Leadership Challenges

Being a leader is not quite a cakewalk. Infect, to be very honest; managing

people is one of the most challenging tasks. You really need to extract the
best out of your team members and handhold them even in the worst
situations. We all want to lead a team, but have we ever realized what are
the challenges faced by a leader? Remember, a leader is just like the
captain of a ship. One wrong decision and the entire blame comes on you.

As a leader, you are the face of your team. A team manger ought to act as
a bridge between the employees and the management. It is your
responsibility to ensure your subordinates are happy with their work, their
bills are being released on time and they are overall satisfied with their
jobs. There are several external challenges as well in leadership. Lack of
projects, scarcity of funds and lack of support from clients are some of the
external challenges faced by a leader. Your subordinates will come to you
for work and it is your duty to delegate responsibilities. If your team
members are unable to bring work from clients, immediately take the
charge. If there is a financial crunch and your subordinates are not getting
salaries on time, you just can’t afford to take the back seat. Emergency
situations are unpredictable. A leader needs to stand by his team members
at the times of crisis. You just can’t run away from the situation.
Remember, a boss is always referred to as a Hitler, no matter how much
he thinks for his team. A boss - employee relationship is more of a hate
than a love relationship. Make your subordinates feel comfortable. Do not
force them to call you “Sir”. Respect is always commanded and never
demanded. You need to inspire your team members for them to look up to
you and treat you as their mentor.

To be precise here are some challenges that every leader has to face while
managing a team under his leadership:

1. Honing Effectiveness: the challenge of developing the relevant skills —

such as time-management, prioritization, strategic thinking, decision-
making, and getting up to speed with the job — to be more effective at
work.
2. Inspiring Others: the challenge of inspiring or motivating others to
ensure they’re satisfied with their jobs and working smarter.
3. Developing Employees: the challenge of developing others, including
mentoring and coaching.
4. Leading a Team: the challenge of team-building, team development,
and team management. Specific leadership challenges include how to
instill pride, how to provide support, how to lead a big team, and what to do
when taking over a new team.
5. Guiding Change: the challenge of managing, mobilizing, understanding,
and leading change. Guiding change includes knowing how to mitigate
consequences, overcome resistance to change, and deal with employees’
reactions to change.
6. Managing Stakeholders: the challenge of managing relationships,
politics, and image. These leadership challenges include gaining
managerial support, managing up, and getting buy-in from other
departments, groups, or individuals.
Knowing that these leadership challenges are common experiences for
middle and senior managers is helpful, both to the leaders and to those
charged with their development, according to our researchers.

Individuals can benefit from knowing their experiences aren’t isolated, and
can feel more confident reaching out to others for help facing these
challenges.