Common Leadership Challenges and How to Overcome Them

Leadership is not as easy as it is often perceived to be. To be a good leader it takes strategizing possession of certain skills. More often than not, leadership constantly presents challenges. These challenges are to incite one to rise to another level, to test yourself and improve in the process, and to show that you can accomplish something that may seem difficult or even impossible. Below are some challenges leaders face and how to overcome them

1. Adjusting to the role: In an organization, when someone is appointed to a leadership position, it’s difficult to take direct ownership of this role. For instance a first-time manager; it can be difficult managing those that used to work closely with as peers, and perhaps have personal relationships with. They would have to reposition their minds on how to keep these personal relationships separate from workplace conversations,

One way of doing this, however, is by explaining to them the importance of feedback and teaching them if you have to. This will help them feel more comfortable giving their team members input on their work, particularly when they want to address an issue they may have noticed2

2. Micro-managing: Part of a managerial role is supporting and coaching teams to help perform at the best of their ability, however, you need to understand and draw a line where managing people begins and not giving them space to do their work. One common misconception, when appointed to the position of leadership, is that you have control and oversee everyone’s work, double-checking what’s been done and acting as a sort of ‘quality control’. But this can quickly become stifling for the team, who won’t feel trusted and will no longer have the freedom to do their work.

Before someone starts in their new role, share some high-level information with them on a manager’s top traits. A manager’s role is to enable the team so they have the space to complete their assignments, whilst helping them make progress as individuals and take ownership of their development. This means supporting their schedules so they can get their work done, helping them to prioritize, and acting as the buffer between the team and upper management, amongst other things. Ensure this is known to them.

3. Lack of communication: When appointed to the role of a manager, sometimes, it may be difficult to communicate with your team about expectations. However, this shouldn’t be the case, it is essential to maintain frequent communication and be open so everyone is on the same page. Developing a culture of feedback within a team is an essential way to ensure they can really progress together and individually. Recognizing your team’s effort and communicating with them is not all that difficult; it can be as simple as a hand-written thank-you note. Look at your internal recognition programs and what you’re doing to encourage this mindset.

Now you have an understanding of the three challenges leaders face and ways to solve them. Take out time to read through and understand what you are doing wrong or right and try to do better where you are not.