Executive Search In Melbourne – Common Leadership Mistakes To Avoid

Leadership and management roles require someone who is empathetic, confident, a great communicator and can make tough decisions when under pressure. However, hiring the wrong person for a leadership position can result in many costly mistakes for the organisation.

When it comes to executive search in Melbourne, corporate businesses turn to established retained search firms such as Amrop Carmichael Fisher to avoid the risk of making a bad executive hire.

The following are the most common mistakes people in leadership roles can make – and how to avoid them:

Being a friend rather than a boss

It is natural to want to be seen as approachable and friendly by your team members. A happy team means increased productivity. However, being more focused on being a friend than a boss can lead to issues when having to make difficult decisions. Managers may become hesitant to fully commit to a decision or some team members may even try and manipulate the close relationship.

Finding the balance between being the team’s boss and friend is crucial, and setting strong boundaries is important for maintaining mutual respect. When these boundaries are breached, responding in a polite but firm manner is the best way forward in reaching a positive outcome.

Failing to give feedback

If a team member is underperforming or repeating continued mistakes, giving constructive feedback is crucial for their improvement. This is a situation where being firm yet empathetic is vital. If a manager is hesitant and decides to wait until a team member’s upcoming performance review to give feedback on an issue, the issue will continue to happen.

Providing regular feedback is key to ensuring that mistakes do not slip through the cracks and lead to bigger issues down the track. Presenting negative feedback as a means of improvement makes the criticism much more palatable, without appearing as a personal indictment.

Not clearly defining goals

A team requires a leader who can clearly outline the goals each team member needs to work towards. Without this, overall productivity can decrease due to a lack of clear direction. Team members need to know how to prioritise their workload effectively; otherwise various tasks and projects may get completed in the wrong order.

This is why setting clearly defined goals with your team is important. Your team needs to understand exactly what needs to be achieved, how to achieve it and when it needs to be achieved.

Being a distant leader

Senior managers have a very demanding workload to manage. However, you also have to ensure that you are always available to your team. If your team members feel that you are distant or always unavailable, then they aren’t receiving the guidance and support they need.

Making time to have a one-on-one session with each member in your team will ensure that any issues or concerns they may have are heard. Having an ‘open door policy’ promotes transparency and trust within your team.

When organisations require the best executive search in Melbourne, they turn to Amrop Carmichael Fisher, a globally established executive search firm. To learn more information about their range of services, visit amropcarmichaelfisher.com or call +61 3 9016 0900 today.