As a leader, you help those around you learn new skills and grow their talents. With so much of your time spent on your people, you may have developed some blind spots when it comes to your own working and leadership style. You might annoy or alienate those around you without even knowing it.

Lolly Daskal, an executive leadership coach and founder of Lead from Within, says many leaders don’t want to know what they do that irritates their team members. However, that’s a sure way to stay stuck instead of becoming an effective and admired leader.

While you don’t have to be perfect as a leader, you can acknowledge your shortcomings and take steps to improve. In this issue of Promotional Consultant Today, we share Daskal’s thoughts on nine things leaders need to stop doing.

1. Stop interrupting or talking over others. Just because you are in a leadership role does not mean you have the right to cut people off or interject your own ideas when you want. Daskal points out that the best communicators know that the most important part of the process is listening to understand.

2. Stop thinking you are right all the time. The best leaders know they should never be the smartest person in the room. Surround yourself with smart, motivated sales professionals and listen to their ideas and viewpoints. When you accept that you don’t always know best, everyone will learn and grow, says Daskal.

3. Stop setting unrealistic goals. Sales leaders need to know how to set the right goals for their employees. While stretch goals are useful to help sales reps grow, only setting extreme goals adds unnecessary stress. When you set the bar too high, you end up frustrating your employees and they might give up altogether.

4. Stop trying to control everything. Most people value strong leadership, but they resist control, Daskal notes. It’s much better to hire bright, talented professionals and give them autonomy to do their jobs. Then, let them grow into leaders themselves.

5. Stop taking your employees for granted. How often do you show appreciation for your team members? The more you recognize your sales reps, the more valued they will feel and the more engaged they will be in their work. Make a point to say thank you more often, even if it’s just a comment at the end of a call or sending them a quick note.

6. Stop being a hypocrite. No one likes someone who says one thing and does another. The best leaders align their actions to match their words, says Daskal. When you do this, you are leading by example, and people will respect that.

7. Stop creating arbitrary rules. Some rules are necessary, especially with the ongoing pandemic. However, if you impose rules that unnecessarily make people’s lives more difficult, that’s a problem.

8. Stop criticizing people in public. If you want to discuss something constructive with one of your team members, do so privately. It’s never a good idea to publicly call out someone on your team.

9. Stop trying to do everything on your own. According to Daskal, the best leaders know the power of collaboration. They understand the truth of the old adage: if you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together.

Being in a leadership role does not make you immune to making mistakes. What counts is your ability to realize when you need to change some behaviors in order to be a better leader.

Compiled by Audrey Sellers

Source: Lolly Daskal is founder of Lead from Within, a global leadership, executive coaching and consulting firm. The Huffington Post called Daskal “One of the Most Inspiring Women in the World.”