Monday, August 3, 2015

A Good Leader Learns When To Let Others Lead



Letting someone else hold the reigns when the situation calls for it doesn’t make you any less of a leader. In fact, you are more enlightened of a leader if you do. Although some may have a hard time releasing that power, a good leader knows when a more skillful subordinate should lead the situation. After all, it is the completion of the project that is important. Don’t let pride put the team in jeopardy if a subordinate has the required skills for the task at hand. Here are some tips that may help you in your quest to be the kind of leader who knows when to let others that are more qualified take over:

1. Emotional

Too many times leaders will continue his or her tasks when they are severely emotionally compromised. It is proven that emotional stresscauses a lack of judgment regardless of your status. A leader needs to be able to have subordinates lean on them when things are getting tough. They need to be a pinnacle of aspiration and may not be able to provide that comfort and knowledge if they are in an emotionally distraught frame of mind.

2. Stress 

It’s not an easy task to be a leader of a large group. You are constantly dealing with those under your command and exuding fairness among all of them. If the stress begins to swell up inside you, decisions may become questionable. If there is no possible way to vent this frustration, it is in everyone’s best interest to step down from your commission and allow a fresh outlook of the task from someone who can do the job. It doesn’t mean you are any less of a person. It means that you’re responsible enough to realize you cannot handle the situation and don’t want to jeopardize the team or project.

3. Knowledge

Leaders need to have the knowledge of the specific goal or task they are attempting to complete. Without this knowledge, the task could surely fail. As failure is not an option, it is better to allow someone else to lead the team in order to secure success. This doesn’t mean you are uneducated. It means that you see that someone else has superior skills and would do the team a great justice by leading. The best thing to do is to allow the other person to lead the team and learn all you can about the task in order to perform better the next time.

4. Burden 

At times, the burdens we face may be great. As a prelude to the stresses from above, too much of this burden can wear down our mental and physical selves. Allowing someone to shoulder some of that burden can help ease your tension. This could give you breathing room and the person a chance to prove him or herself as a leader to you and your management. You shouldn’t view this as a weakness. Gathering the support of your subordinates in order to delegate some of the leadership role shows more about your character than letting the job eat you away.
Stepping down doesn’t mean that you are losing what you have worked for. On the contrary, your supervisor could hold the situation in high regard. You are demonstrating that the good of the whole company supersedes your own desire to lead. It is an attitude that many managerial staff lack and one that should be incorporated into every leadership role. Sacrificing the project in lieu of your own personal feelings should never be an option.

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