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What’s Stopping You Being An Effective Leader

Published on: Aug 27, 2015

If you are reading this article, I guess you either are a leader or an aspiring leader...

I know that when you are on the outside looking in, being a leader can seem straightforward.

Fast forward to when you are in a leadership role and it might feel a whole lot harder.

I’m sure like me you have seen and worked with some great leaders and some who were pretty awful at leading.

Some think that it is simply about acquiring the right skills and you are guaranteed to be successful. Others think it’s about having the right qualifications.

While both of the above will help, your behaviours play a significant role too.

So what might be stopping you being an effective leader?

Being Too Involved

It might seem strange for me to say this, but you really can become too involved. One quality of effective leaders is that they are able to let go, trust others and focus where they need to.

Talking Too Much

Yes you have a ton of ideas. You might even have something to say on every topic, decision and discussion. Trouble is you probably don’t spend enough time listening.

Being The Lone Ranger

No doubt you are great at what you do. After all you did not get to become a leader by chance. There is one big constraint on you and others – time. In reality you can only achieve so much within the time you have available. To achieve results you have to build and utilise the potential of teams.

Being Closed Minded

Being the most senior person does not mean that you always have the best ideas. While you will have some great ideas, the skill is to be open minded and accept that there may well be a better solution.

Treating People Badly

At times you will have to give difficult feedback. You may even have to let people go from time to time. How you handle it makes all the difference. If you handle the situation compassionately people will view you differently.

Passing The Buck

Leadership bring rewards and risks. If you have agreed to take on a challenge and you don’t make the progress you had hoped, don’t blame others. Be accountable, learn and move forward.

Not Paying Attention To Feedback

Some view feedback as being negative. On the other hand if there is a pattern emerging in a particular area, you can do something about it. Start seeing feedback in a positive light.

Ask yourself:

  • Are you really acting and behaving like a leader?
  • What could you change to be more effective?
  • What do I need to do more?

Duncan Brodie helps health and other professionals to become better leaders.  You can sign up for his free audio e-course Leadership Success at http://goalsandachievements.com/tipsforleaders/

If you want to find out more about leadership courses https://www.aicpa-cima.com/category/cpe-learning/people-leadership-and-advancement?type=publication