Being a Follower

When leadership goes wrong

Common mistakes leaders make

Figure 4 All leaders will make mistakes.

You don't have to be a poor leader to make mistakes. All leaders will have good and bad outcomes regularly throughout their careers, no matter how good their intentions. The point is to learn from those mistakes and, even better, learn from other people's mistakes before you make them yourself!

Rebecca Fielding offers the following advice:

Activity 5 encourages you to consider some common examples of leadership mistakes, and to suggest possible solutions.

Activity 5 Common mistakes and possible solutions

Here are six examples of common leadership mistakes. Use the space below each one to propose possible solutions, and then reveal the comment.

Lack of clear vision

Your team doesn't know why they are doing something or what they are working towards. They don't have a sense of what success looks like. They lack direction and waste time on activities that might, or might not, be Poor communication

Individuals don't know what you want from them or whether you think they are doing a good job, so they feel uncertain and lack commitment. They don't know how best to communicate with you so they stop trying.

Micromanagement and failure to delegate

Your team members feel that you don't trust them or value their input, and are demotivated. They start to wait for your instructions and are less likely to show initiative.

Recruiting the wrong people

Individuals who lack key skills or have the wrong attitude can be very damaging to both team morale and the progress of a project. If you thought that person would fit in, what does that say about your opinion of everyone else?

Failing to develop your team

You haven't invested in upskilling your team, yet your expectations are high and keep growing. Employees feel unappreciated and out of their depth, losing confidence and motivation.

Failing to lead by example

You never attend their meetings or events, so they assume you aren't interested in what they do. You are always on your phone. Although they are business calls, your team don't know that. They start to copy your behaviour.