The best leaders are always probing to find areas of weakness.
If you’re a leader this is tough for you to do. But it’s better to know what you’ve got than to operate in a dream world. If you don’t have leaders and systems in place that are going to get the job done you’d better make your adjustments and changes now. The only other choice is to keep getting beat over and over again–and nobody wants that. This is how top leaders keep themselves and their teams in winning form.
The signs stick out like a sore thumb.
Unfortunately everyone else probably sees the signs if they are there. The last thing a leader wants to do is lie to themselves about the facts. Since mediocrity can sneak up on anyone, anywhere, smart leaders constantly evaluate their teams for weakness.
Here’s the signs to look for:
- Weak achievements – In the past there were great things done, records set and awards won. But that’s been a long time ago and lately there’s been nothing exciting happening.
- Weak staff leaders – In the past there were lots of inspiring new leaders coming up through the system. But the new managers emerging now are barely getting anything done and inspiring no one.
- Bored, dull followers – In the past, at all levels, there were excited people pushing the boundaries, excited about the team, excited to have a chance to be involved and excited about doing great things. Lately it’s hard to see excitement anywhere. People are doing their jobs but they don’t seem to be particularly excited about it.
The truth about weak leadership.
The facts about weak leadership can’t be denied. It’s important for all leaders to know them so they don’t let themselves drift down to that level.
Here are the facts:
- Weak leadership is most leadership – Most leaders just go through the motions. They are afraid to make tough decisions. They act like caretakers and never rally their team to do anything great.
- Weak leadership is the same as no leadership – The truth is that people can fail and drift by themselves. They don’t need a leader to help them. The only reason for them to have a leader is to pull them together, get a vision, get a plan, make the decisions and lead them to big accomplishments.