High growth of any company starts with effective leadership. Yet so often this is what holds back the growth of a company as the founder of the business fails to make the ‘step up’ to the new leadership style needed and ends up sabotaging their own business. Below I share 5 leadership traits which I have frequently observed stops companies from realising their potential
1. Lack of vision
Leaders who don’t define a clear vision of the future will have a team that misses goals and targets all the time. Without vision, leaders will have a difficult time motivating team members, which will ultimately affect the companies performance. Whether it’s a non-existent vision, tunnel vision, or vision that constantly changes, a leader like this will not be able to provide achievable goals and steer the team in the right direction.
2. Failure to communicate
Poor communication skills won’t get a leader very far with their team. If a leader can’t articulate goals and objectives or ask questions, it will be challenging to know what’s really going on with team members and the overall business.
Leaders should communicate in different ways. They should follow the 70-20-10 rule in conversations: 70 percent listening, 20 percent asking questions (along with some brand advocacy), and 10 percent tracking (summarising and synthesising information).
3. Micromanagement
If you can’t resist getting involved in every aspect of your employees’ jobs, then you can expect team members to resent you for not giving them responsibility. Effective leaders are able to give up control and empower their team. The more leaders you build in your company, the better leader you will become.
4. Being a know-it-all
No one likes a know-it-all. Leaders who share their success stories or boast about their accomplishments illustrate to others that they are unwilling to learn and change. Instead, a leader should always be curious and not have to feel as though they are the smartest person in the room.
5. Offering incentives
There’s been a belief that if a leader offers team members money, holidays, or meals out, it will increase their productivity. Unfortunately, research (via the the Harvard Business Review) has proven that “people who expect to receive a reward for completing a task or for doing that task successfully simply do not perform as well as those who expect no reward at all.” Instead of incentives, offer team members meaningful feedback and respect.
