Leadership is a privileged position to be in, apart from the day-to-day care that we show ourselves and the work we put in which makes us look good. In a leadership role, this attention is dispersed among the members of your team, you are included, but you have to be far more attentive. Leading people is not something just anyone can do, this is a role that takes mental toughness and real-life experience to carry out tasks based on a vision.
Leadership involves acting in the best interest of the group as a whole and tending to the needs of members of the team. This can be difficult, especially when there are members who aren’t pulling their weight or are falling behind. However, leadership is not a place for blame, you as the leader are responsible for any and everything that goes on within your operation. This is a testing position, it will require you to maintain a high level of emotional intelligence. With that being said, here are seven pieces of advice that can help you lead to the best of your ability.
1. Take Accountability, Don’t Look For Blame
When an issue arises, you need to take accountability for what went wrong. It’s easy to say “well this person didn’t do this” but what you need to say is “I didn’t prepare this person to handle this, let me change that”. If you point fingers at your team, they will start to lose interest in being led by you and the task at hand. Instead, use your emotional intelligence to assess where there is room for improvement and apply action.
2. You Set Your Standard
If an underperforming member remains in a position that is hurting your objective, this is your fault, not theirs. What you allow to happen is your standard, not what you would like to happen. Leaders all have ideals for the way their operation should run and they consider that to be their standard. Their actual standard is evident in the way their operation is running and the efforts they are taking to improve. In short, if you allow mediocrity on your team then your standards for results are mediocre.
3. Everyone Must Be All In
Communication is everything, it is crucial to communicate the reasoning behind tasks so that team members are invested to get it done. It is also important to communicate and handle issues as a team when they arise. When your team knows what is trying to be accomplished, their productivity improves. This all stems from communicating and ensuring that everyone knows what is expected of them. It also means that you must know what is expected of yourself as a leader. Again, you are responsible for the outcome, examine the areas of importance, and review them with your team.
4. The Task Must Be Easy To Understand, But That Doesn’t Make It Easy
It must be made sure that the members understand the plan as straightforward. However, this doesn’t mean that it will be a breeze to conduct. Members must be willing to endure the struggle associated with the task.
5. Set Your Priorities
The to-do list will get long and stressful situations will arise, handling this properly will determine the productivity of your team. It is best to prioritize the most pressing tasks first and then complete the rest the same way. By doing this, you prevent multi-tasking, which is a killer to productivity and will only create more, unnecessary stress.
6. Give Team Members Responsibility
Over time, after credibility and communication skills have been established, trust your team members to make decisions. This will make them feel valued and demonstrate that you trust their judgment. Decentralizing authority will motivate your team and allow you to focus on other areas more closely. Giving your team members responsibility will allow them to improve and achieve more in their future endeavors.
7. Build Self-Discipline
Every day is an opportunity to achieve, but every day provides challenges that can inhibit your effectiveness. Start the day with something you don’t want to do, wake up early, and don’t look at your phone for 30 minutes. Take that time to instead get a head start on the day as opposed to checking your socials. An act like this will demonstrate your self-control and allow you to carry that throughout the day. This will translate into your decision-making and productivity as the day progresses. Ultimately, put yourself in uncomfortable situations to grow and make yourself better, then use it to make the people around you better.
Conclusion
Good leaders can create amazing things in this world, more than that they can inspire people to better themselves and achieve. Having this impact is a privilege that is earned, not given, and takes very mentally equipped individuals. So whether you are the CEO of a company, the captain of a team, a teacher, or any sort of role model, you are paving the way for others. The results of which do not come from those you lead, they come from your ability to lead them.
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