Being a good leader doesn’t only end with the ideas you have to offer; there are so many people who have so much to offer as a leader, but certain characters they possess stand in their way good leadership.
No matter how good your vision is as a leader, if these characters are found in you, you can never be a good leader.
1. EGO
Pride and ego will bring you down as a leader; it would make it difficult for you to learn from your mistakes and do the right things. When you have too much pride as a leader, it’ll stand in your way of being humble to notice certain things that are going wrong.
2. SELF-CENTREDNESS
A good leader puts the team before himself, but when you put your own interest ahead of the team, you kill team unity, and once that is dead, your team wouldn’t be as productive as it should be. A good leader ought to make his team united.
3. NOT WILLING TO LEARN
A good leader picks lessons from everywhere; there’s so much to learn every day. However, a leader who has stiffened his heart to not learn, will lead his team wrongly. Learning is an important part of leadership.
4. RUDENESS
You can never be a good leader when you treat people wrongly. The way you talk to people, especially your subordinates really matters. Being rude will create a toxic atmosphere in your organisation, and once that toxicity is present, so many things will go wrong. Besides, you’ll never have the respect of your subordinates when you are rude.
5. POOR RELATIONSHIP
A good leader maintains a good working relationship with his staffs; he knows how to relate with them, and creates a sort of personal relationship with them. However, a leader who’s nonchalant about his followers/subordinates will never bring the best out of them.
6. YOU TRY TO COMMAND FEAR
A good leader tries to win the respect of his followers and subordinates, while a bad leader tries to command fear. It’s easier to command fear than to win the respect of your subordinates, but a bad leader will try to instill fear. Anything done in fear can never be done right.
7. LACK OF EMPATHY
A good leader empathises with his employees and subordinates; he tries to understand their situation and what they are going through, rather than bark instructions at them.
A bad leader doesn’t practice empathy; he doesn’t even care about his followers. Any leader who can’t put himself in the shoes of his followers isn’t good enough.
8. BEING TOO BOSSY
One thing is for sure; a bossy leader will never win the trust, love and respect of his followers. Many believe that by being bossy, they win the respect of their subordinates, but that isn’t true. A bossy leader will never have loyal followers.
If these attributes are found in you, you can never be a good leader, even though you have the idea and vision to turn things around.
Jake