The journey from good to great leadership begins with these steps
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Leadership is a journey — a journey traveled by an individual who has been handed over the responsibility of guiding people towards achieving a certain business objective. While some people excel at it and become great, there are others who simply take it as a task and become part of the list of leaders who were just there. They don’t end up becoming great.
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The question that arises here is — why? Why is it that some people are able to become great leaders, while others simply fail at it? Do they have some inherent skills or do they have some leadership coaching.
Well, trust me when I say that we all have leadership skills hidden inside. So, both the answers mentioned above are eliminated from the scene. What makes some people cover the distance if being just a good leader and become great is because they take some actionable steps.
You may be heading a team right now in your career. Even if you are not currently, at some point or the other in your life you will get the responsibility to head a team. To make sure that you are ready to become a great leader when you do get the opportunity, rather than becoming just a good one, here are some tips that will help -
Seize every opportunity to learn
It is quite common to lose your way when you get into a leadership role, thinking that now the only job you have is to give orders and get things done from others. When such a mindset prevails, the chances of growth as a leader are crippled.
Getting things done from the team is just one part of the job of a leader. If you look at the bigger picture, you cannot survive as a leader if you become good at just giving order and cease to grow. Once you are in a leadership role, it is time to now learn the things that you could not as an employee — that’s the only way you will grow.
Grow your network
Great leaders become great because they keep great company. And, this point is valid not just for leaders, but for almost anyone who is looking to grow in professional life. Building a network of influencers creates a window of learning, where you as a new leader can acquire the knowledge that no textbook can teach.
Once you are in a leadership role, build your network. Start being part of leadership conferences happening around. Connect with leaders on social media platforms — LinkedIn can be a great way to begin with. Follow the world leaders who have reached the pinnacle in their respective fields, and try to emulate and inculcate the qualities they have.
Build relationships
A great leader is the one who is able to build a great team. No matter how skilled team members are, if a leader is unable to bring them together efficiently, their talent will always go waste. This is where the philosophy of team building comes into the picture.
To become a great leader you must have great relationship with your team. If you want to get the best out of them, you must win their trust. Constructive criticism, understanding their psychology, inspiring them to strive for excellence and making them feel like a family are some of the traits that great leaders possess; which helps them build great teams. And, this is precisely what you need to do to evolve from being just a good leader to become great!
Evaluate how you’re doing
Lastly, you need to evaluate your efforts — whether they are headed in the right direction. The best way to do it — ask your team members. Never be shy to take feedback from them. This will give you a good idea as to whether the efforts you are putting to evolve as a leader are fruitful or not?
Ask them for honest feedback, and if needed also take suggestions from them as to what you can do to become a better leader for them. Sometimes we are doing the best from our side, but it does not fit within the expectations of the beholder. To become a great leader of the team, you need to understand what the teams expects their leader to be. And, then take actionable steps accordingly.
There is no magic potion that you can drink and become a great leader. It is a mixture of constant efforts and the will to evolve as a leader that can help you climb the ladder of greatness. These four steps can work as the road map that can help you in your journey.
Keep them in mind and enjoy the ride of leadership towards greatness!
‘Want to lead your team in the right direction? Stop relying on emails and start using ProofHub.’
Originally published at LinkedIn
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Sandeep Kashyap is the Founder of ProofHub — a leading project management and collaboration software. A passionate leader, Sandeep is always on the lookout for innovative ideas about filling the communication gap between groups, teams and companies. He is also a featured writer on LinkedIn and a contributing author at YourStory. You can connect with him on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Also follow our company page @ProofHub to get the recent updates about our tool, published articles, motivational quotes & presentations.
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