How would you describe a leader? Someone who leads from behind and places others in front when celebrating victory, and when danger looms, takes the front line? If you agree with this, the words of Nelson Mandela will make so much sense to you. He said, “It is better to lead from behind and put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory, when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership.”
In my chosen career, I have read so many books and listened to several talks that focus on leadership. What has been my conclusion? I’d say, what many think is leadership isn’t leadership. If you have to master the art of true leadership, you will be ready for the sacrifice – the late calls, detachment from family, multiple texts, stress, and many other associated tasks that come with it.
It doesn’t matter where you are taking the lead; the task all remains the same. It is your duty and role to understand and maintain the vision. All these require time, yes, quiet time so you could learn more. This quiet time results in loneliness, and this loneliness can make you feel like you are in a lone boat without a paddle, patch, and top of it, no land in sight. Feelings of a shipwreck will evidently trouble your mind. But at this time, you will be thrilled to discover that you will obtain an instant level of clarity. With this clarity, any decision made will be a great one. Decisions that will put your company ahead of the troubles.
Truthfully, as a leader, you should be expected to experience hard times, and in some cases, you will be met with a rewarding experience. But how will you measure your success? I’ll leave you with the words of John Quincy Adams, she says, “If your actions inspire others to want to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.”
Does that leave you wondering, “How can I be a good leader? Well, it all lies in mastering the art of leadership. But what will help you master it? Let’s keep conversing!
When it comes to leadership, it shouldn’t be viewed as a skill; rather, it must be considered as an art. As a career grows, the art of achieving the best from those around you becomes more critical to help you deliver reliable results. To help you master this successfully, mastering the art of leadership is built on three foundations. These include:
1. Understand Your Impact. You should be able to pan through your endeavor and confirm what impact you’ve made so far. If you haven’t impacted anything so far, then, you haven’t delivered as a leader. Many leadership and personality tools will help you with this and strengthen your immediate impact so you could get more productive results.
2. Focus and Observe. You must be able to identify your habits, perspective, and strategies that will help you create a substantial impact that you want.
3. Understand what Growth Entails. A leader must be convinced that growth takes practice. Thus, if you want to be truly successful, you need to practice leadership continually. Pick an expert that will guide you through excellently.
With these three basic foundations, you will notice that it’s the work of a leader to maximize the results and retain a culture that’s vital in creating a robust brand. With the help of strong leadership, you will be able to manage the team more effectively and make your team efficient.
But with these foundations, there are traits that will be required to establish them. Below are the must-have traits of leaders, irrespective of the organization you belong to.
1. Know Your People. When it comes to being a good leader, you must understand those you are leading. You need to ask yourself, what is the motivating factor for their sustainable result? Who is their family member? This understanding leads to additional information that would not only improve personal results, but also help you understand their unique motivators.
2. Build Interest in them. By understanding their challenges, you will be able to build a positive working relationship. It is with it that you can help uncover personal issues, assist in resolving misunderstandings, and get rid of any distractions that could hinder productivity.
3. Pay Attention to Desires and Wants. The time taking to help individuals in attaining their goals will ultimately encourage their will to reach company goals.
4. Be their Point of Contact. In your team’s vision, you must be accountable. You must be able to surpass expectations and deliver to develop a robust, influential company culture.
5. Build Influence Via Emotional Connection. You have to establish a two-way dialogue. That will lead to assisting individuals and, after that, lead to the creation of bonds. It is this bond that will lead to easier delegation and lead to effective leadership.
6. Treat each one as Individuals. To produce exceptional results, you must understand that your team is filled with individual persons. And for that reason, you must reward individuals regardless of the group goals. This will assist in showcasing understanding and appreciating your employers. And in any subsequent project, you can be confident that you will attain success.
Successful leaders are devoted to building strong relationships with their team members and even extend it at times, to customers they relate with, so they could be provided with a personalized and unique experience.
Conclusively, be convinced that you can lead and not that alone, be their followers. What will help you to accomplish this is your aspiration- what you aspire to become in the future. Also, you must be willing to put in more time, take your time to follow others who are leaders and have walked in that similar path.
So, even if you find leadership tiring, trust me, the benefit outweighs the stress involved, provided you are doing it the right way. Only then can you be confident of being a true leader that has all it takes to take his team to their desired destination.
