What Does Ineffective Leadership Really Look Like?

There is no such thing as a bad team or a bad organization, but there is such a thing as bad leadership, and this problem is toxic to organizations. The attitudes and approaches of a leader are transmitted to the people that work for them. Unfortunately, leaders may not see it this way and instead view their team as being incompetent or difficult to coach. 

If a leader has a bad attitude, how would you expect their team to perform? Now, this may be a more obvious form of ineffective leadership but what about the less obvious? A pivotal part of being a leader is managing people. Some leaders can be very good with that, especially when it comes to building relationships. However, effective leadership involves imposing discipline on team members. A leader who is too emotionally invested in their team may not be able to handle imposing discipline on their members. 

This is where the dichotomy comes into play; there needs to be a balance between connecting with the team and being able to hold the line when necessary. Ineffective leadership happens when the pendulum goes too far one way. This can make it difficult to identify if and when your leader is ineffective. You may see them as overbearing or inconsiderate when they’re using discipline tactics to get the best out of you. On the other hand, you may enjoy how lovely and accommodating your leader is when they may be failing to hold you accountable.

In the end, leadership approaches will vary, as each team will require the methods that best utilize their skills. The measure of an approach's effectiveness will depend on the results displayed by the team. Is the team meeting deadlines? Producing high-quality work? Passionate about what they’re doing? Regularly communicating? Clarifying with and asking the leader for help? 

These are all things to take inventory of when assessing leadership effectiveness, but you will also want to watch for the following:

Communication Barrier

When working with or for someone in a leadership role, there should never be discomfort or a lack of access to communicating with that person. Opening this line of communication should be something the leader takes on. However, if you find that they are not, then subordinates have to take initiative to fix the issue. How do you do that? Communicate with them and communicate with each other. You ultimately want to set the standard by stepping up to lead when others won’t. 

In some cases, there can be a communication barrier either with leadership or within the team due to conflict. When this is the case, it simply needs to be addressed and dealt with (the procedures for which will be up to the organization). A leader who avoids conflict, gives up their power, whether that be failing to discipline team members or address a situation. The bottom line is that it does not build healthy relationships. 

Lack of Discipline

This idea goes a couple of ways, the first being a lack of discipline among members of the organization. Again, a leader who does not impose discipline on their people is doing no benefit to the longevity of their team's success. This must of course be met with standards of implementation to avoid the second common issue. A leader can think they are imposing discipline when they are going too far and may begin micro-managing or failing their role in the supportive aspect. 

Essentially all members of a team must assess the needs to complete whatever it is they set out to do. Once these needs are identified, realistic goals and timelines should be set to prevent straying away from the plan. In the case of leadership, they are simply there to provide support and ensure the process is meeting the established standards.

Taking Too Much Credit

We know that leaders are responsible for their team's outcomes, but a leader who is quick to take all the credit for their team's success is throwing away its value. When a team succeeds, it creates cohesion and a supportive environment. This is especially important today as 89% of employees are leaving their jobs due to feeling unsupported. 

To create an environment that will attract talent, it must have an emphasis on company culture and team inclusivity. The best leaders are humble enough to recognize their team's role in success. They also know the importance of sustaining the environment by, again, giving up the short-term reward for a long-term return. 

Conclusion

You may think nobody gains anything from ineffective leadership, and when it comes to trying to run an organization, this is true. However, someone who has the experience and knows how to navigate an ineffective leader can manage up or do whatever is necessary to mitigate its impact. In doing so, that person becomes an effective leader. 

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Why You Need Accountability And Routine

Why do you feel anxious when you’ve got nothing to do? Why might you get down on yourself when you didn’t get much done in a day? Why do you become frustrated or check out for the day when you don’t have energy? There's a missing ingredient to all these problems…ACCOUNTABILITY. Think, for example, why the weekend is so great but Monday morning is difficult. It’s simple; you have no deadlines, assignments, meetings or commutes to make on Saturday or Sunday. Those days are at your disposal. 

Yet during the week, you get your responsibilities done no matter how much they suck, but you might put off that exercise on the weekend so you can “chill”. This is the battle between external and internal accountability. 

External accountability is your responsibility to others, like meetings, deadlines, showing up on time, etc. Internal accountability is keeping the promises you make to yourself, and making them a real priority. The important thing is to have both, but internal accountability particularly reflects your credibility and that will not go unnoticed.  

Everyone has values and certain rules that they hold close and know not to veer away from in their daily lives. These values are typically maintained through routines and practices that help feed those values each day just a little bit more. Eventually, carrying out self-serving practices as well as your commitments to others will help you earn a fulfilling life. 

Now how do you become accountable, stay accountable, or why would you even want to be accountable outside of your regular responsibilities? Recall that we’re hardwired to avoid change. Consider these for yourself:

Cost of Inaction

Everything we do directly correlates to a future outcome. For example, if a leader doesn’t go out and make deals or connect with others, how will their business do? Everything is a trade-off. This is an important concept to consider when working towards anything. Of course, there are always things you want outside your goals that make you happy, but what’s their real price?

Will you have to do extra work tomorrow? Will you be mentally prepared to handle your tasks? You must take inventory of what you need to operate effectively. If there’s something you have to give up to make that happen, evaluate your priorities. At the end of the day, you want to equip yourself today to handle tomorrow and you might find that tomorrow keeps getting easier.

Know Your Role

What titles do you hold? A friend? Sister? Brother? Dad? Mom? Director? Manager? Understanding what kind of impact you bring to anything you’re involved in, whether work, relationships, or family, will give you a sense of your need to provide. To provide value in any area of your life, you need to take care of yourself first. 

This is where internal accountability meets external. To be effective in the roles or titles you hold, you need to know how much rides on your presence and efforts. You can then carry that with you as you go through your daily practices.

Daily Practice

Getting better at something is not an overnight or multi-step process. To get better, we have to give up instant gratification. Instead, we want to challenge ourselves every day in ways that are going to build us up long-term. 

For example, dedicating an hour a day to reading, waking up at the same time for breakfast each day, or having a no phone period. These practices can be anything you want them to be as long as you know they will serve you. Once you establish what they are, structure them and make them a routine. 

Conclusion

To be the best you can be, you have to give yourself opportunities to seek advancement, and that doesn’t just mean job-wise. It’s advancing the use of your time. If you dedicated an hour here, thirty minutes there every day to self-serving practices, you’d be surprised what could come. 

We work with successful companies to increase their net profits using exceptional custom software solutions, contact us here to see how we can help your business grow!

Leadership in a High Stress Environment

Did you know that leading people can be stressful? If you didn’t, here’s your “something new” to learn for the day. Leadership will test every bit of patience you have. Unfortunately, this will get the best of you at times. You will wish you had handled situations differently and have to own your mistakes. 

While leaders may like to think of themselves as adaptable, understanding, and generally composed, things happen outside the scope of daily practice in the workplace. Something to consider here is that when we become stressed out or overwhelmed, it feels like everything is coming at us. In reality, we may just be stuck finding a way to prioritize, effectively delegate, and manage our time to navigate the situation. 

This is important to keep in mind, especially considering how short a stressful time lasts when dealt with properly. As a leader, if you are difficult to deal with under pressure, your team will feel less comfortable and refrain from using their efforts to solve the issue. So, a leader could risk their reputation and team cohesion because of a short stress period. 

An effective leader wouldn’t want to risk that, so here’s how they can manage this better:

Begin With Yourself

Leaders who are not content with themselves will find it difficult being able to manage the needs of others. Having healthy rituals and outlets outside of your responsibilities that act as a form of catharsis should be the starting point for any leader. This will keep you and your emotions in check as you’ve allocated time to simply think, time that will not pour over into your work hours.

Manage

An essential part of being a leader is being able to manage numerous components of the daily operation. This includes managing time, emotions, and the team through difficult tasks. It starts with detachment from the scenario, a leader who can adapt and remain calm when faced with change will be able to manage the situation effectively. 

Additionally, a leader who gets the team involved, not by dishing out negativity, but by keeping everyone level-headed and focused, will be successful.

Never Assume The Facts

Constantly asking questions and clarifying the situation is critical. This eliminates a level of uncertainty while keeping the leader and team up to date. Imagine being faced with a problem, you spend days coming up with a solution just to find out critical details have changed.

Who’s fault is this? Leadership. It is not the fault of whatever decision-makers who would, of course, be the easy targets to blame. It is always on the leader to keep their approach and team up to date with the details.

Communicate

Whether this is a briefing or any other form that suits your organization, a leader should address what’s to come. This keeps everyone on the same page and gives the leader a chance to calmly address the situation. As a result, the team will feel more involved, the leader will see the situation more clearly, and everyone should have an idea of what is expected of them. 

It is especially important here to be clear and straight to the point while delivering messages. Leaders can then open up the discussion to hear the thoughts of their team and engage them in a discussion. 

Conclusion

Being a leader comes with immense pressure, navigating responsibilities is by no means a one-step process. It requires leaders to be attentive and have their heads on a swivel while understanding their role in everything that goes on. 

We work with successful companies to increase their net profits using exceptional custom software solutions, contact us here to see how we can help your business grow!