4 Mistakes New Leaders Make

Welcome to leadership.

Welcome to your newly appointed position as the team leader.

Or if you’ve been in leadership for a while, welcome to the realization that we are always growing and learning as leaders. And part of that growth involves examine our past beliefs and actions and considering whether or not we were mistaken. In my work with leaders across a variety of industries and sectors, I see a lot of mistakes. Well-meaning leaders-especially new leaders-often stumble into the wrong actions or wrong mentality when leading their team.

To help you avoid that fate, in this article we’ll outline the 4 most common mistakes new leaders make and we’ll offer a different perspective and a different action you can take to level up your leadership.

Calling All The Shots

The first mistake new leaders make is calling all the shots. Too often, leaders join an existing team or are tasked with assembling a new team and immediately assume that know the best way to move forward, the best way to assign tasks, and the best way to influence individuals on the team. But the truth is that there’s only a very small likelihood that your first impressions of how to lead this new team are going to match up to reality. As the philosopher Mike Tyson once said “Everyone has a plan, until they get punched…