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While a brand-new business leader may underestimate the potential of a widespread misconception about leadership to impact their career, the truth is, how the workforce perceives leaders in general can be a serious factor in their success, or lack thereof. To navigate the challenges of being a new leader, it is essential to understand these subtle but impactful misunderstandings and the best ways to address them.
Below, 15 Forbes Coaches Council members share ways that people—including new leaders themselves—commonly misperceive basic aspects of leadership in 2023, along with the profound consequences these misguided outlooks can have on the success of emerging leaders.
1. Leadership Is About ‘Being In Charge’
Success for leaders comes when you successfully balance the needs of individuals (including yourself), the team and the business. Individuals want to be treated with kindness and have their development and well-being needs met. The team needs a positive culture and ways of working. The business needs the right balance of growth and efficiencies to stay relevant for the future. - Bonnie Davis, HuWork - Inspiring Humans at Work
2. Not Everyone Needs To Be Held Accountable
Holding all people accountable for meeting their commitments will help drive a positive performance-based culture and organizational results. If you are reluctant to give constructive feedback, the ones who suffer are the high performers and high potentials, who often carry the extra load. Engagement is likely to dip and frustration is likely to grow among these folks when they don’t see others held accountable for doing their part. - Kim Ramsey, The Executive Edge, Inc.
3. Leadership Is Only About Collaboration And Empathy
A prevalent misconception regarding leadership in the year 2023 is the notion that it revolves solely around collaboration and empathy. Effective leadership requires the elements of strategic thinking, emotional intelligence, integrity and ethical behavior. By incorporating these perspectives, leaders can enhance their effectiveness and lead their teams to success in this ever-evolving landscape. - Jay Garcia, Jay Garcia Group
4. Leaders Must Have All The Answers
Many new leaders think they must have all the answers and that leaders are born, not made. This can cause new leaders to focus on the wrong things, isolate themselves and hide their struggles instead of asking for support, which can lead to them avoiding making necessary decisions in order to maintain popularity and burning out. - Patty Farmer, Patty Farmer International
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5. Being Lenient Will Keep Employees Happy
The scarcity of talent over the last two years has led many companies to make retaining employees a strategic priority. Unfortunately, this has led many leaders to believe they need to keep employees happy by not holding them as accountable. This has led many low performers staying employed, which is demotivating for higher performers and often leads them to leave in higher numbers. - Joe Frodsham, CMP
6. Empowering Others Means Being Hands-Off
There’s a misconception that empowering people means being a hands-off leader. People still need your guidance, and you need to be steering the ship in the right direction. A good leader who wants to empower teams needs to stay engaged by communicating a vision for success and recognizing when that success is met without telling people how to work. - Stacey Ackerman, NavigateAgile
7. Great Individual Contributors Make Great Leaders
One can be a great individual contributor, yet fail at being a leader. In my experience, I have seen many people struggle with taking off their individual contributor hats when they assume a leadership role. Organizations can help by equipping new leaders with the skills they need to succeed. This sets them up for success, especially in the current ever-changing work environment. - Fred Gatty, Gatts Consulting
8. Servant Leaders Put Others’ Needs Before Their Own
The notion that being a servant leader means putting the needs of others before your own is wrong. This misconception can lead a new leader to shut down their own voice and perspective. While characteristics such as listening, empathy and thinking of others first are all to be applauded, the “oxygen mask” theory holds true: In order to help others, you must be willing and able to help yourself first. - Cellene Hoogenkamp, KokuaHub Inc Coaching
9. Leaders Need To Be All Things To All People
A leader trying to be all things to all people is a recipe for disaster. If people don’t know who you are and what you stand for, it can lead to confusion among colleagues and direct reports. Ultimately, it could affect your credibility and ability to be successful. New leaders should determine their brand assets and how they want to showcase them within their organization. - Kathryn Lancioni, Presenting Perfection
10. Empathy Isn’t Important For Effective Leadership
As a new leader, embracing the soft skill of empathy will become your superpower. It will allow you to forge mutually beneficial and meaningful relationships, ensure all voices on your teams are heard and overcome adversity and challenges in a manner that fuels collaboration instead of confrontation. - Tiffany Uman, Tiffany Uman Career Strategy Coach Services Inc.
11. Leadership Is Easy
We should all take on the role of continuous learner or student in the realm of leadership. We give way too much deference to leadership “experts” who, in many ways, are nothing more than social media creators. What’s misunderstood is the amount of work involved in developing your skills and the amount of real failure experienced by most leaders. Leadership is a “contact” sport. - MK Palmore, Apogee Global RMS
12. Leadership Only Involves Control
The common misconception that leadership only involves control hinders new leaders’ ability to foster collaboration and adapt to change. Effective leaders empower their teams, embrace inclusivity, leverage technology and foster trust. By doing so, they tap into collective intelligence and drive success in today’s business landscape. - Rick Ruperto, Rick Ruperto LLC
13. Leaders Don’t Collaborate With Their Teams
People don’t understand that leadership is a call for collaboration; they believe the leader should know it all and have all the answers. This puts pressure on new leaders, and the pressure can be overwhelming. New leaders should know that it’s okay to seek input from the team, which fosters teamwork and growth. - Florence Chikezie, ReDahila
14. There Is A Right Way To Lead
There is no one right way to lead. Because leadership is all about motivating, inspiring and guiding people toward a common purpose, effective leadership adapts to the people you are leading, the environment you are in and the goals and culture of your organization. In our complex, interdependent world, one type of leadership won’t work for everyone in every situation. Adaptability is key. - Melissa Eisler, Wide Lens Leadership
15. Leaders Lead From Either The Heart Or The Head
In this modern age of awakening and valuing the whole person, “leadership” can fall prey to a pendulum swing from the decades-long reputation of highly transactional leadership into softer and directionless shepherding, prioritizing sensitivity over accountability. Evolved leadership today requires both backbone and heart, inviting leaders to lead equally from their heart and head. - Amy Wong, Always On Purpose
