Signs of Failing Leadership. It’s a fascinating mystery. Assume you’re a chairman, a senior executive, or a human resources employee; your role includes not just being a boss, but also recruiting leaders, determining who will be promoted, assigned additional roles, or in charge of a project or team. How can you say who would be a strong leader in a given situation?
There is a slew of papers out there on the qualities that make better leaders great, but what makes a bad leader? We can all spot them after the fact, but what characteristics distinguish these individuals right before they take on a leadership role?
Any one or more of the following attributes, in my mind, would be a red flag that an individual isn’t ready for a leadership position:
Empathy deficiency.
While I recently wrote about the value of empathy as a leadership ability, a lack of empathy is a key predictor of a bad leader. If a person cannot put himself in another’s shoes and see it from their point of view, he or she will never be a genuinely great leader.
Change-aversion.
Hey, everybody is afraid of change, particularly when it entails large sums of money and/or people’s livelihoods. Leaders who are unable to adapt to transition, on the other hand, are doomed to fail.
Compromise is all too simple.
A leader’s desire to pursue a win-win scenario is a blessing, but someone who is too willing to sacrifice his or her ideas or values will be detrimental to the team. It’s a thin line to walk between giving in and holding firm.
Too domineering.
The belief that bossy people make good bosses is a common one. In truth, the inverse is real. Someone who merely orders people around is unable to inspire trust or encourage their subordinates. Followers who wish to be led by true leaders exist.
It’s a little wishy-washy.
Leaders must make decisions, and if an individual is always vacillating on large and small decisions — from who can treat a particular client to where to eat lunch — they would likely struggle in a leadership role. It reveals a lack of self-assurance.
Character assessment is poor.
A individual who has a blind spot when it comes to friends and colleagues, who makes excuses or is unable to see another’s true character, would not associate himself with the types of people who will help him succeed.
Humility deficiency
Since they’ll be so busy doing someone else’s work, the person that behaves as though they can handle all — and are the only one that can do everything right — is unlikely to grow to be a great leader. Micromanagers are not eligible for this role.
This isn’t to assume that if you have either of these traits, you can’t lead. In reality, I believe that everyone can learn to transcend all of these bad habits and improve their leadership skills.
However, if anyone shows more than one of these traits, it’s a fair bet that they’re not yet ready to lead. Take the time to constructively point this out to them if you are in a position to assist them in their growth.
Awkward.
Someone who is always the first to arrive and the last to leave the office will seem to be a good choice for advancement, but consider whether they have some balance in their lives. A lack of balance may indicate that they have unrealistic aspirations of the rest of the staff, which can lead to burnout.
Leadership is fundamentally a method of creation and learning. You can’t be a king if you keep doing what you’re doing. As a monarch, your professional growth and advancement will most likely be your biggest and most challenging challenge.
True leaders understand that as they step ahead, they will still find themselves in the same position. They will never get it if they do not go for it, because if they do not confront the darkness, they will always be fearful of it.
You will still improve, no matter what job you hold, what you do, or where you come from. You will still improve. It’s never too late to become a better version of yourself.
Here are six telltale signs that you’re stuck in a rut–no longer committed and running from your best self.
You make your errors seem more important than your lessons.
The value of errors in achieving success cannot be overstated. Many successful leaders make mistakes, but rather than making excuses or covering them up, they learn how to remedy them–and they learn from the situations and consequences. Correcting your mindset and realizing that you are better than your failures would help you become a more successful leader–one who leads by example.
1. You’ve been stale and complacent.
Those who are developing as leaders are those who are willing to experiment and take chances. Danger is the pillar of progress; without it, the progress would slow. Your boss may need to drive you out of your comfort zone and involve you in new challenges. If you find yourself opting for what you already know rather than branching out into fresh, uncharted territory, the development has come to a halt. You’ve made friends with stagnation while you’re complacent.
You are more concerned with defeat than with success.
It’s difficult to step on because you’re too preoccupied with your struggles to notice your victories. When you look at a scenario and see nothing but disappointment, you’ve gone astray.
You’re getting more than you’re offering.
Leaders serve for a reason, not for the adoration of their peers. They live to show themselves, not to please others. They aim to serve rather than strike a nerve. Takers don’t have room for the core of service in their leadership. Great leadership necessitates gracious receiving and generous giving–of your thoughts, actions, money, and possessions, as well as yourself.
You like to take it easy rather than challenge yourself.
People tend to be constantly searching for a fast way out because we live in a quick-fix world. You must, however, achieve sustained development in order to cultivate the leadership. You must push yourself to learn to succeed in those situations. There is no convenient way out of the traps of mediocrity or stupidity. Challenging yourself entails having success at each milestone.
Instead of learning and developing, you stay in your comfort zone.
Leadership starts where relaxation finishes, according to the most influential leaders. You’ll always get what you’ve always gotten if you always do what you’ve always done. Learning and growing is the most effective way to progress. If you get trapped, know how to get yourself out of it. While a comfort zone is a lovely place to be, nothing ever develops there.
If any one of these warning signs resonates with you, it’s time to take a closer look, figure out where you’ve strayed from the road, and figure out how to get back on track.
Leaders who can’t see it are unable to find it:
visionless leaders would struggle. Leaders who lack ambition are unable to empower their staff, engage their employees, or build long-term value. Members will lose if they have poor vision, tunnel vision, fickle vision, or no vision at all. The role of a leader is to bring the group together around a simple and attainable goal. When the blind lead the blind, this cannot happen.
When leaders struggle to lead themselves:
A leader with no character or dignity will not survive. If a person is vulnerable to rationalizing unethical actions based on current or future needs, no matter how knowledgeable, affable, convincing, or savvy they are, they will inevitably fall prey to their own undoing. Optics over ethics isn’t a winning recipe.
Be cautious of the arrogant:
The greatest leaders are painfully mindful of their lack of knowledge. They don’t need to be the smartest person in the room; instead, they have an unwavering ability to learn from others. Leaders who aren’t rising can’t lead a growing business, as I’ve always stated. Insatiable enthusiasm is one of the qualities that distinguishes great leaders. If a leader isn’t inquisitive about any part of their business, believe me when I say there are big issues on the horizon.
It’s all about them:
A leader who doesn’t comprehend the idea of “service before self” will find it difficult to win the support, confidence, and loyalty of everyone he or she commands. Every leader is just as successful as the willingness of his or her team to follow them. Overabundances of vanity, ambition, and greed are not desirable qualities in a leader. True leaders take responsibility for their acts and give credit to those who deserve it, not the other way around. To summarize, whether a chief receives a vote of no confidence from his or her subordinates, the game is over.