5 Ways to Be a More Effective Leader
Shamara WatkinsWe all know that to be an effective leader, you have to utilize your team strengths, have empathy, and more. But many leaders still struggle with handling the crucial aspects that everyone wants to put aside but are truly at the forefront of team success. Today we are going to discuss the key things leaders can change in their leadership to be successful. So let’s dive into the 5 ways you can be a more effective leader!
Trust is the cornerstone of effective leadership. When your team trusts you, and you trust your team, they’re more likely to follow your guidance, support your decisions, and work together towards common goals. However, trust is earned. But also, we need to be open to trust. This is hard for leaders due to past experiences, high stakes, fear of vulnerability, ownership, micromanagement tendencies, and pressure to perform. However, trust is key. When someone doesn’t feel like they are trusted, they will avoid situations, efficiency won’t be there, etc. Think about it in their shoes; perspective is everything.
Sometimes fear of control, we have a certain way we want to do things, and that lack of trust can cause communication barriers. But when you delegate, you free up your time to actually focus on your items, specifically less task-oriented, and productivity goes up, trust and collaboration along with developing your team, preventing burnout. Leaders, you do not need to have your hand in everything. If this is you, this is your sign to stop and go back to step one of trust.
One of the best pieces of advice for a leader is to have systems and processes in place. There are many project management tools to have your team help make better. Toggl is great, Asana, anything. This helps with consistency in work and plans and deadlines, clarity and accountability, decision-making support, innovation support, and employee empowerment.
This is one thing that no one enjoys doing, even when it is essential. These are hard because they can be uncomfortable, fear of negative reaction, we have the scenario planned out before it happens, conflict avoidance, desire to be liked (me!), uncertainty of outcome. We need to flip these scripts. Reframe the convo as a learning opportunity. Focus on the purpose of the conversation and think about your team’s perspective.
This is one thing that no one enjoys doing, even when it is essential. These are hard because they can be uncomfortable, fear of negative reaction, we have the scenario planned out before it happens and we’re conflict avoidant. We need to flip these scripts. Reframe the convo as learning and opportunity, focus on purpose, stick to the facts, and think about other’s perspectives.
To be an effective leader you have to be open, trusting, and willing to listen and really work with your team’s strengths. We encourage you to apply all of these tips we talked about above and really see how your leadership develops over the next few months.
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