4 Reasons You May Not Be Getting Traction as a Leader

4 Reasons You May Not Be Getting Traction as a Leader 4 Reasons You May Not Be Getting Traction as a Leader    Even with  billions of dollars of  corporate investment in training, leaders at all levels  can  still  find  themselves in ‘leadership traps’  that only come to light once key  performance indicators, revenue  or bottomline contribution start trending in the wrong direction.   I recently  learned  about leadership  from  Vicki  Brackett,  author of  The Leadership Toolbox  and consultant for businesses  facing leadership challenges. She  has  identified  four reasons  that cause leaders to fail and  provided  suggestions on  how to fix these issues.     Living in an Ego Cloud   Hiding behind an ego is an easy way for a leader to make problems someone else’s fault. Instead of pointing the finger and blaming  a lack of  results on employees or the economy, Brackett says a good leader can face the pain of self-failure.    She says,  â€œA good leader will take ego out of the picture and ask himself or herself how he or she may be contributing to the problem. Once a realistic view of the situation is seen in the mirror, and the ego cloud is wiped away, the steps that need to be taken to rectify the situation become clear.”       Rallying the Wrong Troops   When something goes wrong at work it is natural to share the experience with friends and family. Whipping them into a defensive frenzy, however, does nothing to bring clarity to the situation. It just perpetuates the problems a leader is facing. Instead of searching for a biased, ‘on my side’  response from family and friends,  Brackett  recommends giving a neutral overview of the situation when calm. She warns against getting caught under the cozy ego blanket that loved ones can provide  because it will suffocate true leadership.   Going Solo   Over and over again  Brackett says she comes across people in leadership roles at companies who define leadership as always having the answer to every question and  every  problem. This is a mistake. “Your job as a leader is never to have all the answers,” says Brackett. “Your job is to know who on your team to go to get the answers. Your team will always be able to identify the gaps better than you because they are the ones on the ground executing.”   Planning Without Input   Brackett’s final tip ties into using team members to identify gaps.  Once the gaps are identified, the  team  can help  create a plan for resolving them. “If your team creates the plan, they own the plan and they will get  better  results,” Brackett states.     It is important to recognize that  being  a great leader takes hard work. It is all  about elevating team members to perform at their best, not about  the leader’s  ego.  By showing leaders where  they can go wrong and suggesting ways to mitigate those mistakes makes the whole team stronger.     Join Dana Manciagli’s  Job Search Master Class ®  now  and get the most comprehensive  online  job search system available!