How to be a Better, Stronger Leader
Leaders with a forceful vision and presence are in great demand these days. With the global marketplace in a state of continuing flux, businesses need talented individuals who understand the power (and occasional pitfalls) of leadership.
Are you satisfied with the quality of your own leadership? Or is there room for improvement, so you can better serve your various stakeholders? The potential benefits of strong leadership make the effort well worthwhile:
Deeper employee engagement
A boost in morale and productivity
More consistent team results
The capacity to promote from within the business
Here are tips on improving the way you lead your organization:
Share your passion.
It’s probably safe to assume you feel very passionate about your role as CEO, owner, and/or business leader. But that passion may not always come through for those around you.
“Great leaders are not just focused on getting group members to finish tasks,” notes Verywell Mind. “They have a genuine passion and enthusiasm for the projects they work on.”
Hone your communication skills.
Like a tree that no one hears fall in the forest, a leader’s communication skills don’t work if no one is listening. When addressing different stakeholders, strong leaders make their message absolutely clear. As we have noted before, “They inspire and motivate—essential qualities of leadership, regardless of your business or industry.”
It’s equally important that you know how to listen. Focus on what others are saying, but also how they express themselves in non-verbal cues and body language. You’ll enhance your communication skills because other people will feel you’re genuinely interested in what they have to say.
Let people get to know you.
In many companies, front-line and support employees rarely see the owner/CEO in person. A strong leader makes time to connect with those who toil “behind the scenes.” The Harvard Business Review recommends opening up about your role within the organization: “Discuss the problems you’re working on and ask for ideas from team members about how to resolve them.”
In addition to staff coming up with potentially valuable solutions, this approach helps build loyalty and engagement in your workforce.
Always be learning.
Strong leaders know fully well they don’t possess knowledge of everything. To them, learning is a lifelong process, particularly with respect to their own business and their competitors’ businesses.
“When learning stops, a company stops improving its performance,” says Jim Morris, Owner at TAB Tennessee Valley Region. “Make sure you, as a leader, are open-minded enough to spend time keeping up with new trends in business and utilizing new and improved ways of problem-solving.”
Maintain a positive outlook.
People are naturally drawn to leaders who exude self-confidence and positivity. In almost every organization, there are individuals who—sometimes unconsciously—labor under a cloud of negativity and spread that undesirable influence among others.
If this is true of someone on your executive team, it’s time to challenge them to think differently about their life and business efforts. (At the very least, it’s advisable for you not to spend much time around them.) People throughout the organization depend on you to remain confident and assured on a daily basis, but especially in the midst of any kind of crisis.
One surefire way to enhance your leadership skills is by joining a peer advisory group, like TAB. Meeting regularly with other business leaders in a confidential setting offers the opportunity to learn from others, share your own hard-earned wisdom, and uncover new ways to grow your business.