Have You Earned the Right to Lead?

  Leadership   ProjectsAtWork  

Just because you have been granted authority doesn’t mean you’re getting the full, collaborative engagement of your teams. Here are 10 destructive mistakes that would-be leaders make, and how to stop making them.

There are people in every organization you know whose titles indicate they are leaders. Often, and unfortunately, their employees beg to differ. Oh, they don’t say it directly, not to the boss’s face, anyway. They say it with their ho-hum performance, their games of avoidance, their dearth of enthusiasm. Leaders — real leaders who have mastered their craft — don’t preside over such lackluster followers. If reading this makes you squirm with recognition, you may have a problem lurking.

When times are good, not-so-great leaders can get by. They’re cushioned by a surplus of cash, and their missteps are covered up by the thrill of top-line growth, which hides a multitude of sins. But when the cloak of prosperity falls away, their mediocrity is ruthlessly exposed.

Real leadership equity is only earned, not bestowed. Just because you have been granted authority doesn’t mean you’re getting the full, collaborative engagement of your employees. You may have their bodies and time forty or fifty hours a week, but until you earn the privilege, from their point of view, you’ll never have their hearts and minds.

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