If you work in a leadership role and you’re concerned about making a mistake, we’ve put together a list of three negative leadership traits to avoid so that you can steer your team in the right direction.
Lack of discipline
Being a successful leader is less about creating balance with your responsibilities and more about identifying your priorities. The very best leaders are ruthless and unwavering in the pursuit of their goals. Leaders who fail to pay attention to detail, lack focus and do not use the leverage required to take control will not succeed in the long term and will fail their team and themselves due to their lack of commitment. Without an adequate amount of discipline, leaders will spread themselves too thin and exhibit the wrong behaviour to continue making progress in the workplace. In order for a leader to be effective, intentions must always be aligned with results.
Unpredictability
Unpredictability in leadership can appear in many forms. In order for your team to practise autonomy, they must be able to predict what you want. Without this, you risk establishing a culture of micromanagement in the workplace, which can harm the relationship you have with your team members. In order for your employees to feel comfortable in their jobs, they need to feel a sense of stability. If your team members feel like your reaction to bad news will depend on your mood that day, it can prevent vital information from being communicated effectively as your staff will be walking on eggshells around you. Sending mixed signals of any kind to your team members could be the downfall of your business.
Arrogance
The very best leaders are aware of their own flaws and pitfalls and are willing to admit when they don’t know something. They have no desire to be right all the time or to be the smartest person in the room and they know exactly who to go to for advice and when. An arrogant leader, however, will refuse to take advice from their team or anyone else who isn’t their superior. This can be detrimental to your success as you won’t be taking advantage of the huge amount of talent and knowledge available to you, so it’s essential to make sure that you don’t let your pride get in the way of your decision-making.
For more leadership advice that you can depend on, get in touch with our executive search team at Anthony Gregg Partnership today. We offer bespoke leadership coaching services to help senior executives discover their own authentic leadership style.