5 common manager missteps—and better alternatives
Communication is at the heart of leadership at every level of an organization, but solving problems and handling workplace emotions can be challenging.
Managers are a crucial component of internal communication, employee engagement and overall business success.
Unfortunately, many are undertrained, underprepared and ill-suited to the task of leading people.
Here are five common manager mistakes, along with thoughts on how to lead more effectively:
1. Focusing on the negative
It’s easy for our brain to identify things we don’t like—lateness to meetings, missed deadlines, snide remarks—because they go against what we expect or would like to happen. We are generally more aware of the negative than the positive.
Once you start noticing things you don’t like, it’s easy for your brain to dwell on them. Suddenly an employee who is doing much more right than they are wrong is a screw-up. You spend every day wondering what they’re going to screw up next, rather than seeing things they’re doing right.
Because humans are imperfect, you’ll find things they screw up. Worse yet, your perception of them might taint how you perceive everything they deliver.
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