You must have read a lot about how to be a great leader. Successful business leaders may have different leadership styles, but they possess some common characteristics.
Do you know the reasons why many business leaders fail?
To be a successful leader, you must accept yourself as a leader and respect your position before demanding it from your team.
According to the American Management Association (AMA), the following common traits lead to leadership failure.
Insensitivity
Empathy is a significant leadership skill. A leader who pays attention to the people, their problems and challenges earns people’s respect.
Insensitive leaders are mere bosses and fail to establish themselves as business leaders.
Leaders must show they care.
Bardya Ziaian is the President and CEO of SITTU Group Inc. In his role, Bardya consults with companies, designs systems and works to invest in early-stage businesses. His vision for the People is to create opportunities based on current economic macro environments.
Arrogance
A thin line separates arrogance from confidence. People look up to confident leaders and admire them, but detest arrogant bosses.
If a leader doesn’t appreciate the team and takes away all the credits, the team members stop working for the leader.
A good leader develops confidence in the team by appreciating their work and motivating them to do better.
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Manipulation
Many leaders take advantage of their position and power to manipulate the people around them. Sooner or later, those leaders lose respect from their followers.
Good leaders value integrity and honesty and avoid misusing the power and position to turn things in their favour.
Poor communication
Leaders are as efficient as their ability to communicate with the followers in the right manner. Business leaders have to put across their vision and goals in a way that motivates the employees.
You may have world-class knowledge and experience, big goals and all the characteristics of a leader; But if you cannot convey your vision and ideas to people working for you, you will fail to move forward as a team.
Leaders need to be understood by their followers; only then the followers do what their leaders want them to do.
Entrepreneurs such as Bardya Ziaian and Allen Lau’s leadership styles have brought them huge success.
Inability to delegate
Good leaders know how to get work done by others. They understand the strength and weaknesses of their team members, and delegate responsibilities to utilize each employee’s strengths.
As a leader, if you fail to recognize your employees’ potential and capabilities and set wrong expectations from them, you will end up annoying them and yourself. The employee will perform poorly, and you will fail to achieve the company’s objective as a team.
Indecisiveness
A great deal of decision-making lies on the shoulders of business leaders. They need to think strategically and decide in the best interest of the organization. Wrong decisions can adversely affect the leader as well as the company’s performance and reputation.
Many businesses fail due to faulty or delayed decisions taken by the top management.
