The statistics are alarming:
- A Gallup poll found that companies fail to choose the candidate with the right talent for the job 82% of the time.
- Around 65% of millennials believe they’re not equipped to be leaders yet since they lack the necessary employer support for management positions.
- More than 77% of organizations report that leadership is lacking. At the same time, 83% of businesses say it’s important to develop leaders at all levels.
Training and coaching remain a critical need in 2023, especially as the responsibilities that leadership positions require continue to change and evolve. And to be a good leader, it’s worth taking a look at 7 challenges that they often face:
- Not Knowing Who You Are
It’s not uncommon for the image we have of ourselves to be vastly different from how others perceive us. Leaders who are not confident in their strengths and are not aware of their weaknesses can easily become their worst enemies.
- Avoiding Difficult Conversations
It’s human nature to want to avoid difficult conversations. And yet, this is a luxury that leaders can’t afford. To be a good leader, you have to be comfortable with opposing views and standing your ground.
Difficult conversations are often necessary to facilitate change and improve performance.
- Focusing on “Being Liked”
Speaking of human nature, we all want to be well-liked in any group: family, friends, and at work. However, while being well-liked is certainly important for a leader, this idea cannot become a guiding force in your decision-making.
- Avoiding Decisions
There’s no other way to do it: leaders need to make decisions all the time. And some of them are hard.
One pitfall here is trying to postpone or even avoid the process because of the fear of failure. This can hinder organizational growth and even impact your growth as a leader and professional.
- Not Facilitating Change
A leader’s job is to help the organization and its employees grow. They are a conductor of change, which also means they need to be flexible enough to adapt to such changes.
When the leader hinders change because they prefer the status quo, this is a huge issue for the entire organization.
- Ineffective Communication
Communication skills can often make or break a leader. They must be well-versed in all mechanisms of language, be they verbal, non-verbal, or written. Often, they need to facilitate or encourage communication within the conversation, which is rather impossible without solid communication skills.
- Not Focusing on Your Potential
People often view a leadership position as the prize in the career race. However, getting to the finish line doesn’t mean your journey of growth stops there.
Good leaders know they must always grow their potential, and skills, and to look outside themselves for assistance in leading a team or organization.
How Can You Become a Good Leader?
We’ve seen that a lot of the time, people require specialized support to help them navigate the new challenges of leadership. One-on-one leadership coaching can help individuals get this support and navigate these seven common challenges for leaders.
As to whether these challenges can be avoided entirely is open to debate (to err is human, after all). But how a leader bounces back from these errors is much more indicative of their leadership abilities than whether they can avoid them altogether.
Thanks to my friends at Kashbox Coaching for their contributions to this article.