How to Become a Better Leader: 3 Ways to Enhance Your Leadership Skills
Do you know what the most valuable qualities of leadership skills are? The way you lead is at the heart of your team's well-being and your company's overall success. Thus, investing in learning how to become a better leader is an investment that often pays off.
Being a good leader is not only about facts and figures; it's about how you deal with people and the interpersonal skills you put on show. Here are three ways to develop your leadership skills:
1. Be a Role Model
We are social and hierarchical creatures, and we often assess how to behave based on the choices of those who are in charge - our leaders. Thus, being a good leader usually means being a role model as well. A leader, as a role model, influences others and acts as a positive example for the whole team, evoking a sense of respect and demonstrating integrity. Thus, a good leader is someone who is honest, fair, and principled, and someone who expresses these core values through their daily choices. A good leader does the right thing.
2. Master Workplace Decision-Making
Making good decisions is vital for any business. So, how do you make the best possible decisions? The first thing is to know your decision-making type. Are you, for example, a rash 'hare' or a slower-moving 'tortoise'? Do you prefer doing things on your own or do you like to work with others? Knowing your default style will help you make more reasoned decisions.
Additionally, when learning how to become a better leader, it can be beneficial to know which decision-making method to use in each situation. In some cases, it might be useful to rely on the more intuitive "gut" feeling and in other cases on the more robust, mechanical thinking.
Also, dividing decision making into smaller bits - preparing, deciding, implementing - will help you get a grip of the overall process. Good decision making often involves bringing other people round to your view. And once the decision process is up and running, tracking the outcomes will help you learn from them.
Lastly, understanding that no decision is perfect, and that good decision making requires time, will help you in the process.
3. Enhance Your Leadership with Active Listening Skills
How can you improve your listening skills already today? One of the most meaningful ways to show respect to another person is to listen deeply. This applies to all areas of life. In a leadership role, active listening will help you understand what your colleagues, employees, and customers want, need, or have to offer. It will make communication between you more effortless. It will also make your relationships stronger and more successful. Furthermore, it will help you make better decisions and be a better role model!
When you want to apply good listening skills in your everyday work, focus on your listening and turn your body towards the person you're listening to. Eye-contact will help you create a stronger connection. Sitting still and avoiding any interruptions will also help you focus on what the other person is saying.
At its best, good listening can encourage you to challenge your own beliefs and introduce you to diverse points of view.
Do you want to learn more great ways to improve your leadership skills? Check out these courses: