Cultivating Leadership in Every Role
Leadership opportunities are available to most people throughout life. This could start with a young primary school pupil asked to be responsible for a small task with the help of others or a bigger role as a lead for a group activity. At every stage in your life you may be called upon to perform a leadership role. The question to ask yourselves when you are placed in a leadership position is how can I get the best out of people and help them thrive in my team?
What is leadership?
Working with people is at the core of our being. Throughout our personal life and professional careers, we will be working with people in different capacities. Sometimes we will find ourselves leading a small team, responsible for delivering a set of objectives or tasks. The role of the leader of a team is to complete the team tasks to the best ability of the team and use the strengths of each team member. The objective of the leader is to have a highly motivated and committed team that has mutual respect, and pride in achieving their collective goal. The phrase “lead by example” is often used in the context of our personal and professional lives, meaning, participate in the activity and not be a bystander giving orders to others.
What are some useful tips for cultivating leadership?
Like any other skill, Leadership can be instinctive or can be learned. There are however some simple tips that will help cultivate your leadership skills.
Listening: Give time to your team members to speak without fear of being wrong or judged. Everyone on your team should have an equal voice and as a leader it is your responsibility to listen respectfully and carefully to everyone’s views.
Mutual respect: Respect is fundamental in all our relationships with people in our private and professional lives. In the context of a team, it should come to the forefront and become a core value of the team. As a leader you will earn respect of others if you are seen to be treating everyone with respect and setting a good example.
Dealing with disagreement: Brainstorming is very much part of how a team will develop new ideas and explore different options. Providing a nurturing platform for ideas to thrive is an important role for a leader. Working together in this way may also lead to disagreements and potential conflicts. Maintaining a neutral position in any disagreement is important to give all parties a chance to explain and reconcile. Sometimes it is beneficial to “park” the discussion and re-visit the conflicted positions after all parties have had further thought.
Motivation and team building: Achieving goals is a great way to draw motivation into a team. Set the team achievable and simple goals along the way to the bigger goals, this will give everyone a sense of achievement and engagement. Making team members feel valued by commending them on their contributions is necessary for a high performing and motivated team. Team building activities are a fun way to maintain togetherness and unity. Team building could be meeting for a meal or doing activities together such as go-karting.
Learn about yourself and help others
The joy of being a leader is that you will constantly be challenged, which will help you evolve both personally and professionally. No matter what type of leadership role you perform, whether it be a team of 2 or a CEO of a large multi-national, you could impact the lives of others, just make sure that this impact is positive, one that you will be remembered for.
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