By Jesse Clark
Every leader has their fair share of strengths and weaknesses. But, the difference between a good and bad leader is that the former doesn’t shy away from their weaknesses, rather they accept them and work towards becoming better.
During their time in the office, leaders will face various types of derailers that have the potential to affect their productivity and confidence.
In this article, we’ll take a deep dive into common derailers leaders face in the workplace and the best ways to overcome them.
Poor Communication Skills
Most organizations follow a top-down approach where leaders need to serve as innovators and guide their teams on how to achieve organizational goals. Poor communication from leaders regarding expectations, performance, and deliverables leads to confusion across the organization resulting in missed deadlines and loss of resources and revenue.
When it comes to maintaining clear communication, being repetitive is key. Frequently touch base with your teams to reiterate project goals and track progress. Additionally, encourage team members to reach out in times of need as it will help to overcome bottlenecks promptly and stay on track with deadlines.
Experiencing Bad Temperament
Managing the burden of ever-increasing responsibility can become overbearing for anyone at times, and leaders are no exception. But, bad temperament in the workplace can lead to friction with other stakeholders and cause a blow to your reputation as well. An effective way to get your emotions in control is to find and treat the cause of your stress which could be speaking with your bosses regarding your workload, meeting with HR to settle disputes with others in management or your team, practicing a hobby to blow off steam after work and develop better mental health.
As a leader, you need to be open to accepting help. This not only allows you to perform better but also sets a great example for others in the workplace.
Failing to Delegate
A common derailer experienced by leaders is the urge to do everything themselves. This is highlighted in research conducted by Outreach Magazine, which states that the fear of loss of authority is one of the prominent reasons that stop leaders from practicing delegation.
In reality, delegation is not the act of giving away authority, rather it is the practice of finding the best person for the job to ensure it is completed effectively and efficiently.
As a leader, your main responsibility is not to do the legwork yourself, rather it is to use your expertise to guide the organization towards achieving its goals. The best way to do this is to utilize the pool of talent available to you internally and externally.
For instance, if you’re planning to register your small business as a limited liability company, rather than taking on the burden of registration and paperwork on your shoulders, delegate the task to an experienced formation service.
Effective delegation will only be possible with good communication, which will involve setting clear goals for the project, establishing time-bound milestones, and periodically meeting with the delegate to iron out any questions or concerns.
Becoming Content
In today’s ever-changing business environment, leaders do not have the luxury to rest on their laurels as new challenges emerge each day. To remain on top of your game and maintain the high level of performance which you have over the years, it is important to be open to learning new skills and keeping up with the times. A few examples of new things you can learn include:
Optimizing Your Website: A website now serves as the face of a business. The better it looks and runs, the more consumers you’ll attract and retain. One of the best ways to improve website aesthetics is to create a homepage banner, which can be used to advertise offers, tease new products, or be used as a countdown for a forthcoming launch. Even if you have zero experience with website design, there are various tools using which you can design banners online for free.
Data Visualization: As reported by Seed Scientific, 2.5 quintillion bytes of data is created each day. This includes data generated by your business, consumers, and all other users on the internet.
Making sense of this data manually is impossible, but it becomes easy by using data visualization tools. Most data visualization tools leverage the power of artificial intelligence to analyze large databases and represent key information through graphics.
Whether your expertise is in product management, marketing, customer relations, or sales, learning the skill of data visualization will help you understand customers better and make informed decisions.
No Silver Bullet
While there is no single solution to keeping leadership derailers at bay, as this article explores, there are various actionable steps leaders can take to overcome workplace challenges, such as learning how to optimize a website using banners, being open to delegating important tasks, improving their communication skills and much more.
About Our Blog Contributor
Jesse Clark is a traveler, so she’s no stranger to experiencing wanderlust and that strong desire to travel. She’s already had enough experiences to last a lifetime, but she’s not stopping anytime soon.
