When a business starts to struggle, business leaders often look across the business to determine how they can improve operations and results. However, if the CEO's approach to management is actually the problem, then addressing other elements will never be enough.
Business owners sometimes ignore the one factor that might really be keeping their businesses from taking off: the business owner’s mindset and approach to management of the business and others.
Here are three common CEO approaches that can limit a company's ability to grow and succeed.
The Hero If you believe that you are the only one who can solve the problem or you always have the best answer, then your team will never be empowered to solve problems for themselves. You become the hero. And, being the hero often feels very, very good.
While this might give you some short-term satisfaction, your team is unable to grow and learn. Your leadership team will never be able to step up. The team will not feel challenged to think of new solutions (why bother - you always have the right answer). Smart, ambitious employees will leave. And on top of everything, this approach often leads to overwhelm and burnout.
The Perfectionist
This mindset can also lead to leader overwhelm and burnout if you believe that all the planets must be aligned before making a decision. If you must have all the information before making a decision (aka "perfect information"), it can be very challenging to move forward. Similar to the hero, a perfectionist does not trust others to make decisions. Once again, due to the inability for forward movement, smart, ambitious employees will seek employment elsewhere. And you will end up overwhelmed.
Most Popular
Most of us like to be liked. However, being a leader means making hard decisions that are not always popular and giving tough feedback when it is required. Being the "Most Popular" kid in school can feel good, but again, it comes with a very serious cost to your business, your team and possibly your health. Your team may be forced to tolerate bad behaviors you refuse to address or deliver only "positive" information.
If you recognize yourself in any of these three approaches and mindsets, then you may need to think about how your mindset is impacting your business. All three of these leadership styles are highly correlated to burnout and overwhelm - which reduces job performance and satisfaction.
Bright Blue has proven method to help you address mindsets and behaviors that may be holding you back Contact us at info@consultbrightblue.com to get the conversation started.