Shortlist: 7 reasons why managers lose the confidence of their teams

Self-awareness means considering how our behaviour and thinking impacts on our teams. Here are 7 points for leaders to think about.

1. We lack self-awareness and fail to reflect on our own skills, skills gaps and behaviours.

2. We want to be on friendly terms with everyone on our team, so we delay or avoid making painful decisions or dealing with challenging behaviours or unhealthy conflict.

3. We place ourselves under extreme pressure and are afraid to ask for help.

4. We are reluctant to delegate tasks or projects to team members, for fear of being seen as weakness or incompetent – or because we suffer from extreme perfectionism.

5. We experience imposter syndrome and worry we do not possess the required knowledge and skills to do our role or develop a strong team. Research suggests that women are more likely than men to focus on skills they do not have.

6. We are preoccupied with ‘fire-fighting’ and focus on immediate decision-making, so are unable to plan and develop a longer-term vision for our team.

7. We do not understand or learn how to motivate our staff to achieve higher goals and targets.