11 Classic Leadership Mistakes, and How They Can Be Avoided

These are the classic leadership mistakes to be avoided, no matter what your industry:

They don’t delegate

Failing to delegate is the classic leadership mistake. Don’t fall into the trap. The most effective leaders delegate nearly everything except the ultimate responsibility. Anything else is just power hoarding, which wins the respect and trust of absolutely nobody.

They focus on the title

President. CEO. Managing Director. What does it really matter at the end of the day? You’re the boss and everyone knows you’re the boss, so act like it. Which means be an inspiration, and get your hands dirty, and take responsibility for everything that you should take responsibility for (but never by failing to delegate). That’s what a boss does. It’s not in a name.

They take the credit but none of the blame

This is a classic mistake. Leaders who take the credit of their subordinates rarely remain in situ for long. And passing the buck is the most cardinal of sins. If you want to be respected, share the praise where it is due, and take the heat too. People will want to work their very hardest for you if they see that this is your approach.

They don’t put in the hours

Leaders should be the first to arrive and the last to leave. It is about inspiring others, not using your position to your own ends. Similarly, promote work/life balance by not being afraid to take a vacation, but do everything within the confines of established policies and procedures, and you will win the respect of your staff.

They see it as payback time

Most people have had a bad experience at some stage or another in their career at the hands of a senior manager. Yet leaders who hold grudges and see their time at the top as a period of revenge fail to grasp two critical concepts. The first is that you are exacting revenge on the wrong people. The second is to understand that this is a viscous circle, and failing to break it will drag down the organization.

“If you were treated badly on your way up, then rise above it and be determined to be different: it will win you far greater respect, and your leadership regime will be infinitely more successful as a result,” says Peter Tarrant, a business writer at Australia2Write and NextCoursework.

They remain aloof

Being a leader absolutely does not mean remaining isolated in your ivory tower: not only will you lose the respect of your employees but by positioning yourself outside of the collective you will be unable to gauge what is happening in the business. You will also fail to cement the relationships that are so important to the fundamental success of any business or organization.

They don’t recognize the next generation of talent

Nothing lasts forever, and there are always new talents coming through. Great leaders embrace that fresh talent, and harness it effectively. Failing to recognize it or, worse, deliberately stunting it, as some leaders are prone to do, shows a failing to grasp the important consideration of change. Everything changes. If you fail to adapt to that change, then your time as a leader will be oh so brief.

They don’t give feedback

In order to improve and grow, employees need feedback. And that means both the negative and the positive.

“It is a critical function of a leader to not only inspire in his or her actions but to impart knowledge and point out what needs to be done to improve. That’s what most people want to do, so be constructive in that feedback and they will follow you,” says Carlton Walsh, a communications manager at BritStudent and 1Day2Write.

They don’t listen

Failing to listen is one of the most frequently made mistakes of managers at any level of a business. In fact, failing to listen is a human error. Yet leaders are more prone to this than anyone because sometimes there is a pervading sense of superiority. Failing to listen at this critical juncture can be fatal to a regime however. You don’t need to act on everything, but you certainly always need to know what’s going on.

They fail to grasp what motivates people

Leaders may fundamentally fail to recognize what motivates people, and the truth is, there is no one single thing. However, thinking it is only money is a huge mistake to make, and will shift focus from the many things that matter. Taking the time to appreciate what really motivates the workforce individually, and enacting upon that, is where great leaders really step up.

They don’t care

Not caring doesn’t mean that the leader doesn’t value the company. It means that they fail to truly value the people who work in the business, and not just as a commodity. Of course it’s difficult to form an emotional attachment to everyone in a large company, but showing a human side, and compassion where it is due is far from a sign of weakness, as some leaders think it is, but instead is a sign of real dedication to what makes a difference in a business: the people.

About the Author:

Marketer and all-round business expert Michael Dehoyos loves nothing better than assisting organizations in their digital marketing approach. He can be found at PHDKingdom and AcademicBrits, and contributes to a number of other sites and blogs including Dissertation Help.

Top Five Reasons Most Companies Fail at Lean Implementation

Lean has been around since the late eighties/ early nineties, but despite the enormous popularity of Lean, the track record for successful implementation of the methodology is spotty at best. Companies still make mistakes when implementing Lean.

These mistakes are generally due to simple misunderstandings of the Lean principles, but when something goes wrong, you will not reap the full benefits, and incorrect use of Lean can actually make a situation worse rather than better.

I believe when Lean principles are properly understood and applied, the upside for productivity improvements is nearly infinite. I have personally witnessed numerous Lean thinking initiatives that have improved productivity by large amounts (like 40-60%) in short periods of time with minimal expenditures.  The Lean track record is well documented by numerous authors.

In my experience these are five main reasons why Lean implementation fails:

1.      Lack of understanding

Senior leaders often develop the misperception that Lean is a series of projects to make randomized improvements. The organization often becomes obsessed with the application of the tools with no aim. They only focus on improving when they have the time or when they absolutely must. Lean should be adopted as a management system, as opposed to a project, and should be tied to business goals. If employees can’t put these two together, leaders risk creating resistance and lack of buy in.

2.      Lack of direction and vision

Lean must first start by deploying a crystal-clear vision all the way down to the entire organization of the company. All employees of the company must clearly understand the company vision and direction and must also understand all KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and measurements used.

3.      Too many initiatives

I have observed many companies that pursue excessive amounts of initiatives, concurrently. They fail to recognize that the organization can only take so much change. When leaders don’t provide the necessary focus to each initiative, they sacrifice their credibility with their employees. Cynicism is created, and employees begin to see each effort as a fad that they just need to endure until the next one comes along.

4.      Lack of resources

Most of the companies mistakenly consider that Lean is a matter of a few, select experts. This is not the case. All resources of a company must be involved in improving the operations and administration of a company because there are more improvement ideas in the brains of all employees of a company than in the brains of a few experts.

5.      Resistance of change

Lean is in its purest sense a change management initiative, for it involves changing from a current state to a better state. Just as all change attracts resistance, Lean improvements also attract resistance to change, which may manifest as employees ignoring new processes, disagreeing with the benefits, making stringent criticisms, and more. Success depends on how effectively the leadership rises to the occasion and manages resistance to change.

One of the biggest mistakes you can make in initiating major company changes is to expect that everyone’s reaction will be even remotely like yours. Never minimize an employee's response to even the most simple change. Keep your employees informed.  Communicate as much as you know about what is happening as a result of the change.  One of the major reasons people resist change is fear of the unknown.  If you communicate with employees and keep them informed, you put this fear to rest.

Lean implementation is not simple or easy. However, results show that, when done properly, Lean lives up to its promises. Lean and its elements work. All of the failure modes presented here can be avoided or overcome.

If you want Lean to succeed in your organization, management has to become a student of Lean in order to be a successful sponsor. In other words, you have to apply Lean to your management process first in order to understand how to apply it to others.

Lean Quote: It's Imperative to Lead by Example

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve.

"The three most important ways to lead people are:… by example… by example… by example." — Albert Schweitzer

Whether you realize it or not, if you're a leader, your employees are watching every move you make. Good leaders must lead by example. By walking your talk, you become a person others want to follow. When leaders say one thing, but do another, they erode trust--a critical element of productive leadership.

Leading by example sounds easy, but few leaders are consistent with this one. Successful leaders practice what they preach and are mindful of their actions. They know everyone is watching them and therefore are incredibly intuitive about detecting those who are observing their every move, waiting to detect a performance shortfall.

Leaders must lead with their actions as well as their words. Leaders can effectively translate intention into reality by acting on the concepts and messages they teach and the things they say to those around them. Leadership is the act of setting the right example for those who follow. Leadership is about actively demonstrating your belief, not just talking about it. People who say one thing but do another eventually lose credibility.

When you “walk the talk,” your behavior becomes a catalyst for people’s trust and faith in you. And it also emphasizes what you stand for. Leading by example shows people exactly what you expect and gives them living proof that it can be done. On a deeper level, leading by example and being as good as your words builds trust. It’s a sign that you take what you say seriously so they can, too.


Be a role model, be the kind of person that everyone else looks up to and wants to be like. You must do this at all times, even when no one is watching, if you want everyone to follow.

Guest Post: 7 Leadership Tools and Activities for Developing Your Leadership Skills

Whether you are already a part of a management team in an organization or you aspire to become one in the future, you should know that leadership skills need to be learned and polished throughout life.

Collaborating with professionals and teams in different working environments will give you the experience you need, but working on your own development doesn’t necessarily have to happen in the office. Whatever more, you should take time to work on your leadership skills in your free time, too.

Here are the seven most important tools and activities that will help you develop some of the vital leadership skills.

Understanding your strengths and weaknesses

Self-awareness is one of the most important traits a good leader can have. Knowing what you can and cannot do is crucial in the process of setting personal and professional goals, but this isn’t the only reason. A leader aware of his or her limitations can have a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of other professionals they work with.

If you want to know which personality type you belong to and which advantages and limitations you probably have, take the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test. It will help you learn more about yourself, providing you with a detailed description of your personality type.

Perhaps you think you already know all there is about yourself, but the results of this test might surprise you.

Developing your communication skills

Your day at the office probably consists of an endless stream of meetings and the constant flow of communication with your clients, colleagues and higher management. To be able to survive each such day, you’ll need to master patience, thinking on your feet, and the secrets of effective communication.

Developing your communication skills isn’t just about learning how to speak in presentations and answer emails professionally. It’s about active listening, reading body language, goodwill, and patience.

Activities such as traveling to experience different cultures and involvement in social activities and volunteering can help you learn a lot about other people and get plenty of chances to develop and polish your communication skills.

Recognizing your leadership style

What kind of a leader are you, and what kind would you like to become? Do you have clear, proven facts to support your observations? With the USC's Leadership Style Self-Assessment test, you will have both the answers you are looking for and the science to back it up.

It’s not uncommon to believe that you are a certain leadership style representative, only to find out that it’s not really the case. If you’ve “diagnosed” yourself wrong, that might be the source of a lot of frustrations and errors that can easily be avoided.

Boosting your creativity and problem-solving skills

Every inspirational leader is recognized by their ability to identify new solutions and new approaches to the same old problems in non-traditional ways. Creativity, flexibility in thinking, and problem-solving skills can be improved and boosted within your own workplace, and there is a lot you can do to make your team included as well.

From a Shrinking Vessel and Egg Drop to Frostbite and Minefield, games and activities that help you sharpen your brain are the best ways to connect with your colleagues on longer breaks in the office or on team building sessions.

Improving your delegation skills

It sure feels empowering when you do a lot of difficult and time-consuming tasks on your own, but sometimes doing it all by yourself is simply not the optimal solution. Delegating some of your responsibilities to the colleagues you can trust to take care of them is one of the most important things every leader must do now and then.

Learn more about how mastering six levels of delegation can help you save time and become more productive, while at the same time providing your subordinates the opportunities to develop their own skills and strengths.

Assessing your conflict resolution skills

To be able to resolve conflicts, provide inspiration and motivation to everyone around you, and truly understand and accept what you can and cannot expect from your colleagues, you need to be a leader with a high emotional intelligence score.

However, although a good leader needs to be emphatic, letting your emotions guide your every move can be quite risky. The IHHP Emotional Intelligence (EQ) Assessment is a test that’s created to help you find out how able you are to identify, comprehend, and manage your own emotions.

Do your emotions make you stronger or more prone to making impulsive decisions? It’s time to find out.

Staying calm during a crisis

Our workplaces are, unfortunately, often not the spaces where we can work undisturbed, in a peaceful, nurturing environment. The higher the level of your responsibilities, the more often you are likely to feel stressed out, tired, nervous, and impatient when it comes to both your own mistakes and the mistakes of others.

Keeping your cool and the ability to make quick decisions in stressful situations is vital, and you can improve these skills by developing a unique coping strategy, limiting your daily caffeine intake, and brainstorming with your team before making any final decision.

Conclusion

Whether you’re leading a team of specialists in a start-up, a large-scale company, or a non-profit organization, a lot depends on your perception of yourself, your relationships with teams and clients, and your leadership style. Working to improve yourself on a daily basis will bring you a lot of benefits, both in the professional and individual capacity.

Contrary to popular belief, a good leader isn’t born. A good leader is created. Try out these tools and activities that help develop your leadership skills, and let us know which ones worked the best for you.

About the Author: Becky Holton is a journalist and a blogger at Rush Essay, Essay Services Reviews Club. She is interested in education technologies, best essay help, thesis writing service and is always ready to support informative speaking at essay writing services,MyAssignmentWriting, essay-writing service uk. Follow her on Twitter.

Lean Quote: Those Who Cannot Change Their Minds Cannot Change Anything

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve.

"Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything." — George Bernard Shaw

This quote is about the one certain thing in life; change. Change will happen. The question is will you allow your mind to change as the new facts are revealed?

To move beyond where you are requires change. Progress is what we call that motion when it is in a desired direction (or at least desired to the person calling it progress).

To change means wading into the unknown. That scares some people. But progress demands you let down your need for control and do something new.

Change doesn’t come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.  We are the change that we seek and now would be a pretty good moment to shift gear.

In my life, I often heard that the reason many of us resist change is that we are afraid of losing something. The reasons are plenty. It may be the fear of losing the familiar, fear of losing control, or merely the distress of losing someone and find ourselves alone.


On the other hand, when moving beyond where you are, you might see new possibilities or things you have to gain. You have to realize that change is a constant. Rather than running away from it, you should entirely and intentionally embrace it because you might live a more satisfying and full life.

Change and growth are a mark of success. It does not consist in never making mistakes but in never making the same one next time. Accept failure as a part of success also. When you fail, you learn from your mistakes, and you can then identify what you did and not repeat them.

Basically, you should not fear to make a change to grow and develop but rather be afraid of stagnating and not learning anything new.

5 Managerial Optimization Practices Your Business Needs

If you currently hold a management position or oversee multiple divisions of employees within a company, you may find yourself constantly looking for new ways to be more efficient in order to optimize your time and efforts. As “Lean” manufacturing describes, companies should always be engaged in a relentless pursuit to improve current operational and production processes. Finding new ways within the office, as well as external implementations that can improve output and employee morale can go a long way. Regardless of the industry you work in, the size of the business, or the current organizational structure of the company, workforce optimization can be reached.

Whether it is something as simple as productivity or operational day-to-day changes, or the adaptation of a new technology that can make processes less complex, there are answers to your current output challenges. Here are some great options you can use to not only make management easier but align the entirety of the business more closely with the Lean system.

Uncover Any and All Inefficiencies

Although some lag and waste are expected in any business, large or small, there are several places within the operations process that a manager can find ways to cut back or save time. It may be as simple as a lack of optimal communications and knowledge transfer between departments. However, more complicated problems could consist of machine error, inconsistencies in supply chain management, or misallocation of company resources. No matter how big or small, these issues fall back on to the executive and managerial teams. Find and record all inefficiencies that could be fixed before making any decisions that could improve workflow.

Save Money On Hardware

One way companies are saving money is by eliminating the need to buy certain hardware such as laptops and company mobile phones by adopting “Bring Your Own Device” or BYOD policies. Having employees supply their own devices while only having to incur the expense of the wireless network connectivity would save thousands of dollars each year. These funds can be allocated elsewhere to fix production issues, buy new software, or upgrade other equipment for a more efficient process. All of these examples can make Lean manufacturing possible within almost all business models.

Improve Communication Within and Between Departments

Trying to improve the cross-departmental insufficiencies of a business can be a difficult challenge. But taking the time to re-evaluate and rearrange the way interactions occur within departments, as well as the business as a whole, can seriously impact the bottom line. Poor communication can prevent progress in operations and productivity, while at the same time cause a hostile and adversarial environment which hinders collaboration. Picking the right employees to lead each focus area of the business is crucial, along with aligning experienced individuals to work beneath them to ensure that all communication can flow down the chain-of-command effectively. Employee development will surely become a higher focal point if they are coached correctly and inspired to do their best work. Team cohesion can mean the difference between minimal and significant lag. Without it, the concept of Lean manufacturing is rendered useless. 

Consider Automating Certain Practices

Adopting automation software to certain aspects of the business can save time, money and hassle for management. This automated programming has the ability to do a variety of things, from assisting in inventory management to simplifying order processing. This can also help cut back on waste by expediting several different product development and product assembly tasks. Robotic process automation has become a standard for large, diverse companies with a variety of different departments and an array of processes to make back-end tasks simple. Consider the advantages of automating your business can have both financially and strategically.

Implement Employee Recognition Programs

Exploring options like employee recognition programs may be extremely beneficial for not only company morale, but overall productivity as well. Although it’s difficult to measure the ROI on these programs, showing gratitude toward your staff for their good deeds and accomplishments will keep their work ethic at a consistently high rate while simultaneously incorporating friendly competition into the workspace. If your employees know what they are working toward in terms of personal accomplishment, they will feel a sense of urgency and pride in their work. While at the same time, the business will benefit in the long-run through sustained teamwork among divisions and consistency in meeting company-wide quarterly, and annual goals. Cash bonuses, additional vacation time, and employee of the month awards are all great ways to keep your business in the black.

About the Author: Chandler Coleman is a contributing author focused on the tech sector and discusses topics such as business-related software and automation processes.