Common Leadership Traps

COMMON LEADERSHIP TRAPS

NOT RETAINING GOOD PEOPLE

CRITICIZING PREVIOUS LEADERSHIP

TRYING TO DO IT ALL YOURSELF

TEAM BUILDING TOO SOON

NOT BALANCING CHANGE AND STABILITY

TRYING TO DO IT ALL YOURSELF

Building, and possibly restructuring, a team can be a complex journey involving emotions, legality, and workplace dynamics. But you’re not alone. Tap into those in your FromJump Network who can help you navigate. The support of your manager and HRBP cannot be underestimated.

TEAM BUILDING TOO SOON

The balancing act of change and stability can affect team cohesiveness and synergy in the short- and long-term. If we start doing team building activities too soon, we run the risk of strengthening relationships between team members who may end up leaving. Wait too long and the team won’t gel. As you are assessing and deciding on your plan, focus on the business during your team meetings (while still fostering team spirit) rather than running any structured team building activities.

NOT RETAINING GOOD PEOPLE

While you try to strike the balance between change and stability, sometimes just the uncertainty of who will and will not stay on the team can lead your best and brightest to look for greener pastures. Find ways to signal to your top performers that you recognize their capabilities and potential – a little reassurance might be all they’ll need to stay.

NOT BALANCING CHANGE AND STABILITY

Leading a team that you’ve inherited takes both tact and finesse. If you try to change things too quickly or too drastically, you could cause some of your A-players to jump ship. If you take too long to make changes, you could unintentionally reinforce poor behaviors, poor results, and potentially poor morale. Focus first on positions that you identify as high priority when considering personnel changes. If you can chug along with a B-player for a while, then do so; but if it’s clear a change needs to happen, don’t hesitate for the sake of stability.

CRITICIZING PREVIOUS LEADERSHIP

You will want to assess the impact that previous leadership had on the team without highlighting what you see as their mistakes. Although it might be tempting sometimes, you gain nothing from bad mouthing the people who left the team before you took on your new role. Instead, concentrate on evaluating the work and results that you’re seeing today and make the changes necessary to support your goals for the team.