It’s Not Them…It’s You

As leaders, we may not want to acknowledge that we are the problem and not the solution. No one wants to admit that they are lacking in an area and it is affecting those around them. I have found that many leaders refuse to admit that they are wrong and that there are issues with them. In their eyes, the issues are with others. This is a big warning sign for organizations that there is a problem with the leader and those problems need to be addressed.

Contrary to popular belief, leaders are not required to be all-knowing. You cannot possibly have the “right” answer to every challenge. As a leader, it is your job to empower those who do have the “right” answers and go about implementing the answer(s).

Organizations, it is time to get real about the leadership issues that you have. You cannot continue to look past leaders, it is time to focus on leadership.

Here are some signs that it is leadership not the rest of the team:

1. Team members are leaving in droves.

2. It is always the fault of others, not the fault of the leader.

3. When there are successes, the leader takes all the credit.

*Another sign that I did not want to list is team members are unhappy. I did not list it, as unhappy team members could be a reflection of the organization as a whole. You will need to determine if it is the organization or the leader that is making the team unhappy.

How can the leadership issue(s) be corrected?

1. Mentorship – many leaders are shooting from the hip. They have taken on the characteristics and behaviors of leaders that they have seen around them and in the media. Pair newer leaders with more established leaders to provide a sounding board and immediate access to someone with more experience in case of issues.

2. Exit interviews – when team members leave, you should want to know why. This will help in determining where there are issues. Do not just have an exit interview and not actively review and implement changes. The exit interviews should be reviewed for patterns and items that may need immediate addressing.

3. Training – most organizational leadership training is nothing more than policy training. If the majority of your training is focused on organizational culture and legalities, that is not leadership training. The training should be focused on the individual and what it means to lead.

As a leader, you must have self-awareness. I am not talking about self-centeredness but awareness. You have to be comfortable in knowing when you are wrong and acknowledging that you are wrong. Yes, there will be times that the issue(s) is that of another person; however, before you start to assign blame be sure that the buck does not start with you. Guess what? Sometimes it is not them, it is you.

#leadership #teamdevelopment