9 Signs A Leader Needs To Improve

9 Signs A Leader Needs To Improve

No leader is perfect.  We have all seasons when we do not hit on all cylinders.  Seasons when our communications lack clarity, when our people skills divide rather than unify, and when the decisions we make miss the mark.  Simply put, there are seasons in a leader’s life we must simply improve.
LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers is a great leader but he is going through a season in which even he must improve.  The great ESPN.com writer Brian Windhorst recently wrote a post entitled “LeBron the leader must step up.”  As I read Windhorst’s article, I gleaned 9 Signs A Leaders Needs To Improve:

1. A Leaders Needs To Improve When Their Team Is Performing Poorly – The Cavs have a 5-7 record and are currently on a 4-game losing streak.
2. A Leaders Needs To Improve When They Are Complaining About Those They Lead – After a recent loss to the Toronto Raptors, James called his team “fragile”.
3. A Leaders Needs To Improve When He/She Lacks Energy – During poor stretches of play, James has done a series of little things like not get back on defense.
4. A Leaders Needs To Improve When They Make Unnecessary Mistakes – James leads the team in turnovers with four a game.  This is due to a number of “foolish passes” he often makes.
5. A Leaders Needs To Improve When He/She Does Not Include Others – James has become overly reliant on pick-and-rolls with teammate Anderson Varejao rather than including others.
6. A Leaders Needs To Improve When They Undermine The Authority Of Other Leaders – James has been dismissive of Head Coach David Blatt.  He even as far as to admit he “didn’t look for (Blatt’s) guidance” in dealing with teammates.
7. A Leaders Needs To Improve When They Lack Self-Awareness – Unbelievably, James said this past weekend, “I can’t be negative at all…I will never do that to these guys.”  All evidence to the contrary.
8. A Leaders Needs To Improve When They Do Too Much – In fairness to James, he is being asked to be the team’s leader scorer, top rebounder, best passer, motivator, hardest worker and team psychologist.  A leader must get work done through others rather than doing all the work themselves.
9. A Leaders Needs To Improve When They Lack Patience – James said, “I have a low tolerance for things of this nature.  So it’s something I’m working on, as well, which I knew from the beginning that that was going to be my biggest test to see how much patience I’ve got.”

James is one of sports’ great leaders.  He will improve as will the Cleveland Cavaliers.  James is just going through a tough leadership season.  What is one area listed on this list you need to improve in?