Top 5 leadership challenges and tips for how to combat them

The impact managers have on their teams and direct reports is massive, as is the role they play as ambassadors for their organisation's values. Hence, it’s crucial to invest time in developing their leadership skills.

We’ve listed the most common leadership challenges with ideas on how to overcome them, and develop stronger, more supportive managers on their way to success.

1. Adjusting to the role

Rookie managers often find it difficult to take ownership of their role. Speaking from past experience, it can be particularly difficult managing those they used to work closely with as peers, and perhaps have personal relationships with. They will need to learn to keep these personal relationships separate from workplace conversations.

Tip: One powerful way of doing this is by teaching the art of how to give feedback. This will help them feel more comfortable giving their team members input on their work, particularly when addressing an issue. Remind them that giving constructive feedback isn’t negative, but is a way of helping their team reach their full potential and be more efficient.

2. Micro-managing

Whilst it’s undeniably a manager’s role to support and coach their team to help them perform at the best of their abilities, there’s a fine line between managing and not giving people the space to do their work. They say the best managers are the ones who trust and empower their teams to do well.

A common misconception when becoming a manager is that they suddenly have to control and oversee everyone’s work, double checking what’s been done and acting as a sort of 'quality control'. But this can quickly become stifling for the team, who won’t feel trusted and will no longer have the freedom to do their work.

Tip: Before someone starts in their new role, share some high level information with them on a manager’s top traits and perhaps set them up with a mentor or get them to shadow more experienced managers in the organisation.

A manager’s role is to enable the team so they have the space to complete their assignments, whilst helping them make progress as individuals and take ownership of their development. This means supporting their schedules so they can get their work done, helping them to prioritise, and acting as the buffer between the team and upper management, amongst other things. Ensure this is known to them.

3. Not demonstrating leadership

Whilst micro-managing can be an issue, the other end of the spectrum is not giving people enough guidance on what is expected of them. A manager’s responsibility is to ensure everyone is fully aware of how their work aligns and contributes to both the team and the wider company goals. Managers should be able to give a sense of direction to their team, steering everyone in the same direction.

Tip: Ensure the company goals and values are clearly communicated at all levels of the company, and are particularly clear to managers. This might be done through regular company-wide meetings, posters, or information sessions with smaller groups. No matter how it’s done, it has to be clear so managers can further communicate them to their team and give them direction.

4. Lack of communication

As new managers, people may find it difficult to openly communicate with their team about expectations or to bring up issues they are encountering. However, it’s important to keep communication frequent and open so that everyone is on the same page. Developing a culture of open and honest feedback within a team is an essential way to ensure they can really progress together and individually. Open and honest feedback can sometimes be negative, but it has to be balanced and include positives too.

It’s equally important to celebrate successes, however big or small. Making sure your team feels recognised is an important way to ensure they are motivated and want to contribute more.

Tip: Recognition doesn’t have to be costly, it can be as simple as just saying thank you or a hand-written thank you note. What are your internal recognition programs like and what are you doing to encourage this mindset? Ensure managers are aware of what is available to them, and support them when needed.

5. No upward feedback

After mentioning how important it is for managers to give feedback, show leadership, and communicate well, it only makes sense to evaluate their performance. After all, if you are encouraging them to develop these skills but no one is evaluating their behaviour, it seems like a pointless exercise. It also doesn’t set a very good example throughout the company, if bad managers are left in charge of teams.

Tip: Managers should be encouraged to be open to upwards feedback, which will have two benefits. On the one hand, it will help to grow the culture of feedback within the team by setting the example. If individuals see their manager is open, they will feel more inclined to share themselves. On the other hand, it shows the manager has a desire to improve and learn. To further support this you can run leadership reviews, so that you have the data you need on how well your managers are performing.

Conclusion

These are the top 5 leadership problems with some tips on how to solve them. Why not look through the above and check whether your managers are on track or if they may be facing difficulty in some of these areas? If they are, make sure you have the resources in place to support and develop them.

Experts2care are a specialist recruitment company supporting leaders in the Care sector to secure the best next step career moves and the best talent for their organisations.