Leadership isn’t easy. Not everyone was built to be a boss. To be a good one, it requires near-constant reflection and self-evaluation to ensure you’re serving your team (and yourself) well. And if you’re a bad boss, you’ll constantly be looking for new employees.

 做领导并不容易。没有人天生就是领导。要成为一个好的领导，需要近乎不断地反思和自我评价，以确保你能为你的团队（和你自己）提供良好服务。如果你是一个差劲的领导，你可能会不断需要招聘新员工。

 No one is perfect, and there’s always room for improvement. Here are three common leadership weaknesses.

 没有人完美无缺，总是有改进的余地。以下是领导普遍存在的三点不足。

 1. Lack of trust in employees

缺乏信任

 New leaders often either micromanage employees or take on more tasks than they can handle, all because they don’t trust their teams to perform as well as they do.

 新领导要么往往对员工进行细节管理，要么让员工承担超出自身能力的工作，领导的这些做法都是因为领导不相信团队能像自己一样表现出色。

 “This happens when leaders mistake their role and instead serve as taskmasters or managers in an effort to ensure that things get done,” said Keisha A. Rivers, founder of The KARS Group Ltd. “The best approach is not to micromanage every detail of what has to be done, but to focus on specific outcomes and trusting your team to follow through. Having periodic checkups is best to ensure progress is being made, rather than  requiring your team to provide daily status reports.”

 KARS集团有限公司的创始人凯莎·里弗斯说：“当领导者误解自己的角色，反而作为任务负责人或管理者，努力确保任务会完成时，就会发生这种情况。”“最好的办法不是对必须完成的每一个细节进行管理，而是专注于具体的结果，并相信你的团队能够完成。最好进行定期检查，以确保任务可以取得进展，而不是要求你的团队提供每日进度报告。”

 2. Hypocrisy

虚与委蛇

 A “do what I say, not what I do” mentality is toxic to your work environment. As a leader, you set an example for your team. If you want your employees to respect and listen to you, you must follow your own rules. You can’t hold your staff accountable if you aren’t willing to work just as hard.

 “按我说的做，而不是按我做的做”的思维方式对你的工作环境是有害的。作为一个领导，你应为你的团队树立榜样。如果你想让你的员工尊重并服从你，你必须遵守自己的规则。己所不欲，勿施于人。

 “A leader must have the utmost and highest level of integrity and model the way for their team,” said Daniel Freschi, president of leadership development company EDGE. “If you leave early during the workday or speak offhand about a colleague, it will likely be repeated by your direct reports.” To avoid this, a leader needs to clarify their values and be hyper aware of their behavior and hold themselves to the same or higher standards that you would direct reports.

 领导培养公司EDGE的总裁丹尼尔·弗雷斯基说：“一个领导者必须拥有极高尚的诚信品质，为他们的团队树立榜样。”“如果你在工作日提前下班，或者随口说了一个同事，很可能会被你的直接下属效仿。”为了避免这种情况，领导者需要明确自己的价值观，并明确自己的行为，从而能和下属用相同或更高的标准要求自己。

 “Leaders often want to create a certain type of environment, but don’t want to actually participate in the culture they are determined to create,” added Monahan. “If you are seeking to create a collaborative environment, ask yourself first if you are collaborating and sharing with others. Putting yourself in everyone else’s shoes will pay dividends.”

 “领导者往往想创造某种类型的环境，却不想真正参与到他们创造的环境中，”莫纳汉补充说。“如果你想创造一个合作的环境，首先要问自己，你是否在与他人合作和分享。设身处地为别人着想，便会有所收获”。

 You don’t want to isolate yourself from the rest of your team, so don’t be aloof or act like you are better than your employees, Monahan advised. This will only create tension and frustrate employees. It’s better to be open about your flaws with your workers. The more transparent you are, the more authentic your entire team will be.

 你不想把自己和你的团队其他成员隔离开来，所以不要表现得冷漠或表现得比你的员工更出色，莫纳汉建议道。这只会造成紧张，使员工感到沮丧。最好是向员工公开你的缺陷，你越是透明化，你的整个团队就越真实化。

 “By slowly letting others in and sharing failures and challenges, you will begin to appear more real, and employees will begin to believe in you,” she added. “When you make yourself vulnerable, you make yourself relatable.”

 “通过慢慢让别人了解，分享失败和挑战，你将开始显得更加真实，员工就会开始相信你，”她补充说。“当你让自己变得脆弱时，你就会让自己变得和蔼可亲。”

 3. Failing to set clear expectations

预期模糊

Employees would rather be instructed on what to do than be left with questions and uncertainty. Providing directions and outlining missions will motivate your team and keep them on track.

 员工宁愿被指示做什么，也不愿陷入困惑当中。提供方向和概述任务将激励你的团队，使他们保持在正轨上。

 “When a leader does not set expectations, their direct reports often limp through their day with no clear direction,” said Freschi. “Direct reports want to be productive; they want to know their work has meaning and is contributing to a bigger picture. Without expectations or goals, they are not able to prioritize the workload.”

 弗雷斯基说：“当一个领导者不设定目标时，他们的下属往往在没有明确方向的情况下勉强工作一天。”弗雷斯基说：“员工希望工作有成效；他们想知道他们的工作有意义。有了期望或目标，他们才能确定工作量的轻重缓急。”

 “As leaders, it’s up to you to provide a clear but succinct picture of the vision and desired outcomes for the team and the organization,” said Freschi. “People connect to a project or task much easier if they know where it’s headed. Don’t keep them in the dark … Determine what information is important and then provide clear instructions and expectations to set them up for success.”

 弗雷斯基说：“作为领导者，你应该为团队和组织提供一个清晰简洁的愿景和预期结果。”“如果员工知晓项目或任务的目标方向，他们就会更容易与其联系起来。不要让他们蒙在鼓里......明确哪些是重要信息，然后提供明确的指示和期望，使他们为取得成功而努力。”

词汇小结：

• micromanage ['maɪkroʊmænɪdʒ]：微观管理

• toxic [ˈtɑːksɪk]：有毒的; 中毒的

• offhand [ˌɔːfˈhænd]：即席地，未经核实地

• direct report ：直接下属

• dividend [ˈdɪvɪdend]：红利，股息 

• succinct [səkˈsɪŋkt]：简明的，简洁的，简练的

编辑：ETTBL

翻译：Shaw Henry

材料来源：Business News Daily

*配图取自网络，仅供学习分享使用，侵删