You probably don’t feel ready or probably feel uncertain and definitely not ready to be a leader, well it is about time to have a rethink. Becoming a leader can be an inborn quality of man but can also be developed and learnt at the same time.
There are ways you can actually develop your skills when the need to actually lead a team arises. You have to develop on how to build your relationship and try to achieve great results for your business or your organization. If you want it, you can certainly get it if you work for it.
Leaders can be born while some leaders can be made. The role of leadership is not restricted or limited to a certain set of people. Taking steps to becoming a better or a great leader actually takes a series of practice and inward reflections.
There is a need to become more flexible and adaptable and get used to becoming uncomfortable to earn the trust and respect of your team members and encourage them to aim for greater results.
Self-reflection is definitely a great step to becoming a better leader. You need to discover and acknowledge your weaknesses so you can definitely know where or what to start from before aiming at becoming a leader.
Take a hard look into what your strengths and weaknesses are, so you can improve your strengths and overcome your weaknesses. This would be a huge bridge to close before finally taking the leap into the leadership role. What are the components to become a great leader?
1. Building Relationships
As earlier said in the introductory part of this article, it is best to know how to build and manage relationships with people, especially your team members. The way you actually relate and converse to others is a great step to becoming a leader. If you probably feel lacking in this regard, then it is time to look into networking with people.
Go on trips and adventures with the aim to meet and connect with new people, attend seminars and industry events set up in place for people of like minds, take and use every opportunity you get to talk and communicate with different people. Even if you get uncomfortable at first.
Don’t be timid or intimidated to talk about things that probably scare you and it might just be perfect to also share your experiences of when things didn’t go as planned with you during work. Showing your vulnerability and failures would actually make everyone connect and understand you for networking more, instead of presenting yourself as a perfect person.
2. Earn Your Respect
To become a leader you have to trust people around you so they can in turn give you respect as a leader. You have to respect people’s opinion and perspective, be inquisitive and listen to what your team thinks.
It is a wrong mentality as a leader to think you are expected to provide all the answers to every question. Your primary role is to empower, motivate and build the ability and capacity of your team members. You get the best out of your team members when you let them work autonomously.
Motivation and a feeling of importance builds up to every individual in the team when a feeling of their importance is attached to the business. To be a leader you have to be flexible as earlier said and open to different ideas and adapt plus adapt different approaches depending on who the person is, the situation and also the context of the idea.
The engagement and efficiency of your teammates is actually your own superpower, because you have little or no worries when your team members give their 100% to every goal or task ahead of them, then trust and engagement would be your work lifestyle.
3. Be Result Oriented
Every outcome of every task of a team, the leader is responsible for them regardless. When you discover that following or aiming and actually achieving your goals or tasks is your weakness, then it is important to actually work towards changing that mentality to becoming a result driven person.
As a leader there is no excuse for failures, be positive and assertive that you can always get results out of every tunnel you go through.
Develop yourself to become efficient in time management, focusing more and self-awareness. Don’t be too timid or grow fear of ruining relationships or there won’t be anybody to hold accountable for error. You lose your respect when anybody on your team can get away with anything.
Try to stand your ground and be serious about your expectations from your team. Keep everyone in check and make everyone accountable for their decisions, so you can handle small issues before they become bigger.