Leading today is marked with challenges both from the business, the external world and especially from ourselves.

I’ve compiled a list of the top 13 challenges that I see facing leaders today and a quick synopsis on how to overcome each of the challenges you’re facing or might face as a leader.

Overwhelm

A fear-based feeling in which you have too many mental priorities competing for attention. You don’t know what to do and fear that something bad will happen because of it.

Simply pick the top thing that you can actually do right away that will move you forward. Put all your focus, attention & effort into that task or activity. Repeat as needed.

Burnout

State of mental, emotional and physical exhaustion fueled by long-term stress.

Use strategies for frequent recharges throughout the day and week for your mental, emotional and physical wellbeing. Reconnect your job and related activities to your greater purpose and values.

Imposter Syndrome

A belief that you’ve not earned or don’t deserve to be the position you’re in and that you are likely to be “found out.”

Remind yourself of the character traits that you have which you used to be successful in the past and that you can employ in your new seat. Link those qualities to your new or current goals. Give yourself the permission to be vulnerable about what you know and what you don’t.

Fear of Failure

Belief that failing has a deeper meaning about who you are as a person. Failure is viewed as an attack on your wellbeing.

Take the mindset of: there is no failure, only learning. When you seek out a lesson and then use that lesson, you will not view situations as opportunities to fail, only experiences to be had and use for future success.

Trust Issues

A belief that the people around you cannot get the job done or get the job done as good as you, to the detriment of the business.

Adopt the mindset of inspecting what you expect, frequent feedback and continuous learning. More importantly, adopt the mindset of faith that your attention and activities towards larger initiatives will drive success.

Lack of Focus 

Unable to focus on activity completion.

Create clarity with your goals and the purpose those goals fulfill. Create clarity with the activities necessary to achieve the goals. Clarity creates focus.

Lack of Clarity

States of confusion, ambiguity that lead to paralyzation or veering off course.

Ask why. Why are you doing what you’re doing? What is the purpose? Keep asking a why question until the situation is clear. You can then chunk back down into action steps to move forward.

Missing Purpose

Not connecting activities or goals to something bigger and even more important to you.

Ask why you are doing what you are doing. Why do you want that goal? What do you get when you achieve the goal? If you could wave a magic wand and have everything you want 5 years from now, why would those accomplishments matter? From those questions, you can link a purpose bigger than yourself.

Implicit bias

Unconscious biases based on your past influences & imprints that you do not realize you have.

Seek out different perspectives on issues instead of going only with your gut. Practice non-judgment, which is the lack of judging anything as good or bad.

Cognitive bias

Biases based on past experiences that cloud what you think today.

Untangle the attachment between the past and the future. Create learnings from past events to use as information, not as truth set in stone.

Fixed Mindset

Belief that abilities are innate and cannot be developed. You either have it or you don’t.

Work through a mindset of learning. Notice how you or others have grown and positively adapted to novel situations.

Work-Life Imbalance

We feel like we are spending too much time on work activities that lead to burnout or other non-work priorities not being met.

Be sure to link your work to a greater purpose and the time spent working will not feel like a black hole. Prioritize relationships and activities that are just as or more important than work to ensure you can spend your desire.

Conflict Avoidance

Shying away from or not having conversations that we believe might be viewed in a negative light by the recipient. It comes from a fear of not being liked.

Realize that unaddressed issues typically fester into bigger problems. In fact, radical candor actually strengthens relationships, not tears them apart. Moreover, view conflict not with each other, yet solving a problem together.

If you find yourself hitting up against the ceiling of any of these 13 or other leadership challenges, let’s talk. Your ability to lead and grow is directly tied with your ability to breakthrough the challenges that stop your and your team’s growth.

As an Executive Performance Coach, I’ll teach you to break through your ceiling of achievements and connect your purpose and values to your work for greater achievement and deeper fulfillment.