1. Deception

The art of deception may take you to where you need to go, but it will never get you where you want to be. Lying in any shape or form undermines confidence in you as a leader. And some leaders believe that’s fine as long as they stay in power. But how much power can you really have if your whole team goes out of their way to avoid or undermine your leadership? Deception is a long and winding road to a loss of credibility and in some cases, the loss of your position.

2. Manipulation

Being manipulative should always be avoided. Resorting to these tactics suggests that you have neither the confidence among your team to lead them nor the ability to lead them using positive techniques – even if you tried.

Manipulation doesn’t inspire or empower employees. All it does is foster resentment and create atrophy. And atrophied teams get nothing done.

So, if you’re ever inspired to manipulate a group to get them going, remember, it is far better to persuade employees. Manipulation is for managers who think about the now. Persuasion is for leaders who can see the big picture.

3. Arrogance

Even if you’re an expert in your field, there are many things you don’t know. Moreover, you don’t even know that you don’t know them. Arrogance serves no one -not even the person who is arrogant. It prevents you from being approachable, and it damages communication. Why would employees put their best ideas forward if you know your ideas are better?

4. Blame

Working as a team means focusing on parts. If one part fails, then the whole team goes down. But the whole team has a role in the failure of that part. Somewhere along the way, the team member who failed didn’t get something needed to succeed. As a leader, your success is the team’s success. But the team’s failure is your failure because you’re in charge of empowering them to avoid that failure.

5. Intimidation

Intimidation seems like a useful way to light a fire under the bottom of a lazy employee. But have you ever thought about what goes through the head of an employee who’s working not because they’re inspired but because they’re scared?

They’re partly focused on their work. But they’re more focused on the threat. They’re not doing their best work, and all you’ve done is finished a task and damaged a relationship.

Remember, it’s all about the big picture. These tactics may work once, but they ultimately destroy your ability to lead. Instead, you become just another faceless manager.

 

Written By Dr A.J Minai