How to Deal With Leadership Setbacks

At some point, every leader will deal with setbacks, conflicts, and challenges; it just comes with the territory.

However, if you aren’t careful, a minor setback can cost you major time and productivity.

One of the things that separates good leaders from great ones is their ability to adapt to and successfully manage adversity.

At CMOE, we’ve taken many leaders from good to great, and we have the know-how to help you and your team deal with setbacks head on.

Here are a few tips to set you on the path towards managing conflicts and setbacks more effectively:

1.   Maintain Your Perspective

Setbacks are usually temporary—so don’t panic, and don’t drop everything to deal with the issue. Typically, the key to addressing challenges successfully is simply to work through them.

It’s also important to remember that setbacks are not the end of the world and don’t reflect your overall success, either on a project or as a professional.

One setback doesn’t mean the project or the team will fail. Focus on the things that are working instead of those that aren’t. It’s your job to keep a level head and inspire confidence in your team members, even when things go wrong.

2.   Involve Your Team

You have a variety of personalities, talents, and experiences to draw from in the form of your team members. Don’t be afraid to ask your talented team to help you come up with creative solutions to unforeseen problems.

Not only will this help you work through the immediate problem, it will also help your team members feel more valued and become more committed to the project.

3.   Learn from Setbacks

Once you’ve tackled a particular type of issue, you’ll be able to use that knowledge and experience and apply it to similar problems in the future. Look at each setback as an opportunity to learn something.

Learning from your mistakes and maintaining a positive outlook will help you and your team be better equipped to handle challenges you’ll face down the road.

4.   See the Opportunities for Improvement

People don’t typically see conflict as a good thing, but good things can come from the problems you’ll face throughout a project.

Viewing a challenge not just as an inconvenience but as an opportunity for innovation shifts your team into a more productive frame of mind that can ultimately be used to turn a setback into a victory.

5.   Be Accountable for Your Part

When things go wrong, it’s easy to point fingers and place blame, but this isn’t really productive. It can also lead to your collaborative efforts falling apart.

Great leaders take ownership of their contributions to the problem as well as finding a workable solution, and they also help their team focus on improvement.

Setbacks don’t have to be the end of the road. They don’t even need to slow you down. Everyone has the potential to become a great leader and drive productivity in spite of conflict, but few people are able to realize their potential without proper training and guidance.

The experts at CMOE have developed numerous coaching and leadership-development programs that will elevate the performance of your business leaders and create employees capable of transforming the way you tackle team projects. You can check out our extensive list of leadership programs here and learn more about of our leadership publications here.