WHAT MAKES A GREAT LEADER?

First and foremost, leadership is not a title. Leadership is a collection of your actions and gaining people’s respect to move you forward into a role of service and command of a group of people.

First we must understand that not all situations require the same type of leadership style. Great leaders adapt to their surroundings and empower their people to succeed together. As I share these, I say they are skills, because skills can be learned. Some are easier than others – and you can get started right now.

  1. Leaders Lead By Example. They do what they expect others to do. I remember working in a Roller Rink many years ago – try cleaning up a business after it has been visited by 600 teens on a Friday night! We had a couple different managers that would work closing shift… I’ll never forget these times. One of them that would tell staff what to do and expect it to get done to perfection. And one that showed us what to do, and then delegated the tasks to us to complete. The one that told people, would often get skipped out on, tasks incomplete, toilets uncleaned, etc. The one that worked alongside people Almost always got glowing reports back from the owner. He held us accountable to the same standard that he held himself. Because of that – he always achieved more as a manager, because we achieved more for him on shift. Do the things that you expect of your people. Because how can you have an expectation for them to do that if you aren’t willing to – or if they don’t know you have had to experience that same journey that they are on now.
  2. Leaders Know Their People. Knowing every individual that you work directly with is important. It allows us as leaders to more effectively manage and predict the outcome of our team which is critical to overall success. Leaders can have a great impact on people in both their professional and personal lives. This is a big responsibility. People that lead by title often share what is important to them, or important to the company. I encourage you to do the inverse. Listening to people is one of the most powerful things you can do to lead. Listen effectively to lead others effectively. Slow down and find out what is important to the people you are leading. (SHARE BDC INFO) When you do that, it shows them that they are important to you. By knowing people, you can effectively coach people. By coaching people you can gain their respect. This also allows an environment where trust is created and the ability to delegate tasks to accomplish even more.
  3. Leaders Are Decisive. No one likes a wishy-washy leader. Everyone has to make decisions. If you aren’t decisive people start to question your ability to lead and will often fall out from following you. It’s important to take in all the data, all the opinions, and everything that people have to offer – and then make the best decision possible. Know that you may not always make the right decision, but it’s important to make A DECISION. If you aren’t decisive you can have your team approaching tasks from multiple different directions. When they do that then almost always, less overall gets accomplished. If you make a decision at least it allows people to all move forward in the same direction towards successful results.

What additional skills do you think a leader needs or benefits them to be able to effectively lead others?