Not every employer is a good leader. There’s almost no doubt that, at some time or another in your career history, you’ve had a manager who was not leadership material. As a result, you and your coworkers suffered. Perhaps scheduling was always done sloppily. Or, maybe you never got recognized for how well you did your job. At least you can use your experience with a negligent employer as an example of what not to do now that you’re in a leadership position.
Tips for Becoming a Better Leader
You may be an employer, but are you a true leader? The only way to know is to look at the outcomes of the decisions you make. An employer with sufficient leadership skills usually has productive workforce and satisfied employees. Do you?
If you’d like to become an employer with great leadership skills (and who wouldn’t?), consider these tips…
Be More Decisive
Indecision weakens you as a leader. Starting today, begin to make those decisions that you’ve avoided for too long. Is there an employee you know needs to be let go? If so, stop putting things off and take action. Brent Gleeson, Co-founder and CMO of Internet Marketing Inc., says, “As business leaders, we have a tendency to focus on growth and the next big opportunity. We shy away from dealing with decisions that take us away from those more ‘exciting’ activities. Then when we finally face the music, we realize we should have handled the situation a long time ago.” What situations do you need to resolve?
Delegate
Some people shy away from taking on leadership roles simply because they want to avoid additional responsibilities. While it’s true that business leaders have a lot of duties, smart ones delegate as much as they can to others. If you want to become the best leader you can be, you’ll have to let others assume some additional responsibilities.
Accept Feedback
It is impossible to grow as a leader without a steady stream of feedback from others. Do you give your employees the opportunity to provide you with feedback? If so, do you take it seriously? It takes humility to accept negative feedback, but it is a necessary evil for a leader.
Decide to Be a Steady Person
It’s amazing what happens when you simply decide to do or be something. If you tend to have a bad temper or use intimidation to get things done, it’s time to try a different approach. Great leaders remain steady even when others fall apart. Furthermore, your employees will not be able to trust you if they are forced to walk on eggshells whenever you are around. Does deciding to be steady mean that a leader can never have an off day? Of course not. It just means that you no longer wear your heart on your sleeve. Remember, when you stay calm, so will your staff.
Of all the qualities a good leader should possess, the most important may be humility. After all, it takes humility to delegate tasks, tame your emotions, accept feedback from your employees, and learn to be more decisive. The journey towards becoming a great leader can only be trekked by a humble person who is willing to adopt new mindsets. This is the basis of leadership.
How will you build your leadership skills this month?
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