Guest Post from Candace Meyer
Almost all leaders have good intentions in leading people in an organization. Their priority is to get good results and build a good relationship with their team members. But sometimes there are instances that happen against our desired plans. Sometimes the outcome is different from what we’ve expected.
To become a leader is not a simple task. In leadership, as much as possible, you have to try not to commit mistakes because it can affect your project goal and the whole team as well. But of course, problems and changes are inevitable. In reality, we are always consciously or unconsciously making mistakes. This means no one is perfect; we’re merely humans who sometimes commit mistakes and make bad decisions.
To save yourself from a lot of trouble in leading people, you have to be aware of common leadership and management errors and learn how to handle them very well.
Getting confused with a failed goal or a failed person
Some people get confused with a failed goal or a failed leader. Failure doesn’t define you as a person. If you have failed for one goal, it doesn’t mean you are already a failed leader. You are not your mistakes; you are not your struggles. You should not see yourself as a failure just because you have failed once or a few times. The purpose of failing is to teach you how to get up and try again. Keep in mind that failing is part of the process of success. There is no success without failure.
Focusing on immediate success and forgetting long-term effectiveness
Some leaders tend to focus on valuing results and forget about investing in a relationship. Of course, there should be clear boundaries between you and your team members but you should not use this as an excuse for not building good relationships. As a leader, it is also your responsibility to take care of the needs and concerns of your team members. Good working relationships are an important factor in achieving team success. Through the efforts and skills of others, the team will achieve the organization’s goal. Good leadership is not only about results; it is more of being effective in staying in touch with the rest of team.
Concentrating on tasks at hand and not on results
Being a leader is a huge job. You can get overwhelmed with so many things that need to be done so you tend to just focus on the tasks at hand rather than the result you have to achieve. Busyness is a trap for leaders. It will distract you in pursuing the real deal with your team. To avoid this, you have to be clear with the things you need to reach and not on the amount of tasks entrusted to you.
Wrong choice of motivation
What motivates you to perform well as a leader? What motivates your team members to do their job excellently? Is it money, recognition, or any other form of reward? Many leaders think the only thing that motivates their team members is a monetary reward. Money can become a good motivator but getting full engagement is not only about MONEY. Motivation is something that doesn’t only come from material things or other forms of recognition. The quality of motivation is actually up to the person. As a leader, you can help your team keep motivated by creating an environment that will encourage them to be optimally motivated.
Leadership is mistake-prone
According to some scholars, leadership is a mistake-prone endeavor. A leader is responsible for making decisions without full knowledge of what will happen in the organization. The team might have vision, but no one can actually tell if the decision or the strategy selected by a leader will build or break the whole team.
Being a leader is a risk-taking job. There are times you will make mistakes and fail but one good thing about leadership is it is not about perfection. Leadership is actually about improvement. As a leader, you take chances, you made mistakes, you fall down, you learn, and you get back on track in a much wiser and stronger level.
Guest Author
Candace Meyer is a freelance writer and contributor in au.essayontime. She is a blogger, a graduate student, and enthusiastic learner. Candace loves reading books and joining in different social networking sites. Follow her on Google+ and Twitter and visit her blog.
Wonderful post, Candace as you bring up such an important point about failure! Although we are not thrilled with making mistakes, the irony is that we learn the most from messing up.
Recently, I presented a program where my powerpoint had a small error. The participants were quick to point it out to me and although I was slightly embarrassed, the experience reminded me to take the extra time and pay attention to all the details.
Job well done!
Thanks Terri. I agree with what you said. Failure is part of the learning process. If we don’t fail, we will not learn. We must see failure as an opportunity for improvement. Thanks for sharing your experience and the lesson you’ve learned from it.
Terri, this might have been leveraged as an opportunity to fold this as humor back onto yourself, creating a positive situation. People would have respected you and found you more human.