Good leadership is both an art and a science, a skill that can be enhanced through diligent research and study, and one that each person needs to be able to adapt to their own personality and way of thinking. In my opinion, managing this complex push and pull is one of the most difficult aspects of being a leader. Because there is no exact formula to follow. And yet, quality leaders don’t just show up and wing it either.

Therefore, given its lack of a cohesive one size fits all approach, it is clear that the leadership process requires a lot of trial and error. This means that all leaders, even the best among us, are going to fail at times as they try something new or rely too heavily on a tactic that may have lost some of its effectiveness. When you do fail, which again is inevitable, the key is to examine why, so that you can modify your strategy moving forward, and try not to make the same mistakes over and over again.

WIth that in mind let’s take a broader look at some common reasons why leaders may fail, so that we can all be better prepared for leadership successes moving forward.

5 Reasons Why Leaders Fail

1. They Try To Be Someone Else - We all have this picture of what a leader is supposed to be in our head: the tough as nails football coach who gives the fiery halftime pep talks, the steely politician who doesn’t blink an eye even as her adversary threatens nuclear war. In our mind’s eye, this is what a leader should look like. This is what we often try to emulate. But why? Good leaders, like people who are good at just about anything in life, come in all shapes and sizes. Introverts and extroverts. Quiet and loud. Passionate and calm. The first key to being an effective leader is to be yourself. If you aren’t genuine, your fellow team members will know. And no one chooses to follow a fake.
   
2. They Get Too Set In Their Ways - Good leaders are constantly adapting. This first requires them to continuously assess their own performance. Sometimes, when things seem to be working, it can be hard to take a step back and look at your methods with a critical eye until its too late. Good leaders know just because something worked before, doesn’t mean it will look again. And they are not afraid of changing if they know it will help their business, team, or organization get to where it needs to go.
3. They Don’t Communicate Well - No one can read your mind. This is true whether you are the CEO of a Fortune 500 Company or a new entrepreneur starting a business in their garage. Unfortunately, on occasion even the best leaders can forget this and mistakenly believe that just because something seems clear to them, it will be clear to others as well. Whether it is your employees or your customers, it is important to over communicate, and explain not only what you want done and when, but why. That way your team members can properly understand their purpose and see where they fit into the bigger picture of your organization.
4. They Don’t Delegate Well - It may sound cliche, but it is true that there are only so many hours in a day, meaning that no one can do everything by themselves. One of the key traits of a good leader is an ability to coach the members of their organization so that they can outsource important tasks while having full faith that it will be handled in a competent manner.
5. They Set Improper Expectations - In any organization, each position is different, with a distinct set of responsibilities and workload. In addition, the holders of these positions are all unique, with their own individual motivations and goals. Oftentimes, managers fail to see what makes the people they are tasked with leading tick, and try to treat all their employees equally instead of fairly. But the truth is, none of your team members are the same. So why would you treat them that why?

This is just a small glimpse at some of the common mistakes that we all can make as leaders. Please reach out and follow this page to learn more about how to become the best leader you can, both inside and outside the office!