By / Jessica Kirby, Editor, Sheet Metal Journal-Western Washington
There is no doubt that we all want to be better leaders. Whether we are running whole companies or individual departments, we feel the pressure to perform and constantly improve our methods. Even if we aren’t in specifically leader-focused positions, we are all leaders in some way, and that means inspiring others, mentoring those who need a bit (or a lot) of guidance, or simply showing up in a way that others look at and consider a model for how to get the job done right.
There is a lot of information and coaching out there about how to lead—the pro tips for engagement, communication, healthy conflict management, and personal growth—but we seldom talk about the “Do not” list. These items—things that we must avoid—are steps that, if we aren’t cautious, can derail our best efforts and inhibit our ability to lead. Staying on track and on a healthy leadership trajectory means avoiding these mistakes because becoming and staying an effective and powerful leader means taking advantage of the essential lessons and staying wary of mistakes. And that isn’t to say that mistakes aren’t valuable—they are, sometimes even more so than achievements. But this list refers to daily habits, ruts we can easily fall into, that are best avoided.
Gregg Vanourek, writer, facilitator, and speaker on life and leadership, has identified more than 60 leadership derailers that can send any leader into a tailspin. In his blog, he lists the following top ten:
- Avoidance: avoiding difficult tasks, situations, or conflicts.
- Burnout: becoming run-down and feeling exhausted, often due to lack of self-care.
- Bottleneck: feeling you must make all decisions or taking on too much work yourself, causing delays.
- Delegation: not entrusting tasks to others sufficiently, which leads to reduced motivation.
- Feedback: not providing feedback well or often enough, or not soliciting it enough or receiving it well.
- Insecurity: lacking confidence about leading or feeling unqualified to lead; being unassertive.
- Perfectionism: setting unrealistic expectations for yourself or others; needing things to be flawless.
- Procrastination: putting things off until later or the last minute.
- Short Game: failing to invest in the future and deciding important things without considering the long term.
- Workaholism: being addicted to work and struggling to switch it off or stop thinking about it.
Tackling these and other ways we derail our efforts means identifying our poor habits and making a plan to do something about them. Sometimes we have to ask for help, and that is where leadership or peer groups can be helpful. Think about engaging colleagues in the same or similar companies for feedback and to help them identify and plan for their own derailers. While we can often attribute success to myriad reasons, mistakes often come down to some core principles and actions, so discussing these with others can be very powerful. For example, avoid procrastination by making weekly lists of the items you need to achieve in priority order and tackling them one at a time. Crossing things off of a list creates a tiny shot of dopamine in the brain that gives you the encouragement to take on this next task. Is it easy? No. But worth it.
This is important work, work that every leader who wishes to develop in a thoughful, deliberate way must take on.
Are you up for it? ■
