Be an Effective Communicator
For you to communicate ideas and concepts that are valuable to your team, you need to share them in an effective and easy-to-understand way—the success of your team relies on how well you, as a leader, can motivate and delegate with your words. What we say and the way we say it matters. Being confident in your capabilities to communicate clearly and concisely will be well received and much appreciated amongst your team and your employees—and you will be a respected leader that others will look to for guidance in your workplace.
Be Understanding, Compassionate, and Open to Suggestions
As a leader, you must pay attention and be attentive to the needs of your team members—listening to their suggestions and being responsive to their ideas—they will feel valued and heard. You will gain respect by listening to feedback and by making changes and adjustments to your processes when necessary. Also, as we all navigate through these changing times, it is more important than ever to be understanding of different situations that may arise. Show compassion, empathy, and flexibility in the moments when they do. Showing that you care will go a long way for your team—and expand your growth as a leader.
Be Motivational and Inspire Others
As a leader, there will be times when you’ll need to find new ways to motivate and rally your team. Circumstances could arise that might affect team morale, such as a shift in the protocol—bringing uncertain change. Having the right tools in your toolbelt and utilizing them at the right moments will prove advantageous to you. However, there are things that you can be doing on a routine basis to ensure that your team members remain both motivated and inspired. Recognizing accomplishments and contributions, letting team members demonstrate autonomy, including them in decisions and goal setting, and conducting regular and positive-focused performance reviews—will do just that.
We all have the power to imagine what others are feeling and to imagine something better for those around us. The select few that embody this power are the few that truly inspire others.
Be Humble
Humility is an attractive quality in that when you demonstrate it, others feel valued and enjoy their time with you. Humble people don’t abuse their authority. They are always looking to promote others while modeling and supporting their teams. They support collaboration, trust their teams, admit their mistakes and shortcomings, and are often the first to take responsibility and the last to take credit. Rather than having people competing with one another, humble leaders encourage and reward collaboration. These qualities increase teamwork capabilities and result in increased trust among team members. When working together is encouraged, becoming the norm, team members feel more relaxed and can bring their full abilities and skills to the workplace.
“Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation, for your character is what you are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.” ―Dale Carnegie