3 Common Leadership Traps and How to Avoid Them

In November 2017, The New York Times reported on two Navy collisions that brought to light missed warnings and chains of errors. Seven sailors were killed in June when the destroyer Fitzgerald collided with a container ship near Japan. In August, the collision of the John S. McCain and an oil tanker left 10 more sailors dead.

“The collisions were avoidable,” Adm. John M. Richardson, the chief of naval operations, said in a summary of the reports released by the Navy.

Although the example of the Navy collisions is extreme, it highlights that even in the most seemingly rigorous working environments, grave mistakes can be made. Every leader tries to do their absolute best. But, in high-stress situations, amplified adrenaline, competing sources of data, unforeseen events, and red-alert urgency often lead to bad decisions.

After you’ve recovered from these situations, you’re able to use hindsight to learn and improve. But what if you knew what to do before the mistake occurred?

3 risky factors that can trap leaders

As a leader, preparation can help you avoid some big mistakes. You just need to know what to be on the lookout for. By being aware of signs that you’re heading for trouble, you can make corrections in time. The trick is knowing what types of situations tend to trip up leaders. Here are three scenarios that leaders need to be aware of and how to deal with them:

1. When you’re overly busy

As a leader, information is your friend. Knowing what’s going on and being able to properly process all the details is key. However, when you’re dealing with too many situations at one time, everything becomes overwhelming.

This is why you need to be careful when times are especially busy. If you’re flooded with reports from your employees day after day, you can become confused—and important information is likely to fall through the cracks.

Monitor yourself and how overwhelmed you're feeling. Take note of the optimum amount of tasks you can deal with in one day and still efficiently lead. For instance, if you come into the office one morning and are faced with an unbearable number of emails and several meetings, prioritize. Set up an automatic response in your email explaining you’re unavailable for the day. Then go over the agendas for each meeting and determine if you actually need to be there.

The key is to try to unload unnecessary information from your brain. This way, you have only what you need to know occupying your mind so you can make better decisions for the company.

2. When you ignore hidden strengths

Leaders motivate their employees to be better. They offer professional development opportunities so employees can gain skills to improve their careers; however, they don’t always focus on the right skills.

Often, employees are encouraged to address their weaknesses, but this isn’t very realistic. For instance, it takes a lot of time and effort for someone who isn’t coordinated to become a mediocre dancer; the same is true of professional skills.

When leaders try to get employees to improve their weakest skills, they waste time and resources. In the end, they end up with a team that’s not as effective as it could be. A better option is to focus on hidden strengths. These are qualities that employees have some natural proficiency in, but the skills haven’t been fully developed.

Don’t make the mistake of underestimating people’s potential. Instead, offer skills assessment tests that identify employees’ untapped abilities. This will provide you with a team that is better equipped to perform and less likely to land you—and the company—in a bad situation.

3. When you fail to recognize personal biases

Everyone has biases. It’s tough to admit that, but it’s true. They might not be about race, gender, or sexual orientation; biases can be about how work should be done, email protocol, or the importance of a certain level of education.

No matter what you’re biases may be, they can make you a less effective leader. For example, if you’re interviewing a job candidate for a new job and find out that they went to your college, you could be more likely to hire the person despite their lack of qualifications.

Your biases can also impact how you face new challenges. You risk making bad decisions when you respond to new challenges by focusing only on what was successful in the past. A more effective approach is to analyze each situation independently and make your decisions based on new data.

Avoid making bad decisions by analyzing what areas you could be biased in. Think about what you consider when dealing with a problem. Are there any factors that come into play that are not pertinent? If so, take time to rethink your choices.

If you’re unable to identify what your biases are, ask for objective help. Find someone you trust and walk them through your decision-making process for important scenarios. Their perspective will help you identify where your blind spots are and how they’re keeping you from seeing the big picture.

Leaders are human. They make mistakes. But knowing what types of situations tend to trip up even the best leaders will help you be better prepared. By being aware of these common mistakes, you can increase your odds of success.

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