76% of people polled recently said they wanted to find a new job because their current boss was toxic. Now, people will define toxic in many different ways.
Some might say that the boss doesn’t lead by example and is unkind or unfair to employees. Others might think a boss who simply holds them accountable, counts as toxic.
If you’ve ever had a great boss, or even a terrible boss, you know how they lead can be impactful for the entire workplace.
Effective leaders do and act in specific ways that make them great. The skills of great leaders are honed, developed, practiced, and modeled for their employees.
Wondering how to lead a team effectively? Read on to learn more.
1. Walk the Walk, Talk the Talk
You’ve heard the adage to practice what you preach. Leadership means you practice what you preach. People watch what’s happening around them. Many are visual and see how a boss acts, reacts, and behaves.
Your employees or your team will pick up the cues you provide in the workplace. You can’t ask them to do hard things, think creatively, and show up and do the work if you’re not doing those things, too.
Think about something as simple as asking employees to be ready for work at a certain time. Yet, as the leader, you frequently slide in at the last moment or leave early. You set the tone for your workplace, and your employees will follow suit.
2. Practice Self-Discipline
The how to be an effective leader handbook does not say do as I say, not as I do. Some bosses expect their employees to do what they say simply because they’re the boss and they said it.
The truth is that it only works short-term. If you want to inspire people and create an environment where you lead and your employees are loyal and dedicated, you have to do what you’re asking of them.
If you ask them to do hard tasks, you should do them too. Your team will recognize when you’re showing up with a mindset that they want to follow.
Negative energy is contagious, and so is positive energy. Decide which you want to spread around you.
3. Read and Share the Importance of It
You can’t expect to know everything, and you certainly shouldn’t give that impression to a team you’re leading. You want them to push themselves and grow in their job; you need to show you’re doing the same.
One of the most impressive leadership skills you can demonstrate is that you read every day. The habit of reading daily provides an abundance of benefits, including:
- Makes you smarter
- Improves mental clarity
- Relieves and reduces stress
- Increases your knowledge base
- Improves vocabulary
- Improves memory
- Develops reasoning skills
- It improves your ability to focus
- Increases writing skills
- Provides peace and entertainment
Leaders have to be willing to learn and model their learning too. Show your team you’re working on learning and being a better person by reading every day.
4. Have a Strong Why
At brianwillmedia.com, the belief for an entrepreneur is that they must have vision and passion and be a driving force toward success. This all comes from knowing your why.
It can certainly be easy to get bogged down with tasks and be pulled in a dozen directions. Yet, you must set the purpose and share that vision with those you lead.
If you, as a leader, don’t have a strong and identified purpose, you can easily go down the wrong path and take those following you along.
The habit of a strong leader is regularly evaluating their why and ensuring they’re on the right path towards it.
5. Using the Power of Recognition
You want to practice the habit of recognizing the efforts and accomplishments of your employees and those who you lead. It’s simply human nature to want to be acknowledged for your efforts.
As a strong leader, you need to know that people need and want to be recognized for what they’re contributing to the team. It carries more significance when it comes from the leader.
But employees will quickly recognize if you’re not being authentic and genuine.
As a leader, paying attention to the unique ways your team members contribute is important. Look for the qualities they bring to their work.
This recognition has multiple benefits. It helps employees know you’re noticing their skills and contributions. It also identifies how they work for the team and helps establish their importance on the team.
6. Be a Listener
You may have had a boss before who believed that the more they talked, the more they were leading. In fact, there’s great power in being a strong, active listener.
As the boss, the leader, and the manager, there are many things happening around you. If you want to know about the things happening in the different aspects of your business, you need to let the people who do know tell you.
And you have to be quiet while they’re talking. Being a good listener is a habit that requires some practice and some patience. You probably need to remind yourself not to talk when someone else is speaking.
You need to do more, though, than just be silent. You need to let the person who’s speaking know that you’re actively listening by engaging in what they’re saying. Let your face and body language show you’re listening and paying attention.
Instead of reacting or responding to what is said to you, another powerful trick of a strong listener is the ability to parrot back what was just said. Repeat what you hear.
It verifies the significance of what the speaker shared and lets them know you heard and understood.
7. Communication Skills
Communication skills in a leader are important for the leader themselves and the team they lead. The leader must use active communication skills to articulate expectations, goals, and directives for the team.
Without solid communication skills, you can have the employee or team member not knowing what to do or waiting for direction.
Beyond that, strong communication skills are key because you need to be able to use both written and spoken word to get your ideas across to those who need to hear them.
Of course, any strong leader works to build strong relationships with the people around them. You can do this by using your strong communication skills to make a point and engage with people.
8. Have Goals, Keep Them in Front of You
Bosses often preach the importance of goal setting. A strong leader will have identified their goals so they can name them and will revisit them often.
Some experts suggest going beyond just knowing your goals and naming them. Instead, revisit them, even daily.
The idea is that when you keep those goals out in front of you, every decision and move you make and model for your employees is in support of the bigger goals.
It’s okay to adjust goals, too. Sometimes as you work towards a goal, you realize you need to make some adjustments, so it’s the right direction to go.
This makes it all the more important to keep your eyes on those goals at all times.
9. It’s All in the Details
Most leaders understand the importance of seeing the big picture. This goes back to keeping the goals in sight and working towards them. You need to understand the importance of communicating those big ideas to your team.
Yet, there is also a point when great leaders dig in and figure out how to get there. They will study the nitty-gritty details and see how those come in support of the vision.
If you want your employees to be invested in the goals, then you must also be invested in the details supporting those goals.
10. Practice With Consistency
A leader needs to practice consistency as they lead. It can be confusing for employees to have a boss or team leader who acts inconsistently.
Once you establish standards for your team, you need to be consistent in your expectations and your response to those expectations.
When you demonstrate consistency, your team will feel confident in what to expect.
You also need to practice consistency in your own leadership practice. Hold yourself accountable by doing all the things with consistency.
Effective Leaders Know What It Takes to Inspire and Get the Job Done
Effective leaders don’t just happen. It requires practice and knowledge and the willingness to do whatever it takes to lead.
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