When you begin a journey as an entrepreneur, there are many challenges that you have to face; these challenges increase when you have to handle a team. However, if you start identifying these issues in the beginning, you have a great chance of becoming a better leader for your team. Let’s discuss five such challenges and how you can overcome them.
Believing You Have Full Control
Many employees have a tendency to follow their leaders’ instructions without asking questions. However, there are some who like throwing challenges in their boss’s way. They often question their leader when they see that he is going wrong or not respecting their work.
Employees will give you respect when they feel that their work and effort are acknowledged and respected. If you just give them orders for tasks, they will start thinking low of you, and this would lead to additional challenges at work. It’s important to find a balance where you’re not overly friendly, but you must also earn respect rather than demand it.
Micromanaging
When you step into a leadership role for the first time, you’re moving from being someone who works alone to leading a team. You’re used to handling everything on your own. This tendency can continue when you’re a leader, where you feel like you should know every tiny detail. If you keep asking for constant updates and want to approve every little choice, it can hold back everyone’s progress.
If you keep micromanaging, you’ll end up irritating your team, and they might complain about you when you’re not around. Letting people take charge of their work and make their own decisions is important. You might be surprised by what they can achieve.
Expecting Everyone to Think and Act Like You
Every situation is catered to differently by different people. When a problem arises at work, you will see everyone reacting in different ways, some may get stressed, which would affect their work, whereas others would simply start looking for solutions. Respect everyone’s opinions and respect the thought process they carry.
Expecting everyone in your team to have the same approach as you is wrong and leads to employee disloyalty. Always focus on hiring people with different mindsets, as they will bring a new and fresh approach to the work. Having a diverse team who come with their own thoughts and ideas will help you grow in your business.
Pointing Out Mistakes But Forgetting to Be Appreciative
When employees make a mistake, some leaders are quick to point out their errors and explain how the job can be done better. However, when someone accomplishes something good, they tend to ignore it because, in their mind, what they are doing is right.
When you see your employees working hard on something, no matter what the results are, go ahead and praise them for their efforts. This will help in motivating your employees and make them work even better in the figure endeavors.
However, don’t overdo things by saying good words in situations that need just a small tap on the shoulder, as it will make your praise less meaningful. The more you show appreciation, the more effort they’ll put in return. But remember that you don’t have to keep pointing out flaws. Otherwise, people will start feeling down.
Thinking You’re the Smartest and Always Right
The toughest thing for a new leader to understand is that those below them in the hierarchy can be more intelligent. When an employee comes up with a better idea, a leader with too much pride sees it as an attack on their ego.
You need to realize that you’re not always the smartest person in the room. Just like you have your strengths, your employees will excel in certain areas that you might not fully grasp.
Sometimes, a new team member might have a fantastic idea you never even considered. As a leader, if you can’t be humble and accept better suggestions from smarter people, you’ll face failure sooner or later.