Yes, even great leaders make mistakes, they are still human, after all. These blunders can be the result of unclear communication, stress, lack of leadership skills, unhealthy habits, or the inevitable overlap of personal life. Winston Churchhill asserted, “You will make mistakes as a project manager, that is an inevitable fact; but the strength of your leadership lies in your ability to learn from your mistakes and keep leading without missing a beat.”

While learning from mistakes is an essential part in becoming a successful leader, we want to help you to avoid some common leadership mistakes from the start.

1. Failing to hear new perspectives

"Only 47% of employees believe leadership takes their perspective into consideration when making decisions, compared to 75% of executives," (What Is Work Really Like Today? Leaders and Employees See Things Differently by Gartner). Clearly there is a disconnect between how employees feel their point of view is valued and how their leaders believe they are valuing their employees' perspectives. Leaders who are open to new ideas and hearing from a variety of perspectives are more successful in the long run. Each employee brings their own skill set, life experience, and viewpoint to a company. When given consideration and value this diversity can lead to innovative problem solving and creativity, which ultimately can lead to a more successful company.

Additionally, leaders can use this new information to build stronger relationships with their coworkers and employees. A trusted and respected leader is one whose subordinates feel heard and valued. In order to achieve success as a leader, keep an open and receptive mind. It could be the key to helping you climb the ladder of success!

2. Not bonding with coworkers

Historically, individuals belonged to a cohesive community, where their identity was essentially assumed — I am unique, but I belong to this group. When Baby Boomers went into the workplace there were still enough shared foundational values that, for the most part, they felt a part of their work community. Today, identity is based on all the various groups that we individually choose to be a part of and connected to. This can lead to fragmentation in the workplace. We can come into work and have no real connection to our work community.

This fracture is widened in an environment where leadership is not valuing the perspectives of their employees. In the workplace — a community made up of diverse backgrounds and voices, being heard, valued, and respected can provide a commonality that generates a stronger bond within the company community. Employees who feel valued report increased job satisfaction. “Happy employees are up to 20% more productive than unhappy employees. When it comes to salespeople, happiness has an even greater impact, raising sales by 37%.”

Not only does bonding with co-workers make for a happier, healthier workplace, it turns out it also makes for a more successful one.

3. Not fostering talent

One of the most important aspects of healthy leadership is the fostering of talent. Leaders who are hyper-focused on achievements of the company can fail to encourage life-long learning, growth, and honing of talents. This can be a huge mistake. A work environment that prioritizes encouragement can:

Lead to new perspectives and ideas that can help the company achieve even greater success.
Provide employees the opportunity to progress in their careers and reach their full potential.
Demonstrate that you are willing to invest in your employees and that you believe in their ability to contribute to the success of the company.

By fostering the talent of your employees, you are paving the road map to success for both them and the company. InStride states, "World-class companies are more likely to make investments in creating career paths and challenging opportunities for employees, developing leaders and succession planning and recruiting hard-to-find skill sets." Furthermore, Pew Research reveals that "47% of employees say their extra training and education helped them advance within their current company."

When leaders put forth the efforts to develop the talents of those around them it leads to upward mobility and actualization of the full potential of both employees and leadership.

4. Being unavailable

"When you're trying to lead and build a successful team or organization, you simply cannot be everywhere at once. You have to be willing to delegate tasks and trust that those you've entrusted will get the job done." (Jocko Willink, retired U.S. Navy SEAL officer, author of Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win and The Dichotomy of Leadership).

Certainly a component of thriving leadership is the ability to successfully delegate tasks, because no one can be in multiple places all at once, nor can they produce quality work when they are engaged in too many projects. On the other hand, leaders need to make being available to their employees a priority. Like most things in life, balance is key. Great leaders trust their employees to take on responsibilities and complete projects, while also being available to offer help and guidance as needed. Willink concludes that leaders who are not available to their team are missing out on opportunities for growth.

5. Ignoring conflict

“Two-thirds of Americans — 70% of women and 63% of men — say they deliberately attempt to avoid conflict,” (YouGov). Yet, no matter what industry you work in, conflicts in the workplace are frequent. Just how frequent? “Workplace Conflict and How Businesses Can Harness It to Thrive” (MyersBriggs) demonstrates how often conflict permeates the workplace:

85 percent of employees deal with conflict on some level
29 percent of employees deal with it almost constantly
34 percent of conflict occurs among front-line employees
12 percent of employees say they frequently witness conflict among the senior team
49 percent of conflict is a result of personality clashes and “warring egos”
34 percent of conflict is caused by stress in the workplace
33 percent of conflict is caused by heavy workloads
27 percent of employees have witnessed conflicts lead to personal attacks
25 percent of employees have seen conflict result in sickness or absence
9 percent have seen workplace conflict cause a project to fail

How can leaders respond to the prevalence of workplace conflict? First step, ensure that leaders participate in conflict management training. "60% of employees never received basic conflict management classes or training for conflict resolution in the workplace. Of those who did, 95% state that the training helped them navigate workplace conflict positively and seek mutually beneficial outcomes," (CPP Inc., 2008).

Secondly, leaders who don’t shy away from conflict and are able to reframe conflict as a learning opportunity for their team, can create an environment in which employees focus more on productive tasks and less on conflict disruptions. When conflict is addressed, it provides a framework that assists the leader and the team to see things from new perspectives. “When we recognize in conflict the opportunity for change and transformation, eventually we elevate and expand our identity” (Psychology Today, 2019). A leader with strong conflict resolution skills demonstrates commitment to co-workers and the community. Addressing conflict effectively requires that leaders listen to co-workers and hear different perspectives. By taking the time to listen to all voices, leaders can create a more cohesive team that is better equipped to handle challenges. This leads to more positive outcomes and a healthier workplace. As such, ignoring conflict is not an option for effective leaders. Conflict needs to be addressed to bring people together around common goals. Do not be afraid to face the challenges head-on. As a leader, you are expected to deal with problems and find solutions. If you shy away from challenges, you will never reach your full potential as a leader.

6. Discouraging change

Change is essential for growth — both on an individual level and within an organization. Leaders who embrace and encourage change provide opportunities for growth and increased knowledge among their teams. They also create a more dynamic and innovative environment, which can lead to superior solutions and incremental success. However, change is often difficult to accept and is frequently met with reservations. “Change is not a four-letter word ... but often your reaction to it is!” (Jeffrey Gitomer, The Little Book of Leadership)

Leaders who discourage change, inhibit their team's ability to adapt and grow. This can ultimately lead to stagnation and decline. Change is not only inevitable, it is necessary for innovation and creativity. Leaders who accept and inspire change, attract employees with a strong entrepreneurial spirit. Their companies are more relevant, productive, cutting edge, and ultimately more successful over all.

7. Not giving feedback

Leaders should be giving constructive feedback on job performance regularly. According to this Zippia article by Caitlin Mazur, "85% of employees take more initiative when they receive feedback in the workplace." and "four out of ten employees who receive little to no feedback are actively disengaged from their work."

Constructive criticism allows leaders to share their knowledge and experience with their team, leading to increased job performance. Both constructive and positive feedback are necessary. If employees routinely receive positive feedback, but are not shown areas where improvement is needed, they may become complacent and not strive to excel. However, only offering negative feedback decreases employees productivity and engagement. “Only 10% of U.S. workers felt engaged after receiving negative feedback on the job” (SHRM, 2020). Similarly, “focusing on employees’ weaknesses reduced their performance by 27%” (Clearcompany, 2018).

Balance is key. One thing for certain is that employees are seeking feedback from their leaders. Particularly when we look at the younger workforce. They are seeking more frequent and on-the-spot feedback. Fifty percent of millennials who participated in a PwC survey said that “feedback should be given very frequently or continually” on the job and only 1% said feedback was not important to them (PwC). Feedback can pave the way for a cohesive and motivated team. Effective feedback can motivate employees and boost the companies prosperity.

8. Managing instead of leading

A road map is useless without a destination, so it is with leadership. A leader needs to have a vision for where they want to take their team and what success looks like, before they can start leading them down the road to get there. Without a vision, all a leader can do is manage people —telling them what to do, when to do it, and how to do it. While management and leadership are correlative and complementary, they are not the same. Leaders inspire, take initiative, and are influential. Leadership is not dependent on tiles, roles, or status. Leaders galvanize people around a vision and embolden them to strive to see the vision come to fruition. So if you want to be a leader, not just a manager, remember that leading starts with having a destination in mind. Once you know where you're going, you can start charting the course and inspiring others to follow you.

More leadership resources:

Check out this free white paper by Curt Steinhorst, Focuswise CEO, "Work isn't working: New Solutions for Leadership and Productivity" which tackles critical questions facing today’s leaders such as:

What should businesses learn and do when recovering from the pandemic?
What framework can leaders use to shape productivity in the future?
How can businesses re-engage office workers without also reigniting their dissatisfaction with working in the company’s offices?

Ready to dive deeper? Check out Curt Steinhorst's TedX Talk, best-selling book, Forbes Column, and YouTube Channel.

What NOT to Do on Your Leadership Journey