As people have been more physically separated the role of a leader has become both more challenging and more important.
A lot of people start thinking about leadership when they need to manage a team. You’ve got your people and you need to motivate them to act toward your common goal. Turns out that comes in handy, and is necessary, in lots of areas of life whether you directly manage people or not. And in fact, a lot of managers aren’t actually doing much leadership.
So what makes a good leader? Well as you can imagine there are tons of books and resources on this but I’m going to break it down into three key areas (you may know there’s something about three things that just works for me).
1. Vision
People want to be a part of a mission not a job. As a leader it is your responsibility to convey how your team is contributing toward that greater company vision. No one wants to feel like just another cog in the wheel. And while everyone can’t be a part of every decision a lot of times it’s as important to talk about what you’re not doing and why as much as what you are doing.
2. Nurture and empower your team
Everyone on your team is probably a little different and has different challenges, strengths, and desires in their job. It’s important to make time to meet with your whole team but also meet one-on-one with your direct reports. Listen to what they need and figure out a way to be as involved as appropriate, have clear communication channels about expectations, and also to give them a path that can help them grow.
3. Be a part of the solution
Since you’ve nailed your vision and your team expectations this part will be easy. Being aware enough of what is really entailed in a project or a program to know how you can best empower your team to succeed. Asking questions ahead of time to get your team thinking about better ways to do things and what could go wrong. And when something does go wrong, and when things are going awesome, being in the position to help institutionalize successful methods and changes needed. And never forget to acknowledge all the hard work.
The other way you can look at traits of leadership is by looking at examples that you’ve experienced that were good and bad. What can you learn from those people and those experiences? Sometimes it helps to literally search on “leadership skills” to start to break it down.
Think about how you’re applying leadership today and what strengths you bring as well as if there are any areas you want to stretch further. There are tons of resources to start scanning. Articles, TED Talks, books, classes…
And know that being a good leader is rarely complete. Each situation and person you work with will bring new opportunities. Pay attention and keep reflecting on any areas you want to work on.
Would you follow you if you were the leader?
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