Know Your Limits: Why Boundaries Are So Important When Becoming a Team Leader

One of the key things that all successful team leaders find a way to overcome is the simple human need to be liked. When you've finally risen in the ranks and find yourself in a position of authority, it's natural to want everyone to see you as "the cool boss" or "the friendly boss." While this is absolutely recommended to a certain extent and it's a whole lot better for productivity than barking orders and becoming the boss that everyone hates, you still need to know your limits. You need to draw a line in the sand and establish yourself as a team leader by setting boundaries for both yourself and those beneath you. This is something you can do in a few different ways.

The Dangers of Not Setting Boundaries

The potential pitfalls associated with not setting boundaries for your employees extend quite a bit deeper than just having people who look at you more as a friend and less as a leader. A lack of boundaries can also easily translate into a lack of clarity and direction. You might suddenly find that, while you have hugely talented people working beneath you, they're not focused. They're not engaged. They're more confused than anything and nothing is getting done.

Another significant issue that a lack of boundaries can create has to do with your overall company culture. If you don't set boundaries up front, your company culture could become damaged. People will become demotivated, which will ultimately cause their performance to suffer. This, in turn, not only affects the quality of the work that you're able to deliver to clients, but also your entire company identity from the top down.

Setting Boundaries as a Team Leader

If you want to continue to blossom into the team leader you always know you were meant to be, you'll want to focus on creating boundaries in a few key areas. You'll want to create boundaries that help your employees focus, first and foremost. You need to do what you can to minimize distractions from EVERYTHING that isn't critical to the task at hand.

You'll also want to create boundaries that help build a positive working environment for everyone involved. Whether this means rewarding a job well done or just recognizing when someone turns in a particularly thoughtful piece of work, this will go a long way towards creating a positive emotional environment - which also helps stimulate brain performance and keeps your employees operating at peak efficiency.

More than anything, however, you'll want to establish boundaries that keep your team functioning as exactly that - a team. Any activity or behavior that fragments your team instead of pulls them together simply won't do. You need to always remind your employees that you're all in this together and that every move you make, along with every move they make, needs to be focused towards the same short-term and long-term goals.

These are just a few of the many reasons why boundaries are such an important part of becoming a team leader. Everyone wants to be liked, but remember that you're not in this to make friends - you're in this to get the job done. The types of boundaries that you set need to minimize distractions and bring your team together, not pull them apart. Only then will you be able to grow into the true team leader you always knew you had hidden inside you.