Working in a group is a tough thing. When you are a member of the group you need to follow and work hard to contribute to the team. Group members, of course, are the most important part of the process and they have to be carefully selected in order to have a perfect harmony with the group.
Some people tend to think that being a group member is harder than being the leader. The leader always gives orders or demands things; the leader is never present in the day to day things and only barks orders from his desk; the leader has more free days and more time for his or her family. These are common words among team members that are far away from reality.
We are not saying that all leaders do not fall into those categories and we are aware that many leaders make mistakes that lead the team to think horrible things about the leader.
But, what are those mistakes that make leaders the villain of the movie? What are those things they do that make them the antihero within the company? Let’s take a look at some of those mistakes that are made by leaders and that slow down the group´s performance and affect working relationships within the team.
Take too much, not give back the same amount.
Image courtesy of Paris Buttfield-Addison at Flickr.com
Taking before giving could be one of the worst mistakes that leaders can make when they are managing teams. When leaders ask for too much but don’t give back, group members start to feel uncomfortable and start to lose motivation. Of course, if an employee sees that the other person asks for work, extra hours, reports and many other things, but never gives the employee free hours, permissions to see his or her family etc., the relationship is not a reciprocal give-and-take one that might work. Leaders have to insert some emotional inputs in their employees so they can have more access when they want to ask for something. Careful, if employees get the idea that the leader only does things because he or she expects something in return from people, they will feel even a bit deceived and the relationship can break in the most horrible way.
In the end, it is about giving and taking in a balanced way. Of course, leaders have to lead and members have to follow, but if the leader keeps in mind that employees also have needs and motivations, the moment a favor for a favor is needed it won’t be such an annoying task.
Being a politician within an office context.
We all know how politicians work and live. We are not trying to say that they do illegal things, what we are saying is that politics are a game of chess. If you play chess in the office context it is because you want to achieve a personal goal and you don’t care about your team or who is behind or in front of you. These leaders tend to think that they know it all and they only see their personal goal as important within the company. So they think there is no need to build a relationship with any team member. They are just competitors that need to be beaten.
Yes. People need to be ambitious, but there is a limit and a line. Even more, that type of success cannot be achieved without the help of others. This situation is often presented in jobs where the technical knowledge is the one that makes employees climb the ladder and not the people they relate with. It is ok to have a very good and wide knowledge of the skill, but relationships are important so that skill can be properly applied.
Limiting your relationship circle
Nowadays this could be one of the worst mistakes leaders can make. We all know that networks and contacts are sometimes more important than money. They say “it is better to have friends than money”, and in some cases, it is totally true. So for old school leaders, it is a bit difficult to get into the social networks mood, but it is not impossible. Now, for millennials and new leaders, not being a social network enthusiast can mean social death. So, maybe for millennials, this is common sense and logic. But sometimes they fail. One mistake that leaders make is to only develop relationships with their peers or with people who are very similar to them. Currently, leaders jump from one department to another within the same company or last in companies 4 to 5 years. These are the leaders that have the best and most strategical relationships in order to get things moving.
Did you like this article? Be sure to also check this post on the most common mistakes leaders make