5 Ticking Timebombs of Leadership

Being an excellent leader isn’t always easy. In fact, it’s when things are difficult that leadership is needed the most. It can seem at times that leadership is just moving from one problem to another. Sometimes that’s what it is—especially in times of transition and challenge.

Make sure you can identify and address these common ticking timebombs that could derail your leadership success.

1. Ignoring Your Own Growth and Development.

What qualifies you for leadership doesn’t equip you for leadership.
Often leaders get promoted to positions of authority and influence because they know more (expertise/ intellect), work harder (drive), or care more (responsibility) than others. The problem is that while those attributes (expertise, drive, responsibility) can be important aspects of credibility and authority, they do very little to equip us for leadership—in fact, they very often get in the way of leadership.

2. Underestimating the Challenges of Others’ Psychology.

Leading people is difficult.
When you lead people, you also have to encounter their personalities, prejudices, past experiences, family histories, etc. Without really understanding how people tick, it becomes almost impossible to lead them without bullying, raging, bribing, and/or incentivizing them.