“A successful leader is one who delivers on the commitments they have made. They are able to set big goals and make everyone in the team exceed their potential. Their department is in better shape as a result.”
Gordon Tredgold, a visiting professor at Staffordshire University, selected several principal questions of leadership. He shared his own answers to and opinions on these at theleadershiphub.com.
One major challenge can be handling situations in which a leader or a manager has done something wrong. This is really an awkward position to be in. Perhaps the best solution is to admit the error immediately and then address the issue. Refusal and denial from a manager only mean that any necessary work on the solution can be considerably delayed.
When talking about failure and the subsequent negative reaction from, say, a superior, it is important not to perceive rejection as a personal attack. It is much healthier to see it as a criticism of certain decisions, not of one person in particular.
Problems with superiors
Gordon mentions an unpleasant experience when he was leading a department in a way that generated great results. His boss, however, did not like his style of leadership. It was a lose-lose scenario. If he did not change his approach, his evaluation by the boss would not be good. And a poor evaluation would be the outcome of the other option too, since changing how he led would mean a decline in the results of the department.
He continued leading the department in the way his subordinates appreciated and sacrificed the credit for his own achievements. Although this decision was to some extent to his own personal disadvantage, it was right for the company.
The need to lay somebody off
Such a need can be another stressful challenge for a leader or manager. Usually it is a result of declining profits or pressure to reduce costs. What helped Gordon was the following approach: should the person in question not be dismissed immediately, the situation might end up much worse with many more people losing their jobs.
-jk-