The nature of leadership is such that leaders are going to take risks and fail. An effective leader learns from failure and moves forward. But there are failures in leadership not associated with risk taking that can undermine and paralyze an organization.
Many leaders unintentionally create personal barriers that erode their ability to maintain leadership principles, methods and motivation, says author Timothy F. Bednarz, a thought leader who blogs at majorium.wordpress.com/tag/timothy-bednarz.
Leaders who discover themselves doing any of the following should take immediate action to stop.
· “Backseat leadership” is exhibited through indecisiveness, fence sitting and avoiding responsibility.
· Professional and personal goals are not formalized or articulated.
· Leaders lack a positive approach to serious issues, or fail to present suggested solutions for a defined problem.
· They don’t understand their own strengths and weaknesses, refuse to ask others for their input, and lack a personal improvement plan.
· Different ethical standards are applied to their personal and professional lives.
· They don’t share ideas, time, encouragement, respect, compliments and feedback with others.
· Employees’ weaknesses are focused on and criticized when, instead, the leader should build on and reinforce the individual’s strengths and abilities.
· They fail to work on personal development, or don’t take it seriously enough to make a difference.
