Why Do Leaders Fail – 3 Common Pitfalls
- Brainz Magazine
- Oct 11, 2021
- 4 min read
Written by: Irena Grofelnik, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Leadership as a skill has been criticized and everyone is expecting leaders to be motivators, parents, colleagues, confidants, excellent strategists, and great performers. Honestly, you can not find all these treats in just one person. The fact is that we are training and educating people to be doctors, scientists, IT developers, no one is training people to be true leaders. The gap when someone is promoted to a leader is usually left to individuals to deal with. And chances to end up in failure are quite big.
Looking at the failure more closely in my dealings with leaders I identified there are 3 common pitfalls where things turn wrong.
1. Micromanagement
Have you ever been promoted and taking on a new role but still doing the same job as before?
Micromanagement can be tight to two main feelings – safety and control. As new leader, we get under higher pressure of responsibility and expectations. Doing the same job as before gives us a sense of security and stability. We go back to known environment, height in self-confidence and routine. We are on a solid ground, while new role is still in exploration.
The second main reason for micromanagement is control. While we can delegate 90% of work to be done, we do not do it. Issues with trust that someone else cannot perform the job as good as I, not letting some jobs because we like to do them or regard them as highly important. Not trusting our colleagues that timeline will be followed can be a reason too, or not wanting to disclose information vital for task to be concluded. There is a point where we have to make a step away to be closer. Away from our tasks and closer to our team members. It is crucial to do it soon and not to miss the momentum of failure.
2. Lack of people-orientation
As a human and under meta-programs we tend to be differently oriented. More or less into humans, activities, or information. Some jobs demand activity or information orientation from us to be able to end the task and perform well. But as a leader, it is suggested to be primarily people-oriented and only after people, activities, and information are on a plate. The new normal is pushing us into technology and physical separation which suggests that leaders’ focus must be on people and their wellbeing.
If you are a person-oriented to tasks and gals, dedicate time for talking to your team members, put down some rules when you are available for them, run quick meetings, establish some coffee routine, and safe space for sharing, just be available. When dealing with people – listen actively and respond wisely. But just take time with no interruptions so you can be present for team members. Explore what is important to each member of the team and lead them upon their values and aspirations.
In my career, I could simply avoid micromanagement and be more people-oriented as soon I got an overview of what is currently happening in the business.
3. Missing critical control points
Having an overview and in every moment knowing the numbers where the company is heading, is taking off the pressure of neediness to control. It can eliminate the micromanagement and put you in a seat of self-confidence.
Know what your goals are, know your metrics and follow them on a daily basis. Building your metrics dashboard is not easy and must be done with precision but take time to set it up because the effort will payout quickly. There are different tools for building dashboards, use whatever is integrated into your ERP system, so you will be able to access the results at any times. If you are an entrepreneur, see what is offered in your customer management system or build something from scratch in excel. As long as you know your metrics and are able to make decisions upon them, you are on the right track.
Please comment using my contacts. If you need any assistance or support, feel free to send me a note.
Irena Grofelnik, EMBA
Phone: +386 8 205 94 63
GSM: +386 41 247 554
Irena Grofelnik, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Irena is a graduate of the Faculty of Business and Economics. She enrolled in a master's degree in Tax law at the Faculty of Law and later in the Executive MBA at the Cotrugla Business School in Zagreb, where she graduated in 2009.
She gained experience in the companies like Atlantic Grupa, Steklarna Hrastnik, Monsadria, where she led sales teams for the international markets or held the position of a general manager.
For the last 7 years, as the owner of Spiriton, she has trained sales teams and organized leadership workshops. She specializes in sales and participates in business transformation projects, opening sales channels, and developing advanced business strategies. Irena is particularly focused on increasing employee engagement and sales profitability. In addition, she helps foreign companies entering and developing the local market (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, and Herzegovina).
As a sales coach, she develops competencies for sales teams and trains sales managers in developing and leading the teams.
She is a visiting professor at the Altius Business School in Zagreb in the subject »Team Leadership and Development. « She is also a certified trainer of the L.1 and L.2 Points of you® Academy for the use of advanced tools and coaching facilitation. She has been working with the brand Modra Akademija for two years, where she speaks as a lecturer on the topic of how to bring coaching into schools.
Irena is a founding member of the WomenH2H international organization, which helps women build their own businesses. She is also a board member of Business Intelligence Center, a business club for entrepreneurs. In the past, she was an active Cherie Blair Women Foundation Mentor.
