“We must become the change we want to see” Mahatma Gandhi

LEADERSHIP IS a big issue. There are zillions of books about it, and pretty much an infinite number of ways to describe what makes an effective leader. Sure, everyone has its own opinions, and people respect their opinions, and there are lot of ways to achieve certain things. What makes an effective leadership is that: what’s right for one situation isn’t right for another – and good leader knows the difference and can react differently depending on the context and circumstances.

The way you lead helps shape your culture. Therefore, your leadership style should be informed by the culture you’re trying to cultivate. And of course, the way you lead most effectively depends mostly on whom you are, and effective leaders listen and have compassion. Good leaders are made not born. If you have the desire and willpower, you can become an effective leader. Good leaders develop through a never ending process of self-study, education, training, and experience. This guide will help you through that process.

1. Be Technically Proficient.

As a leader, you must know your job and have a solid familiarity with your employees’ tasks.

2. Seek Responsibility and Take Responsibility For Your Actions.

Search for ways to guide your organization to new heights. And when things go wrong, they always do sooner or later — do not blame others. Analyze the situation, take corrective action, and move on to the next challenge.

3. Make Sound and Timely Decisions.

Use good problem solving, decision making, and planning tools.

4. Set The Example.

Be a good role model for your employees. They must not only hear what they are expected to do, but also see.

5. Know Your People and Look Out For Their Well-being.

Know human nature and the importance of sincerely caring for your workers.

6. Keep Your Workers Informed.

Know how to communicate with not only them, but also seniors and other key people.

7. Develop A Sense of Responsibility In Your Workers.

Help to develop good character traits that will help them carry out their professional responsibilities.

8. Ensure That Tasks Are Understood, Supervised, and Accomplished.

Communication is the key to this responsibility.

9. Train As A Team.

Although many so called leaders call their organization, department, section, etc. a team; they are not really teams…they are just a group of people doing their jobs.

10. Use The Full Capabilities of Your Organization.

By developing a team spirit, you will be able to employ your organization, department, section, etc. to its fullest capabilities.

Focus, Attention, and Persistence.

As a leader, you must never lose focus on values. Look for the value. Point it out and remind people how their work is an important expression of values in action. It is your job as a leader to constantly teach, recognize, reward, and help course corrections where necessary. Every member of your workforce is responsible for values-driven business practices, but they look to you, the leader, for living examples of how the values translate into action. You set the tone. When you take a cavalier approach to values or lose sight of them—even if temporarily—you give your team members permission to do the same. When you refuse to give in to pressures and obstacles and remind everyone of the important values at stake, your people will have an excellent model to follow. The greatest challenges leaders in top positions face are ethical dilemmas—for example, questions of choosing between long-term and short-term gains. It is often a problem of choosing between right and right. There are no easy answers to some business problems. Using values will help you with clarity and decisiveness.

Character

YOUR CHOICES AND actions help define who you are. They illuminate your character. You can talk till you’re blue in the face about your values, but they’re meaningless if you do not live up with them. Companies have character, too. The culture and spirit of the company reflects its character, as do its processes, procedures, and interactions with the outside world. And all of that comes from its shared core values. The core values of a company are a key factor in its identity. They are the handful of values or guiding principles that are at the very heart of the company that are essentials to its very spirit. These values make the company what it is, and they are a major part of what each person agrees to live by, which joins them together in a meaningful way. This meaning is what drives many employees, and it is the most effective way for the leaders to motivate them.

Integrity

INTEGRITY IS THE cornerstone of business because business is based on trust. Trust between you and your employees, your clients, your suppliers, your partners, the media, and the community. If trust is broken, it’s awfully hard to recover. Integrity is one of those bottom-line, deal-breaking kinds of requirements. While you can emphasize and encourage specific values, teach laws and regulations, and communicate your expectations, you cannot teach someone integrity. You can only hire people whom you believe have it and separate yourself from those who don’t.

One of the less obvious ways we determine the integrity of a company is by assessing what the company stands for, and how well it lives up to its value as we understand them.

Know yourself and seek self-improvement - In order to know yourself, you have to understand your be, know, and do, attributes. Seeking self-improvement means continually strengthening your attributes. This can be accomplished through self-study, formal classes, reflection, and interacting with others.

No related posts.