Mistakes Smart Managers Never Repeat

Smart managers know that in order to be successful, they need to keep on learning. They learn from their mistakes, their successes, and they’re always evolving to adapt to the needs of their jobs. While embracing mistakes is a vital requirement of leadership, some mistake should never be repeated twice. If you feel that you’re no longer making progress and that you’re not moving past your mistakes, you need to reassess your situation. Akhtaboot is here to highlight the top mistakes that smart managers never repeat twice.

Focusing on Long Term Wins and Ignoring Small Wins

The ability to stay focused on long term goals without any distractions might seem like a good thing. Ironically, the more you put emphasis on celebrating big successes, the more your team will become burnt out and might start losing focus. This might cause them to shy away from taking on any risky projects. While big wins are great, they don’t happen very often. That’s why smart managers understand the value of celebrating small wins. Small wins can boost the morale of the entire team and encourage them to become more creative and active.

Getting Tangled Up in Perfection

While being a perfectionist sounds like a good thing, it can actually stand in the way if your team’s performance and creativity. If you have a hard time starting things and an even harder time finishing them, then you need to try to break free from this habit. Successful managers don’t overcomplicate things by obsessing over every last detail, but they understand that the solution is to simplify. Perfection can be a standard that many managers aim for, but once it becomes the only standard accepted, it can be considered a management mistake. Most employees become timid and hesitant in such environments. You need to free people from boxes if you want their creativity to be unleashed. You can still pay close attention to details without being too picky.

Punishing Mistakes

Accountability isn’t the same as punishing mistakes. It’s simply a learning method that allows you to pinpoint why things went wrong and how to avoid repeating similar mistakes in the future. If your goal in fostering accountability is to know who to point your finger at when things go wrong, then you’re simply fostering a culture that is based on fear. Your team will start holding back on trying new things. The best managers understand that mistakes are learning experiences. With that sort of mindset your superstars are able to create an environment of humility and continuous learning.

Micromanaging Employees

Employees value autonomy and independence. By empowering your people to unleash their true potential, they will almost always find ways to do their jobs better than you imagined possible. When you shy away from delegation and focus on minor details as opposed to the big picture, there’s a very big chance that you are a micromanager. You want your top performers to see that the goals they are pursuing belong to them. You want them to feel fully responsible and competent to do their job. This is what ownership is all about!