10 Common Leadership & Management Mistakes: Avoiding The Pitfalls Part 2
6.Misunderstanding Motivation
Do you know what truly motivates your team? Here's a hint: chances are, it's not just money! Many leaders make the mistake of assuming that their team is only working for monetary reward. However, it's unlikely that this will be the only motivator as many other opportunities or rewards provide benefit.
For example, people seeking a greater work/life balance might be motivated by working half days or having flexibility in their work schedule. Others may be motivated by factors such as achievement, promotion, extra responsibility or praise.
7.Hurrying Recruitment or Waiting Too Long To Replace Someone
As your store count grows, you expand your property or deal with turnover, your team will take on a larger workload. It's important to have enough people "on board" to cope with it. But filling a vacant role too quickly can be a disastrous mistake.
Hurrying recruitment can lead to recruiting the wrong people for your team: people who are uncooperative, ineffective or unproductive. They might also require additional training, and slow down others on your team. With the wrong person, you'll have wasted valuable time and resources if things do not work out and they leave. What's worse, other team members will be stressed and frustrated by having to "carry" the under-performer. You can avoid this mistake by learning how to recruit effectively, and by being particularly picky about the people you bring into your team.
8.Not "Walking the Walk"
If you make personal telephone calls during work time, or speak negatively about your CEO, can you expect people on your team not to do this too? Probably not. As a leader, you need to be a role model for your team. This means that if they need to stay late, you should also be available late to help them. Or, if your organization has a rule that all managers are expected to follow, you need to be abide by those same rules. The “do as I say, not as I do” mentality will not help you earn respect from your team. The same goes for your attitude. If you exude negativity, your team will follow.
So remember, your team is watching you all the time. If you want to shape their behavior, start with your own.
9.Not Delegating
Some managers do not delegate, because they feel that no one else can do key jobs properly. This can cause huge problems as workload increases, and as they become stressed and burned out. It can also tell your team that you do not trust them to do the job or to make mistakes.
Delegation does take a lot of effort up-front, and it can be hard to trust your team to do the work correctly. But unless you delegate tasks, you are never going to have time to focus on the "broader-view" that most leaders and managers are responsible for. What's more, you'll fail to help further strengthen your team, thus taking the pressure off of you. Be mindful of your team’s capabilities and strengths. Do not ask a team member who struggles with math to create a spreadsheet or ask someone who is a novice on the computer to send out group e-mails.
10.Misunderstanding Your Role
Once you become a leader or manager, your responsibilities can be very different from those you had before. Managing means being organized. Learn how to best prioritize your tasks. Find a time management system that works best for you and use it to stay on track.
Take ownership. As a leader, the ultimate decision rests with you, make sound choices and not snap judgments. Partner with your team to find the best solutions but understand the final verdict is yours.
By Andy Ney District Manager The Jenkins Organization Houston, TX
About the Author:
Andy Ney is a district manager for the Jenkins Organization based in Houston, Texas. The Jenkins Organization is a fully-integrated real estate company specializing in the self storage industry. With expertise in acquisition, development, ownership, management and disposition of self storage properties. The company oversees the performance of third party management for over 50 facilities. In total, manage over 3.5 million square feet of self storage space, and have over 21,000 customers. We currently manage self storage projects throughout Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana. Our management portfolio is valued in excess of $175,000,000. Since 1995, The Jenkins Organization, Inc. has developed and acquired self storage projects in seven different cities totaling over 1,500,000 square feet. We have been directly involved in over $150,000,000 in self storage transactions since October, 2010.