Whether you want to lead a team at a huge corporation , manage your own smaller pool of employees in your own business or do som...
Whether you want to lead a team at a huge
corporation, manage your own smaller pool of employees in your own
business or do something in between, it’s important to become the best manager
possible if you’ll have people reporting to you.
The word “leader” gets thrown around a lot, but it’s not
quite easy to be considered a good
one, or to generate outstanding results. To excel
in this kind of management role, you must continually take steps to
grow as a leader. Read on for some simple yet effective ways that you can do
just that.
Learn About Different Management Styles and Strategies
To begin with, it helps if you have a love of learning. When
you read interviews with the world’s top leaders, you’ll notice that they
usually talk about how they’re constantly learning new things. In particular,
it’s important to learn about a variety of management styles, so you have
plenty of tools in your leadership toolbelt when you start heading a team.
Furthermore, be open to stretching yourself by putting
yourself in uncomfortable positions where you have to learn things on the fly.
Say yes to opportunities that arise, even if they seem a bit challenging, and
allow yourself to take some calculated risks and learn from your mistakes along
the way. Growth comes from pushing yourself beyond your normal limits, after
all.
When it comes to learning, it pays to enroll in a management
course that will teach you about a wide variety of subjects. For instance, you
could complete a specific program related to the area you want to work in, like
online sports management masters’ programs or graduate certificates
in educational administration. Alternatively, study a more general MBA degree
or other business course.
You can also learn a lot from attending conferences, trade
shows, seminars and other events; joining relevant industry and business groups
and associations; and by reading books, white papers, blogs and forums.
Make Sure You Have Suitable Personal Characteristics
Of course, when it comes to being a top leader, it’s not
just about the knowledge you have in your head or the amount of time you’ve
spent managing a team. It’s also about you
as a person. People who excel in leadership positions have honed a variety of
helpful personal characteristics that make it easier for them to motivate and
inspire a team and cope with the pressures of being at the top.
There are many traits you’ll want to have as a leader. Communication
is one of the most vital. Leaders must be able to convey instructions, information
and ideas to their employees in an effective way and also communicate well with
other internal and external stakeholders such as business partners, investors,
suppliers, contractors and journalists. When in a management role, you must also
be good at listening attentively, using and understanding body language,
presenting to groups and in one-on-ones, negotiating, resolving conflicts and
communicating clearly in writing.
The best leaders are also resilient and confident. They need
to be, after all, to cope with the pressure of managing a workforce, often
under trying conditions. Leaders have to have confidence in their abilities and
in their employees to persevere during the difficult times. This confidence helps
team members to stay positive and productive in turn.
To lead your workers to success, you must be a focused
person, too. When you have multiple people, tasks and situations competing for
your time on a daily basis, it’s easy to get distracted and finish the day
realizing you haven’t really accomplished a lot. To get results, though, you
must stay on task and be happy to delegate to your employees. Top leaders don’t
micromanage; they have a laser-like focus when they’re working, and they also
know how to say no when they need to.
Get Advice From Mentors
Another prime way to
grow yourself as a leader is to get some guidance from someone who has been in
your shoes before. That is, find an accomplished mentor. Whether you take part
in an established, planned out mentoring program or find your own advisor and
set up a more casual, work-it-out-as-you-go-along relationship with them, you
will learn a lot. They can help you to problem-solve and avoid making as many
mistakes as you would if constantly working everything out by yourself.
Mentors who understand what it’s like to cope with the
pressures of management will also be able to offer you emotional support. They
can be someone to vent to when you’re frustrated, so you don’t end up taking
your emotions out on your employees.