#1 - Not getting the entire story before confronting someone about an “issue” that had been brought to my attention! (A leader who always believes the worse about the people he leads needs to do a serious gut check!)
#2 - Letting emotion get the best of me and shutting down a discussion when I should actively listen. A leader is way more likely to get buy in if the people he leads actually feel like he listens to them…REALLY listens to them.
#3 - Choosing “the obvious” rather than listening to The Holy Spirit.
#4 - Not allowing the people (or department) that would be most impacted by a particular decision to actually have input on that decision.
#5 - Assuming that everyone on our staff (and in our church) will immediately receive the decision in the first presentation when it took our leadership team months to process it. (People need time to process and ask questions…and while some leaders label this “disloyal” I actually see it as staff trying to be MORE loyal by fully understanding and appreciating everything that goes along with a particular decision.)
#6 - Not pressing down on a person when I know they disagree with a decision. Some people need to be forced into conflict…and a leader always loses when he sees that a person disagrees with him but won’t pull out of them because he really just wants to keep the peace instead of being a secure leader.