In this rapidly evolving workforce, it has become increasingly important to redefine how managers lead and shift their energy to accommodate a more inclusive and flexible culture. To that end, there’s a surplus of research and dedicated articles that define the good characteristics of a leader.
As such, many follow the cardboard cut-out claims step-by-step, though executive coaches will teach you that there is more to become an effective leader. It should also include an uncanny ability to self-assess their behavior, combined with the receptiveness to nip bad conduct at its roots before it grows and impedes the performance of your team. After all, those with managerial positions have the most substantial influence on an organization’s performance. Take a look at these destructive behaviors and steer clear of these common pitfalls.
The Problem: Your tendency to micromanage
When you’re continually peeking over your team’s shoulder, the tendency is to compromise morale as it limits members from exercising sound judgment. It also shows poor judgment if they see only one way to accomplish a task, which often leads to employees feeling pressured, disillusioned, and disempowered in their roles. Even worse is when their work is not recognized as a success, especially when an employee deviates from the little box they are placed in.
How to Break the Habit:
Rather than circling your team like a vulture ready to strike, you can encourage open communication to determine what critical tasks should flow through you, and what employees can accomplish on their own. It practices a give-and-take strategy that maximizes the skills of the team as a whole, allowing for a more relaxed yet focused performance.
The Problem: Criticizing employees in public
There’s nothing worse than a manager with a bad temperament, especially when the crossfire is aimed at you. There is no place in leadership for uncontrolled anger, and there is never an appropriate time to demoralize your employees in public, no matter the mistakes made. Poor treatment from a supervisor can deplete people’s energy and enthusiasm for their jobs, and lashing out due to errors may plant a seed of fear or resentment to grow within your team.
How to Break the Habit:
Learn to practice patience and address the problem at hand with an open mind. A good leader should be able to see past the mistakes and push individuals to reach their full potential. To do so, set up a private meeting and provide constructive benchmarking reports to help build self-development plans.
The Problem: Holding out information on the company or team performance
The system typically works from the up-down, and when information isn’t passed along correctly, the bottom line suffers. Reveling in secrecy or hidden agendas is one way to confer the collapse of your team’s progress, especially when you withhold constructive feedback. Your intentions may be to avoid demoralizing the team, but leaving them in the dark can lead to uncertainty, fear, and rising unrest that increasingly becomes destructive over time.
How to Break the Habit:
Conduct private discussions and talk about what areas your team can improve on. Most of the time, employees appreciate having a clear-cut understanding of their impact on the company, and knowing what to work on will help them address their internal issues. Also, developing an improvement plan together will help both you and the worker achieve a faster and better turnout.
The Problem: Delivering antagonistic reports
Feedback is a powerful tool that can make or break the performance of your team. It is also the quickest way to encourage team members to conceal their shortcomings as most tend to cower from your abrasive communication tactics. Criticisms given without any intentions to improve is meaningless. For instance, passing on judgment without clarifying the specifics is nothing without concrete evidence. This results in helplessness from employees because they are not given any areas to build on, as well as ultimately feel unfairly judged, defensive, and disengaged.
How to Break the Habit:
When it comes to improving an employee’s performance, explaining what was done wrong is only half of the equation. Constructive feedback is an opportunity for leaders to coach and guide their employees, which is better done in a private setting where workers won’t feel disheartened or vulnerable to the public eye. Furthermore, the discussion should include clear and specific feedback that points out the problematic behaviors of an employee, as well as actionable advice on how to enhance their performance.
The Bottomline: Identify your bad managerial habits
Managing other people takes unimaginable skill, but it comes with practice nonetheless. Learning the basic do’s and don'ts are fairly easy to identify, but some mistakes are harder to see, much less correct. Leadership is a two-way street, and the input of your team is as much valuable feedback as your boss.
To create a work culture that values open communication, ask your team or conduct a survey that will drive results that can help you be accountable for your actions. If you need a harder push, engaging with an executive coach can help you see what you’ve been blind too about your behavior. Either way, both provide blunt inputs that will help you construct an action plan for self-improvement.
If you’re looking to improve your management skills, no matter in which facet, Phoenix Perform is here for you. Get in touch with us today to see how we can help.