By EMA Consultant Lisa Oakley
As a leader, you are responsible for using empathy and understanding to guide others, and push towards your business goals.
However, you’re also a team player who recognises the strengths of your team, and knows how to maximise these to unlock everyone’s full potential.
But what about your potential? Take some time to focus on yourself, and how you can use your own unique strengths to improve your leadership. This will ensure that your team feels more supported, valued, and motivated to get the job done.
Common Leadership Skills
Communication – Clearly conveying ideas, feedback, and expectations while actively listening.
Empathy – Putting yourself in the shoes of others to understand needs and concerns.
Problem-Solving – Providing effective and relevant solutions to problems.
Delegation – Assigning appropriate tasks to the right people.
Conflict Resolution – Productively addressing disagreements and clashes.
Decision-Making – Time-efficient, informed decisions that benefit the team.
Motivation – Encouraging engagement and passion among team members.
Strategies to Improve Leadership
Here are some strategies to consider when managing your team:
- Actively Seek Feedback
Staying open to constructive feedback from team members can allow you to identify what methods need to be improved, and how you can successfully accommodate employees.
This can be done during one-on-one conversations, occasional meetings, quarterly surveys, or even a suggestions box!
- Utilise Emotional Intelligence
Managing your emotions and practicing empathy can allow you to better understand yourself and your team, leading to more effective collaboration and relationships.
Work towards managing your emotions and understanding why you feel a certain way in different situations. With this, you can work towards understanding your team’s emotions, and tailor communication to improve dynamics.
- Set an Example
Be the type of person you want to see within your own team.
For example, leading with punctuality, respect, and passion can encourage your team to do the same. This also fosters an open environment, often leading to higher rates of ideation, productivity, and an improved workflow.
- Keep Learning
Actively attend events and seminars, and engage with mentors or courses that can help you improve your technical and soft skills. Improving yourself as a professional shows that you are motivated and committed to your role, and will inspire others to love their work too.
- Encourage Collaboration
Encourage open communication and collaboration within your team to strengthen relationships, problem-solving, and engagement. Humans are social creatures, and we can all benefit from meaningful social interaction in the workplace, especially if it fosters a happy and healthy environment!
Conclusion
No matter how high up the ladder you are, there’s always an opportunity to improve your leadership skills to mold a great environment for your team. This will not only maintain good wellbeing within your business, but keep the business growing over time.
