You think you are a pretty terrific boss! But are you ignoring one of these 10 signs that you are actually a horrible leader? You just may be, but to be sure, check them out here…
10 Signs You Are a Pretty Horrible Leader
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You Do vs. Coach
Leaders should not be doing the work. It may be more efficient, effective, and accurate if you did do the actual work but that is not your job! Your job is to lead and manage the work. When you step in and take over the actual execution of the work, you disempower your employees and deny them the chance to learn.
Rather than rolling your sleeves up, consider fully delegating work to your employees and offer coaching and guidance to support them (I know, easier said than done!).
2. You Tell vs. Ask Questions
If your employees ask you a question and you give them the answer, you’re preventing him or her from learning on their own.
Furthermore, you set the stage for your employees to continuously come to you for help instead of problem-solving on their own.
As a leader, your job is to promote the person’s ability to independently solve his or her problems. And you do that by responding to employee questions by asking questions back, such as:
- What have you already considered or looked at?
- Who do you know that has experience with this topic?
- What information would be helpful to you?
If you ask these questions, you promote the employee’s ability to fish for himself or herself. Over time, the employee will become more independent, which benefits both the employee AND you.
3. You’re Thinking About Today vs. Tomorrow
Leaders lead a group into the future. If you’re spending your time being involved in the work your employees are doing today, you may be neglecting planning for that future.
If you don’t focus on the future, who will? As a leader, you need to be identifying and planning for future challenges, resource requirements, and skills.
If you’re focused on today’s work, then you’re not able to focus on making future plans and, as a result, you’re risking the long-term stability of your organization.
4. You Tell Your Employees What They Want to Hear
Your job as a leader is to maximize the potential of your employees. To do that, you have to be honest with employees about their areas of development needs.
You may feel awkward about critiquing your employees but, if done well, your employee will appreciate it. I know I have when leaders gave me productive feedback. You can check out how to give employee feedback here.
5. You Are The Expert
A leader provides vision and guidance to his or her employees. You’re not intended to be the subject matter expert. That’s someone else’s job on your team. And, if you’re the expert, what role do your employees play?
So, you let them do their job and you do yours.
6. You Save Employees From Mistakes
You invest a lot in your employees and you want them to succeed. So, how can doing so make you a horrible leader?
Sometimes you need to let your employees flail (and even fail). If you jump in every time an employee gets in hot water, you’re showing them that you’re not sure they can solve problems by themselves. That is de-motivating and, more so, creates a situation where the employee relies on you and stunts their development.
7. You’re Comfortable
If you’re feeling like everything is just easy-peasy at work, and tied up in a bow, then you’re not challenging the status quo. As a leader, you need to be constantly pushing for the ongoing improvement of yourself, your team, and your work. You need to identify the issues and gaps that exist and plan for them.
To be honest, if there is something that is easy, then you shouldn’t be focused on it; you should delegate that. This is why being a leader is a very hard job…nothing ever feels settled or perfect.
8. You’re Frazzled
On the other side of being comfortable, you also should not let yourself become anxious, busy, and burnt out. How would it feel to work for a manager who had those qualities? To inspire the best in your employees, you need to maintain balance in your life and in your mind.
You’ll often hear people tell managers to “put your oxygen on first.” In an airplane, parents are often instructed to put on their own oxygen mask before helping their children with theirs. This is because a parent who is passed out cannot help a child. Same is true for leaders; if you’re not taking care of yourself and — as a result — you are frazzled, then you cannot support and take care of your employees.
9. You Have a “One Size Fits All” Communication Style
As a leader, you need to find a way to connect to, motivate, and influence a lot of different people. To do so, you likely need to adjust your communication style to meet your employees where they are. For example, some people simply need to see important information in writing vs. being told. Others need to have a lot of data and information, while others do best without details.
If you want to succeed as a leader, you need to learn how to best communicate with them.
How do you do that?
Well, you could ask them. Or you’ll also learn from how they communicate to you.
10. You’re a Robot
As a leader, you need to be yourself. If you are playing a role or hiding your true feelings, your employees will sense that and lose trust. Now, you shouldn’t be crying or yelling or saying inappropriate things; you still need to use judgment.
That said, you can share your natural personality, humor, and feelings. Your employees will trust you and be motivated by your genuineness.
What are YOUR top signs that your boss is a horrible leader?! I’d love to hear them in the comments!
If you liked this post, be sure to check these out:
- 5 Female Leadership Traits That Make You Successful
- 3 Behaviors That Will Ensure You Get Promoted
- 5 Most Important Career Tips for Ambitious Women
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