What can you do to improve your ability to lead? Well, that’s a really good question, and one that we wish people would ask more frequently. Leadership is one of the hardest tasks that you are ever going to take on, and one that you should be constantly thinking about. The importance of being a good leader and not just a leader is lost on a lot of people, and it’s time that we helped people understand that this is not okay.
In this article, we’re going to be taking a look at some of the things that you can do in order to improve your ability to lead. Some of these won’t work for you, some of these you may already do well, it’s just a case of finding the things that help you be the best version of yourself. Keep reading down below if you are interested in finding out a little more about this.
Listen To Those Under Your Leadership
First, you want to ensure that you are constantly listening to those under your leadership. It’s not supposed to be a dictatorship, so everyone should be able to have their say without fear that they are going to receive backlash. While it might not feel like it, the people that you are supposed to be leading will be on your side until you give them a reason not to be. The goal of most people is to get on well enough with their boss to have a good life while they are at work, so forming a good relationship is paramount for both sides.
Ideally, you want to take time to listen to them whenever you can. Have an open door policy so that they feel comfortable coming to you when they have an issue, or when they have something that they need. Have a suggestion box that they can post suggestions for you to go through at the end of the week, and so much more. You do not have to grant every request, but if you grant as many as you can, that is enough.
Be Open To Regular Communication
In order to constantly improve your business and your leadership, you are going to need to regularly communicate with both your employees and your customers. Don’t shut either one down when they are talking to you, let them feel important. There are too many business owners out there who don’t care too much about what these people have to say, but they are the very people that you are trying to cater to, and the people you are employing to do so. Their opinions matter, whether you like it or not.
If you want to make sure that you are regularly communicating, you should think about holding weekly meetings with your staff, and holding a focus group of sorts with your target audience once per month. Not only that, but you should be looking through reviews and ensuring that you are taking on board their feedback.
Better Yourself
You cannot expect your business and your employees to keep improving if you are not doing so. You are not perfect the way that you are, despite the fact that you may think otherwise. Everyone always has room for improvement, and it’s essential that you understand this, pushing yourself constantly to be better. There are a variety of ways that you can do this, and one of them is through education. Think about the new information and ideas that you can gain through completing your MBA or something similar to this depending on where you got to in your formal education.
Or, if you don’t feel like formal qualifications will serve you well, at least look into some leadership courses that may be what you are looking for. They may be able to offer you a new perspective on leadership that you did not have previously which will help you become more popular with your employees. It’s always worth a go, because you have nothing to lose by trying it out.
Team Building Exercises Regularly
We know that there are a lot of people who hate them for one reason or another, but they do have their place in the world. Team building exercises help to build a strong unit, helping your team to trust each other and ensuring that they can work together in the most productive way possible. If your team is constantly at each other’s throats, and if they are figuring out ways to one up each other all of the time, this isn’t going to work. No, you need a team that is able to function fluidly, communicate effectively, and help to keep pushing your business forward to the best of your ability.
There may well be some resistance, especially in the beginning, but you’ve got to squash that as quickly as you can. These exercises are not optional, and you need to make that clear to your team.
Be A Part Of The Team, Not Above It
One of the most important pieces of advice that we can give you is to be a part of the team, don’t try to be above the team. We know that as the leader you may feel as though you sit above everyone else, and maybe you do in some ways, but flaunting this around is not going to win you any favors with the rest of the team. No, instead you need to integrate yourself as part of the team, allowing them to lean on you when they need to and vice versa. You are always going to have a stronger relationship with your team if you are one of them as much as you can be, as they will open up to you more if they don’t see you as a typical leader who sits up in their office and barks orders.
Reflect On Yourself At The End Of Each Day
The final piece of advice that we have got for you is that you sit down at the end of each day and you reflect on what you did well and what you didn’t do well that day. This level of self reflection is necessary to move yourself forward, to ensure that you are improving as much as you can, and to overall help you learn about yourself. It’s easy to have someone else praise and criticize you, but it’s harder to do this yourself. However, it’s necessary as it’s through this that you learn more about yourself than you ever will any other way.
If you try to think of at least two things for each side, then you can work on what to improve for the next day. This will help you push forward and hopefully assist you in gaining favor with your employees going forward. If you want to, you can also ask them for feedback on your leadership, and what they think you could do to improve, just to ensure they feel as though they’re being considered.
Hopefully, this has given you some inspiration to not only improve your leadership, but to do so because you want to, not because you have to. Leadership is not for everyone, and it’s okay if it’s not for you, as long as you are willing to do whatever it takes to succeed in the role for however long you have to be there. Remember that if you do not want to lead yourself, you can always hire someone else to take care of this for you. We wish you the very best of luck, and hope that you manage to see success here.
