Otherwise good leaders can undermine their talents with some bad leadership habits. These can develop over time and can hurt employee engagement and performance.
Think of your leadership path as sometimes needing little course corrections. If you don’t make any changes, then while you’re doing your job, you’re not performing it as well as you should.
Over time, this can lead to lots of problems, especially if your business needs everyone focused on addressing new and unexpected challenges. Let’s stage an intervention with these bad leadership habits:
The Need To Be Right All the Time
Do you find yourself arguing a lot about little details that don’t matter much in the big picture? And do you believe that if you take one side of an issue, you must be right, even if you’re not an expert in that area? How does this affect the mood of the office?
As a leader, you don’t have to know everything and it’s okay to change a position.
Along those lines, resist the urge to say, “I told you so,” when you’re right, especially if it’s surrounding a subjective issue. Don’t gloat. You’ll look like a much wiser person, when you stay silent.
Bending the Rules
You may be in a position where you don’t have to follow all of your rules. But employees will resent you if they see you getting away with things that get them in trouble.
It can also weaken your credibility if, for instance, you tell people to arrive on time and are always late to work.
You may have every right to carry on as you like but do you want people spending their day complaining about you or doing their work? Time is a valuable resource and you don’t want it spent on office gossip.
Sometimes it’s good to follow the rules because it’s your pleasure to do so rather than a requirement.
You’re Not Present With Employees
When employees come to you with comments and questions, you need to stop doing everything else and listen. Be present in the moment with them.
When you’re busy, it can be tempting to cut someone off and finish their sentence. This is especially bad if you come to a different conclusion.
In another scenario, you let the person speak but you’re obviously not paying much attention to them. No one likes to be a part of someone else’s multitasking.
People notice how you treat their colleagues. If employees see you as rude, do you think they’ll come to you with concerns or problems?
If in the moment, you’re too busy to talk to the employee, apologize and set up a later time to have the conversation. Make sure it is a specific time, as that ensures the conversation will happen. Remember, good listeners are loved and respected.
You Think You’re Done Learning
When you stop learning, you start to become a monument. You represent past thinking and ideas that are getting older every day.
In some cases, this won’t matter. You’ve been successful and that has put you on the right path. But if market conditions change or some new challenge emerges, you’ll be at a disadvantage.
Sometimes bad leadership habits happen gradually, over time. You mean to read trade journals, attend networking events, and learn from people who are smarter than you are at conferences. But you never get around to it.
Success demands a commitment to your future. Never stop learning.
Let’s Create a Memorable Meeting
