Why Your Beliefs as a Leader May Be Hindering Your Team’s Success
As leaders, we all have beliefs about our leadership styles and values. We like to view ourselves as good leaders who work well with others and create an environment where everyone succeeds.
But what if our beliefs are getting in the way of our team’s success? What if we do everything we can to bring the team together and yet there seems to be something missing?
I’m so glad you asked.
In this blog, we’re going to explore how our own beliefs as leaders can make or break the success of our team and what we can do to make sure our team succeeds.
Leadership Values and Beliefs
Understanding your own values and beliefs around leadership is the first step to setting your team up for success.
Our leadership values are what we deem important to us surrounding leadership while our beliefs are what we believe about ourselves as a leader. Your values typically center around what you think a leader should be while your beliefs center around what you believe you are.
You could believe you are a team player or you delegate well. You could believe you are open and approachable, telling yourself your team members should have no problem coming to you with an issue they need to resolve. You believe you have a problem with follow-through because you always seem to be scrambling to get things done.
Our lived experiences shape who we believe we are in profound ways, but our beliefs are also shaped by others’ opinions and traits we want to emulate.
Maybe you’ve been told you lack follow-through enough times that you’ve started just accepting it as true. Maybe you’ve deemed yourself a team player and a strong delegator because you are constantly telling others what they should be doing. Maybe you’ve convinced yourself you’re approachable because you’ve told people to come talk to you if they have a problem.
Unfortunately, our beliefs about ourselves are not always accurate reflections of reality. We can want and believe ourselves to be a certain way and have specific qualities, but is there ever a true way of knowing if what we believe about ourselves is true?
One of the best ways to start testing your beliefs is through the Kolbe A™ Index. By looking at your beliefs through the Kolbe A™ Index, you are able to see a true view of your strengths and where your beliefs may be off.
The Kolbe A™ Index gives you permission to operate as your true self, highlighting your strengths and showing you areas to lean on others. Once you, as the leader, have a better understanding of your Kolbe A score, you are better equipped to see where your team members can fill in the gaps.
Team Management Leadership Style
As a leader, the first step is understanding your own Kolbe A™ Index Score. But the first step is almost pointless without taking the second step: understanding the individual scores of your team.
When you understand the individual scores of your team, you are able to clearly see any gaps in the ideal working structure while giving you insight into any potential conflicts. For example, if you, as the leader, are a high quick start, you have the potential to get frustrated when things aren’t getting done ASAP. However, if your team is made up of low quickstarts, they are stuck because they don’t feel they have enough information to get started.
Understanding each individual’s Kolbe A™ Index scores is also a way for the team to understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses. If a low factfinder and a high factfinder are working together on a project, there is a lot of room for frustration because one person needs very few details while the other needs as much information as possible. When they understand each other’s scores, each person can approach the other and the project with respect, knowing better how to meet in the middle.
Finally, understanding your team’s individual Kolbe A™ Index scores is a great opportunity to show your investment in your team members. We all want to know the people we work for value us as individual people and our work. Investing time and energy in helping your team members truly understand themselves and learn how to work within their strengths instead of against them can lead to huge gains for the team as a whole.
How you approach leadership may change once you have an understanding of your and your team’s Kolbe A™ Index.
When you have a better understanding of your Kolbe A™ Index scores and your team’s Kolbe A™ Index scores, it allows you to work together more effectively. You are able to be a better leader and be the kind of leader your team needs instead of the leader you think you should be.
The best part of this is you don’t have to do it alone. You can be the leader your team needs without having to second guess yourself and wonder if you’re doing it right.
When you work with me, I guide you through your own individual scores so you can be the best leader, but I also work with each team member individually and the group as a whole. Each person on the team (including you) gets one-on-one support for their individual needs, but we also work together with your unique team. We work through frustrations and successes together, so you never feel like you’re having to lead your team alone.
Take the first step to becoming the leader you’ve always wanted to be by reaching out to me today. Don’t wait for the “perfect” time; it doesn’t exist.
Contact me today to start the leadership journey of your dreams.