3 Big Mistakes Every Leader Needs to Avoid

As leaders we all make mistakes, but if we learn from others we can go much further, faster. Here are three mistakes every young leader (and sometimes old ones too) make.

1. Thinking more negatively than positively. When I first came to Evangel, I was so excited for the new ministry, new responsibilities, and new environments. However, after a couple of months, I caught myself telling some parents and volunteers all the bad things that were happening. I would lament about my presentation style, how volunteers weren’t doing what I wanted them to do, and how kids just wouldn’t behave. After a while, God convicted me, and I began to change. Many leaders do the same thing. They look at all the bad things and forget to see the good. As you lead your team look for the positives and not just the negatives. Talk about the good things that are happening. If something is going wrong, write it down, talk it over with trusted people, and come up with a solution. People want to follow positivity. No one follows Debbie Downer.
2. Collect all the credit and spread all the blame. Everyone loves to be encouraged and applauded. Even if you don’t like being in front of people, if someone told you, you did a good job you would be on cloud nine. The reverse is also true. We’ve all been blamed for things that weren’t our fault or even worse felt the full brunt of our failure without our leader protecting us. A true sign of a strong leader is one who freely gives credit to those who did a great job and takes the blame when something fails. It’s not the easiest or the most glamorous, but no one ever said leading was supposed to be either.
3. Try to do everything alone. When I first started in ministry as a volunteer, I believed I could do it all. I thought I could usher, greet, sing in the choir, run sound and even lead worship. Granted I was 16 and just a little prideful. As I moved into ministry these same patterns continued. I not only tried to do everything myself, I didn’t trust anyone else to be able to do it. If we want to be successful leaders we have to give things away. We have to take the time to train others to do the work. It will be hard and frustrating at first but the benefits will be much greater. Jesus says in Matthew 25:21 one who is faithful in the little things will be trusted with more.

It’s so easy to let our egos get in the way. This is why Solomon said that pride comes before the fall. Once we begin to humble ourselves and avoid these three big mistakes we can become much better leaders and accomplish more in our families, our jobs, and our ministries.