The annoying things bosses do

IT’S all so familiar — those annoying things your boss does which drive you crazy. Maybe you can send this article to them?

Being the a good leader isn’t about being the most popular guy in the room.

GAINING a leadership position generally means that someone has done something right.

He or she has demonstrated the ability to remain graceful under pressure, inspire colleagues and execute plans to move the company forward. But leaders are far from perfect, and like anyone else, many of them need to work on certain things.

Here are five common leadership weaknesses and how they can be improved:

ACCOMPLISHING GOALS WITHOUT PROVIDING A VISION

A recent leadership survey by business coaching service provider The Alternative Board (TAB) found that 46 per cent of business owners feel a leader’s most important function is “accomplishing goals,” followed closely by “setting a vision” (38 per cent). TAB vice president David Scarola said that the two actually go hand in hand.

“Neither establishing a vision nor accomplishing goals can stand on its own,” Scarola said. “A vision without goals will never be achieved. Goals without a vision will lead to an aimless company direction. Therefore, both must be present and done successfully in order for a company to meet its full potential.”

NOT TRUSTING EMPLOYEES

The job of a leader is to guide his or her team to accomplish organisational goals. Too often, however, leaders either micromanage their employees or take on more tasks than they can handle. These two things happen for the same reason: Leaders don’t trust their teams to do something as well as the leaders themselves can do it.

Not having vision isn’t great, but it could be worse ...

“Leaders struggle with delegating projects to others, for fear that no one will be able to meet their level of execution,” said Max Friedman, founder of Hatchery, an online marketplace and subscription service for artisan cooking ingredients. “This mentality slows progress and ultimately causes team members to feel less invested in the success of a particular initiative. It’s important that as a leader, you select a team of people who you truly trust and give them the autonomy to be able to succeed individually. This feeling of trust will lead to a more efficient and productive team environment.”

EXCESSIVE CONNECTIVITY

Being connected 24-7 has become a hallmark of the modern workforce, but is it always the best way to operate?

Nicholas Thorne, CEO of digital badge platform Basno and co-founder of Bitcoin-powered digital signature service BlockSign, said: “The problem is that it can lead to an always-connected, omnipresent approach to leadership that is bad for managers and team members alike.”

Thorne noted that leaders should be aware of and understand the full impact 24-7 connectedness has on their teams. He said: “Just because project management tools, instant messaging, email, etc. allow a manager to participate in every minute decision that gets made does not mean that that’s good for everyone involved. Communicate clearly to set consistent expectations.”

STAGNANCY

All leaders will eventually face the danger of getting stuck in their ways. The current way of doing things may be working, but it’s important not to let yourself — or your team — grow stagnant.

Just because you can contact your employees whenever you want, it doesn’t mean you should. Sometimes, they’re at the beach and would rather not hear from you.

“The biggest threat to a successful business is becoming static, and losing a desire for innovation,” said Liz Elting, co-CEO of business language services firm TransPerfect. “How do we continue to motivate and reinvent ourselves in order to inspire our employees to continue to create innovative and enthusiastic solutions?”

The best thing you can do for your team as a leader is communicate and instil a clear sense of why you’re doing what you do, Elting said. That company mission will likely lose credibility without continued innovation, and reminding the organisation of its purpose will motivate you to collaborate and grow.

NEEDING TO BE LIKED

No bosses want their staff members to hate them, but as a leader, your top priority isn’t to make friends with your team. Leaders are people first, and it’s natural that they want to be liked, Scarola said. But the need to be in everyone’s good favour can sometimes cloud solid business judgment.

“A common mistake with new managers and new business owners is that they make decisions that are popular, which are often not the best decisions for the business,” Scarola said. “[Leaders] need to sometimes make unpopular decisions. That comes with the territory. Employees cannot put themselves in the leader’s shoes and do not have the perspective that the leader has. Therefore, if a leader makes an unpopular decision and does not take the time to explain it to employees, the employees will jump to the wrong conclusion about their motivations.”

This is an edited version of an article which originally appeared on Business News Daily and was republished here with permission.