What LEADERSHIP Mistake are you making?

30 Mar

Recently I read this article: 5 Common Leadership Mistakes You’re Probably Making.

I loved it and found it nailed some of the key areas leaders got off track — ego, emotional reaction, avoidance, not delegating or planning and questioning yourself. All are natural and human and normal. The best leaders have to work through these things… the key to GREAT leadership is always working to be aware of where YOU are with each of these areas and growing in your ability to navigate them.

Use it as a way to assess where you are. And note, a leader who says, “I am good in all these areas” is a dangerous leader. That is not honest and being self-reflective with a spirit desiring to improve wherever you are on the spectrum.

I will never forget years ago I was honored to facilitate a training weekend with an older man, I want to say he was in his 90’s… but I cannot recall for sure. He had retired 2x and was back working because he loved it so much. At the end of our weekend of training, we sat down to debrief how things went and I wanted to learn from him how he thought I could improve. He was gracious in his feedback and mentoring (non- judgmental, encouraging and uplifting; sharing more things he loved and learned from than anything I could change), and then he asked how he might improve and that he was constantly learning and growing. Humility is a funny area because the more you grow and learn and lead, the more one might lose humility but true maturity knows you have never arrived but are just at a different place in the journey which is not better or lesser than someone else’s place.

Humility is a funny area because the more you grow and learn and lead, the more one might lose humility but true maturity knows you have never arrived but are just at a different place in the journey which is not better or lesser than someone else’s place.

Activity – take each of these attributes and rate yourself 0-5. Pick one area that you would like to be intentional about developing. What will you do each day to remember this area that you desire to strengthen? Set up a structure to remind you and in one month assess yourself again.