Inventor and businessman, Thomas Edison once said,

I’ve not failed, I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.

There is remarkable encouragement and wisdom in these words for all who find themselves in a place of influence and responsibility; whether that be in the family, community, or family.

Over the years I have had the privilege of rubbing shoulders with some remarkable leaders. All have been different in style, personality, philosophy and values, yet, in their own way, invaluable to me, and to the organisations they represent.

So, as much for my own reflective learning as it was for my interest in what results in one leader being more successful than another, I set aside time to consider some of the leadership mistakes I’ve either made myself, or have been on the receiving end of.*

Here is a list (by no means exhaustive!) of the results:

1. Being fearful of making mistakes
2. Not being a reflective learner
3. Having a top down attitude
4. Being unaware of personal strengths and areas for improvement
5. Prioritising policy and paperwork over ‘people-work’
6. Giving a lack of genuine affirmation to others
7. Not having a life mission statement
8. Not having a clear vision
9. Not defining clear goals
10. Having too many goals
11. Not reviewing progress towards goals
12. Changing goals too often, or not being willing to change them
13. Not managing personal expectations
14. Not managing expectations of others
15. Being unaware of personal leadership  capacity
16. Not having a mentor
17. Working in isolation
18. Not having a coach
19. Not managing well upwards
20. Taking too long to address a problem performer
21. Not (really) listening to others
22. Failing to recognise the importance of emotional well-being
23. Acting too fast and executing before thinking
24. Being unclear about barriers to success
25. Being overly ‘friendly’
26. Not delivering on a promise
27. Being indecisive
28. Not asking for help
29. Not giving clear feedback
30. Not building authentic community
31. Not building team
32. Forgetting that a leaders aim is to help other people succeed
33. Recruiting too fast and recruiting too slow
34. Not delegating
35. Delegating too fast
36. Delegating too slow
37. Delegating without a clear brief
38. Delegating without providing a support structure
39. Failing to understand what motivates others
40. Being fearful of taking on new challenges
41. Making assumptions of others
42. Not being courteous
43. Assuming people understand
44. Assuming people agree
45. Not making time to connect with team
46. Assuming people are on board
47. Not being stretched
48. Lacking confidence in others
49. Lacking confidence in self
50. Being arrogant – having too much confidence in self
51. Taking things personally
52. Fearing over communication
53. Being too hands off
54. Only saying ‘Hello’ when followed by a request
55. Not explaining the process of decisions made
56. Focusing on problems rather than finding solutions
57. Not recognising and valuing self
58. Allowing fear to stall decisions
59. Ineffective time management
60. Ineffective priority management
61. Failing to identify and manage distractions
62. Not cultivating a relational working environment
63. Doing all the talking and not allowing space for others
64. Over managing
65. Attempting to set other people’s goals
66. Not valuing difference
67. Not embracing difference
68. Not celebrating difference
69. Not giving sufficient time to key relationships (e.g. marriage, children, friends)
70. Procrastinating – procrastinating – procrastinating
71. Postponing difficult conversations
72. Underestimating the weight of words
73. Underestimating the weight of moods
74. Failing to be transparent
75. Being (too) certain
76. Not resting
77. Always wanting to be the centre of attention
78. Always reminding people that they are the ‘leader’
79. Putting self-interest before the interest of the organisational goals
80. Not being true to self
81. Taking on too much
82. Not saying ‘No’ enough
83. Talking about self more than others
84. Not being transparent
85. Not setting boundaries
86. Not knowing when to let go
87. Placing more value on the outcome than on the process
88. Being unpredictable
89. Not being flexible
90. Not investing in themselves
91. Not seeking and fueling inspiration
92. Being fearful of conflict
93. Not showing a genuine interest in the life of others
94. Trying to please everyone
95. Not resolving that it is impossible to please everyone
96. Allowing the role or position to shape identity
97. Not developing habits that increase productivity
98. Using the same relational approach with different people
99. Being unable to acknowledge and learn from mistakes

Having reviewed the list and asked some self-reflective questions of myself, I can see where I have made some big mistakes in my own life. Can you?

*I won’t expose which ones are which.

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