A great leader is someone who takes responsibility This means taking the flack when things don’t go to plan This in turn protects your staff This means that they can now do their best work and feel safe to take creative risks This creates a better work environment and a better quality of life
It means being willing to make decisions Many leaders put off decisions because it means committing to something, they will be held accountable for The result is that the whole business flounders, and nothing gets done Making quick decisions means being okay with potentially being wrong This will earn you the respect of your team and your superiors
Taking responsibility means owning up when things go wrong But this also means that you can take credit when things go very well
Looking after staff also means looking after their physical needs Are they comfortable in the office? Are they healthy? Are they happy with their colleagues? The more you ensure these things, the more you can help them to do their best work
Great leaders should have emotional intelligence Emotional intelligence means understanding the mood and motivations of others This means that you also know how what you say to someone will affect their mood and motivate them or not
You will be faced with difficult conversations – such as criticizing work that someone has done for you The way you communicate your feelings and instruct the corrections can hugely influence the productivity of that member of staff going forward This comes down to every last word choice – so be very careful
Great leaders must be able to motivate staff Your job is NOT to micromanage and to tell your team precisely what steps to take when working on a project This can remove any creative freedom from a job and make it unrewarding for the professional It wastes time with back and forth It wastes the talent of the individual hired for their specific skills in that area
You should not try to punish or reward your team for their efforts Punishments create the wrong atmosphere. This can create stress and even cause fighting among your team as a result. Even rewards will make your team too focused on just the end goal Studies show that this can actually dampen creativity and problem-solving skills That said, for completely menial work, using incentives can be effective
Instead, you should give freedom and control to your team By doing this, you will be giving them the ownership over certain projects This lets them approach it in the way that they want to, and means they can feel proud when things go well It is not intrinsically motivating, meaning that they feel motivated to work on the project even when it doesn’t excite them otherwise
Great leaders should have excellent communication skills Your job is to convey instructions and to let your team know what is expected of them Delivering this in a concise way will avoid errors and prevent wasted time You need to make sure you list the key points in a clear and straightforward manner
Explain to your team the reasons why you are asking them to do things This helps them to feel more respected and valued At the same time, it gives them the flexibility to get real work done
A great leader should be able to command respect through charisma and tone Speak more slowly Learn to use long pauses Speak with your body
Great leaders are great managers A manager is someone who can manage people and resources in order to meet targets and get work done
This is means knowing where to assign each task
It also means breaking your goals down into smaller targets that you can work toward
Process fixing can help you to work more efficiently
Do not “play” at manager That means you shouldn’t carry out tasks and projects that are purely intended to make you feel more important. Many meetings are in fact a complete waste of time