Running a business has unique stresses and concerns, largely because you’re asking yourself to be a master of many disciplines. In order to drive business growth you need to build a strong team around you who can get behind your vision and help make it a reality.
And teams need leaders. Your team needs to be inspired, guided and supported and the person to do it is you as the leader of the business. Leadership is standing up and being the person you can be – shining brightly and helping others to shine as well.
Leadership is a responsibility. It is not about taking charge. It is about taking care of those in your team and investing in their success. Having their back – not only in what they’re doing to help your business but with their life overall.
When leaders create a safe environment at work everyone thrives both professionally and personally. It’s leadership that will see your vision become a reality.
BELOW ARE 5 STRATEGIES THAT WILL HELP YOU BECOME A MORE EFFECTIVE LEADER:
KNOW YOUR PURPOSE
Know your WHY and make sure that your team knows it as well. Effective leaders have the ability to engage, inspire and emotionally connect people to the vision. When your team connects with the vision, they become aware of how their personal contribution lends to the big picture. As a result, they feel that their work is of value and when teams focus on delivering the difference only they can make, teams become strong and successful.
Start with your WHY by asking yourself these questions:
- What is the core purpose of your business and it’s work above and beyond merely what it does?
- What is your business about?
- What is its values and culture?
- What drives how you do what you do?
Effective leaders have a unique talent for defining a clear vision, getting feedback and gaining buy in on the vision from their team and inspiring creative solutions to bring the vision to life. They understand that a culture which involves focusing on learning, innovation and creativity not only keeps their team engaged but also drives the best possible results.
GET TO KNOW YOUR TEAM
Care and connection with your team are imperative for productive relationships between leaders and team members. Take the time to really get to know your team members. Know their skills, strengths and personality. Understand how your team works and what motivates them. As a result of doing so, you will all work more effectively and most importantly, feel fulfilled as everyone will be doing work that plays to their strengths and lights them up.
Each day have a 5 minute conversation with each of your team members simply to just check in with them. Sometimes when the leader of a business wants to chat with members of their team the initial reaction is that they feel like they’re in trouble. So when you do this on a regular basis you shatter this fear and start to break down barriers between you and your team.
Some topics you might want to chat with them about could be:
- How do you like your work?
- What are you career goals?
- What do you need me to help you with?
When it comes to setting goals, once the desired result has been decided upon and agreed by your team, assign your team a result but not the tasks. Let your team innovate their own way there. You’ve hired your team for a reason so know when to be quiet and get out of their way – don’t become an obstacle standing in your team’s success. Get out of the way and let them do their job.
MAKE TIME FOR STRATEGIC THINKING
Think that you’re too busy and don’t have enough time for strategic thinking time? This comes from poor decision making and being reactive rather than proactive. If this is you then it’s time to look at how you’re spending your days and the type of work you’re doing. You may find that you’re doing too much or are doing tasks that aren’t playing to your strengths. If so, you need to start delegating or removing these tasks from your list.
Start narrowing down your focus on where you can make the most impact in your business and work with your team so they can do the same. Make clear decisions about what is important and act on them. As the leader of the business you need to be allocating time to allow you to work on the business. So that you can stay alert to what’s going on both internally and externally.
Monitoring relevant strategic indicators, spot development that could impact the business and its customers. Anticipate shifts by predicting the market, customers and team changes and challenges. Working on the business allows you to shape the future rather than trail behind competitors who shape it instead.
BE SELF AWARE
Before you can lead others you need to be able to lead yourself which starts with self awareness. Around your ability to be a leader as well as around your mental, emotional and physical wellness.
Below are some questions to ask yourself:
- What motivates you?
- What are your goals?
- What are your values?
- Can you pinpoint your strengths and weaknesses?
- Are you making your mental, emotion and physical wellness a priority as well?
No leader is perfect but being able to pinpoint your shortcomings can actually help you and ultimately your team. Being open to feedback and most importantly applying that feedback and taking action will build trust and inspire your team to do the same.
ASK QUESTIONS – INCLUDING THE HARD ONES
It’s important to understand that you don’t have all the answers but you are the one with all the questions. When you have the right team members and ask them the right questions, they can devise their own answers to a problem (as opposed to being told what to do) and take their engagement to a new level.
Think about times when you resolve something for yourself. When you do, you become emotionally attached to it and much more committed to remembering it and applying it in the future. So why tell people what to do when you can ask? Doing so leads to accountability and enthusiasm.
Asking questions also extends to asking the harder ones about expectations and issues such as non performance in your team. Real leaders must be courageous and not innately fear conflict. They must not avoid tough conversations, including giving honest and productive feedback as it is from those conversations, that can lead to discovery of new ways, opportunities and growth within your team members.
Effective leaders are daring leaders. As Brene Brown says, be someone who is committed to courageous, wholehearted leadership and who is self-aware enough to lead from their heart, rather than being an unevolved leader who leads from hurt and fear. Be the leader who inspires your team to raise their own bar so together, you can create magic.
P.S. If you have friends who you think will benefit from the tips above, forward this email. They’ll thank you for it!
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