Your leadership team is failing, but you can’t quite identify the cause. As a leader, you have blind spots, and those blind spots create vulnerability. And yet, not all blind spots will cause leadership failure. However, pride, ego, loyalty, and misguided trust, among others, create real risks for leaders. If you are wondering why your leadership team is failing, these surprising causes may be to blame.
Simply turn on the evening news to see a constant stream of leaders failing. We are bombarded by political leadership failures, military leadership failures, and finally, business leadership failures. In many instances, the same mistakes continue to happen. Put an end to leadership failure by becoming aware of the following fifteen common reasons your leaders are failing.
1) Fear of competition from those they lead causes leadership failure
When leaders spend their time and energy looking over their backs to see who is gaining on them, they ignore the business’s problems. As a result, these leaders fail. Leaders who fear competition from their direct reports aren’t developing other leaders.
Successful leaders make sure a direct report can take over for them. They will go on vacation, and they want to advance their career. To do so, leaders have to have someone fill in for them. Above all, the job of a leader is to develop other leaders. Leadership failure occurs when leaders make themselves indispensable.
2) They stop focusing on people
Leaders’ key driver of success is the ability to execute and get things done. Ultimately this can cause leaders to fail because they begin to ignore focusing on the people. They become more reactive and operate from a place of fear. Task-focused leaders are highly directive and controlling. Their perfectionist tendencies alienate those they lead and disempower their team.
Successful leaders balance task focus with people’s focus. Focusing on building relationships, inspiring their team, developing others, and showing empathy are less likely to fail. They recognize their job isn’t just to be efficient but also effective. A leader should undoubtedly focus on tasks and achieve results, but leaders will fail without balancing tasks and people.
3) Leaders fail when they start chasing the wrong goals
Another common cause of leadership failure occurs when leaders become overly focused on achievements and numbers. By focusing on numbers and growth, culture and employee experience often fall to the wayside. Without culture and values guiding the leader, team, and organization, they start to follow misguided and ill-conceived goals, which quickly causes the leader to fail.
Successful leaders focus on the values, principles, and culture that everyone must demonstrate. Clearly defining values and culture helps leaders make sound decisions. Even more, defined values help the team make good decisions. Leaders fail when they have an absolute focus on achievements and numbers.
4) Leaders fail because they don’t recognize truth decay
Truth decay is growing cancer within organizations, and it will cause great leaders to fail. Truth decay is diminishing facts and analysis, which is happening in every business. The most common sign of truth decay is when a leader reacts based on something someone says without validating facts or analyzing data. Another form of truth decay is carefully crafting a story to fit a particular agenda. The crafted story conveniently leaves out essential facts. As a result, the business loses focus and becomes wrapped up in a distraction.
Effective leaders must have credibility. Credibility requires truthfulness. Leaders succeed by establishing a culture of honesty in which all employees feel safe to speak the truth. More importantly, leaders must remain bold enough to hear the truth and act accordingly.
5) Leaders who are susceptible to flattery
Flattery is one of the biggest causes for a leader to fail. Flattery is the most common form of manipulation, which is how it causes so many leaders to fail. It prevents the leader from holding others accountable, often because they crave flattery and don’t want it to stop. Leadership flattery prevents the leader from holding themselves accountable because it reassures them they are successful and doing the right things.
Furthermore, flattery conceals the hidden agendas of power-hungry, lazy, and greedy people. Leaders susceptible to flattery are easily influenced, corrupted, undermined, and deceived.
Successful leaders can discern authentic praise from false praise. They are most interested in sincerity rather than flattery. The more influence you have, the more you’ll be prone to attracting flattery. Remain aware of flattery to lower your chances of succumbing to it. Do you notice flattery, and can you handle it?
6) Leadership failure happens when leaders stop directing
Leaders are responsible for showing the way. They set the vision and inspire their team to want to be a part of the vision. However, when leaders become satisfied with the current state, they stop moving forward.
Leaders fail when they stop setting expectations. They fail because they lose track of everyone’s progress. Leaders fail when they no longer set a clear path toward the vision of their goals. Consequently, they fail to inspire the team to deliver high-quality results.
Successful leaders, on the other hand, continue to communicate their goals. More importantly, they reevaluate them as business needs change. Successful leaders hold their team accountable in the moment and don’t let their team slide when they aren’t meeting expectations.
7) When they stop listening
Leaders fail when they don’t listen. They put their ideas above others and think they have all the ideas and solutions. They act like they are always in control and make snap judgments about the root cause of issues. Leaders fail when they prevent their team from speaking up or talking over them as they start to speak.
Successful leaders grab every opportunity to listen. They create opportunities to listen by encouraging their team to speak up. Successful leaders invite everyone to speak about an issue. More importantly, successful leaders invite them to contribute their ideas and suggestions.
8) Leadership failure happens when they assume
Their assumption causes them to make broad matter-of-fact statements about the cause of a problem. Leaders fail when they assume their team understands the goals and objectives. When their team fails, they quickly label them as having a lack of effort, initiative, skill, or commitment.
Successful leaders take seriously their responsibility to develop, coach, and grow their direct reports. They go to great lengths to ensure the team understands the goals and objectives. Successful leaders help each employee understand the important role they play in the business and in achieving the established goals.
9) When they are too busy
Leaders fail when they are too busy for what matters. They are too busy to provide attention to a task. Leaders fail when they are too busy to provide support to their team. Above all, they fail when they are too busy to do their due diligence in problem-solving.
Successful leaders understand that they operate in a demanding, fast-paced environment and have to do more with less. Yet, successful leaders know what actions are needed to lead effectively. Successful leaders make time for mentoring and coaching conversations. They protect the time needed to support their team and help them improve.
10) Leadership failure happens when leaders rely on their title
Leaders fail when they rely on their titles and pursue obedience and compliance. They command respect by creating fear in their team because of the power dynamic with their role and title. Leaders fail when relying on their titles because they make employees feel like they are part of a hierarchy rather than a vision.
Successful leaders understand the difference between position and influence. They know to effect real change, they must lead with influence. Successful leaders lead with their character and focus on people and goals. They develop the ability to influence and inspire people and, as a result, have a more significant impact in the workplace.
11) When they don’t give enough criticism
Leaders will befriend coworkers and direct reports, often to an unhealthy level. As a result, they start to ignore their weaknesses or give them free passes. Leaders fail because they do a disservice to their employees by only sending compliments.
Successful leaders take a step back to evaluate the weaknesses of their team. They talk courageously to them about what they can improve. Even more, they invite criticism from their team to continue improving.
12) Leadership failure happens when leaders focus too much on politicking
Leaders must play politics because they need the right allies to accomplish things. However, some leaders focus too much time on politics which causes them to lose focus on doing excellent work and managing their team.
Successful leaders focus on doing excellent work and leading their teams. They work to minimize politics to ensure that each decision made benefits the business as a whole. Successful leaders avoid and overcome negative political behavior in the workplace.
13) They produce toxic positivity
No matter how dire a situation is, leaders who are overly optimistic fail. Their good-vibes-only approach is deeply inauthentic. Leaders fail by wholly embracing relentless positivity, which is corrosive and toxic for their team.
Successful leaders know when to take the rose-colored glasses off. They dare to speak up and say things aren’t OK. Successful leaders show honest vulnerability because they know it builds stronger, more cohesive teams. Acknowledge when you aren’t at your best. Share your honest feelings with your team because it tells them it is safe to do so with theirs.
14) Leaders fail when they micromanage
Leadership failures occur when leaders get too caught up in the details. They micromanage details that are better left with a member of the team. Rather than managing the team, these leaders become wrapped up in tasks and activities.
Successful leaders focus on their role. They are more concerned with managing, coaching, and developing the team. Successful leaders inspire and motivate their employees to meet established goals. They explain why and outline the what, but they do not dictate the how.
15) Leadership failure happens when leaders want to be served rather than to serve
Leaders fail when they have the attitude that their team is there to serve them. They make everything about themselves. They lead based on where they want to go, and what they want to accomplish. Leaders fail because they are self-centered and one-directional.
Successful leaders lead by focusing on the needs of the organization and the employees. Their focus on others guides their choices and decision-making. Successful leaders partner with their teams because doing so inspires excellent performance to achieve personal and organizational success.
It is never too late to fix a failing leader. Pay attention to the signs that indicate leadership failure. Encourage self-reflection, and insist on soliciting feedback from the team. Surfacing the common causes of leadership failure can have an immediate impact. Help your leaders transform their leadership style into something healthy, beneficial, and fulfilling for the people they are there to serve.
Add your reasons leaders fail in the comments below. I’d love to hear from you!
Last updated on August 27th, 2022 at 07:31 am
