nothing will cause you to lose the trust of your team as fast as using your position and authority to make demands.
Make the Change
If you’ve noticed any of these attributes in your own leadership behavior then find a way to correct it. It might require taking a step back to think before you act. Ormaybe you need help from a leadership coach. But whatever the case, if you recognize there’s a problem, then do whatever it takes to fix it. You won’t regret it.
The post Are These Traits Killing Your Leadership Ability? first appeared on Advisors to the Ultra-Affluent – Groco.
