Ten Important Factors Of Leadership

Motivating and empowering your employees by being a true leader is not an easy task. It is one thing to be a ‘manager’ or a ‘boss’ but becoming an influential leader that people look to and respect is a different story. There are clear differences between leadership and simply managing people, which are often overlooked.

Leadership is crucial to all teams, organisations, and even entrepreneurship; the person at the top can be the difference between success and failure. Leaders are not born, they evolve and to evolve, you must first be self aware. You need to be honest, open and real with a confidence, not arrogance and with this, successful leadership skills will develop naturally.  I share a few of my thoughts on what I believes makes an influential leader.

1. Be Inspirational

You need to be someone that people can look up to. Within any business or company, individuals are learning and picking up on the way you are and the things you do – following your lead. They need to be able to trust and rely on your judgement, as well as look to you for motivation and encouragement. To be an inspirational leader, you must project positivity and calmness in stressful situations. Keeping staff focused by overcoming any negativity and eliminating any doubt is essential.

2. Be Decisive

The reality of being a leader is that you will be relied on to make decisions which will be flung at you from all angles and by lots of different people all the same time. You need to be able to react quickly and make informed decisions, often weighing up the options based on high level summaries, which takes confidence and trust in yourself to make the call. You may have others that you can bounce ideas off, but in general, being the leader means that you will be the one to have final say and be the one people rely on for the decision. Do not be afraid to trust your gut.

3. Control Your Emotions

It is very easy to get swept up in a busy, fast paced world and let your emotions, whether emoted by workplace or personal situations get in the way of how you are feeling and acting. Remember that a clouded mind means a clouded judgement and sometimes it is necessary to step away and take a moment to reflect on how your mindset will affect the decision you have in front of you or the mood that you are in. It is your responsibility, as a leader to manage your emotions and lead by example – remember the likelihood is that those around you will be affected and will follow suit so be mindful of this!

4. Be Empathetic

One of the most important things, both as a human and as a leader is to be empathetic with those around you. When dealing with a situation, put yourself in their shoes and try to consider where they may be coming from. Empathy is crucial to a leader as managing people requires being able to deal with all types of individuals, in all situations and foreseeing the possibilities ahead. When you are able to see things from another’s point of view, you will become a much better judge of character, situation and be able to relate to those around you, allowing you to make better, informed decisions along the way.

5. Seek Advice

Life is one big learning curve. As humans, we never stop gaining knowledge and it is important to make sure you, as a leader, know the value of good advice and seek this out as it’s worth its weight in gold. Make sure you keep your network current and connected, ensuring that you are not creating a one way street and that you give back in return to those you turn to, whether it be sharing your own knowledge, skills or contacts. It is wise to speak to those around you, as well as people who are not necessarily in the field or involved in your world as this can be very valuable for a different viewpoint too. Remember that as a leader, you pass on your advice and knowledge and so you need to continuously update yours.

6. Trust Your Instinct

You have got to where you are through a series of decisions and plans that you have made through educated decisions, as well as trusting your gut. This is hugely important as through your experiences and situations, you will have developed ways of knowing the right thing for you and ultimately your team. You are bound to make mistakes along the way, we all do, but 9 times out of 10, your gut instinct will be the one to listen to – don’t be afraid to act on it and if for any reason you are unsure, take note from the point above and seek advice from someone who might be able to help.

7. Be Authentic

As a leader, it is extremely easy to get swept up in the notion and feel you have to act a certain way, in front of colleagues, the team and public to seem like you have taken on the role of a ‘true leader’. This is not the case, and the best leaders are the ones that are themselves. Whether introvert, extrovert, comical or serious, you need to be true to who you are and gain respect from those that follow you for who you are as opposed to who you think they want you to be. This is true in both life and work – it is exhausting to keep up an act so don’t bother as you will do a much better job as yourself.

8. Have A Vision And Share It With Your Team

Make sure you have a clear goal of where you want your team to take the business and how you are going to go about making this happen. Have aspirations and do not think of it as a solo mission, to be successful in your vision you always require others. Involving those around you of your vision, will enable them to see the bigger picture and do all it takes to make it happen. As with anything, having a goal and motivation to get something done is highly effective and will produce the most productive team you can have. Take yourself into the future and review the picture of where you would like the business to be. Share it with your team so they can see it and do what it takes to achieve it.

9. Embrace Change And Be Curious

As a leader, it is your role to drive, inspire and create a change. You need to be flexible and open to change, not avoid it and be stuck in your ways. The world is ever changing – you need to make sure you stay ahead, and ideally take measures to be the leaders within your field. A flexible mindset and ability to react to experiences as a leader will help those around you to be able to cope and make the most of situations which arise, whilst also benefiting the future of your business. An interest in the world around you and a curiosity to learn will enhance your ability to manage change and cope with various situations, be it planned or spontaneous.

10. Never Ask Someone To Do Something You Wouldn’t Do Yourself

Your team will have more respect and admiration for a leader who they know would go to the same lengths as them to make something happen. Respect and credibility are key to being a successful leader. Respect will decrease if you ask your team to do things you would not do which will lead to resentment, low morale and ultimately a high turnover of staff.

Being aware as a leader that you can not ask your team to do things you wouldn’t do yourself, starts with even the simple things whilst also being applied to the large things. Imagine asking your staff to stay on late to complete an important task whilst you go home to put your feet up – they will interpret this as lack of commitment on your behalf and hypocritical considering you have an expectation of them to do it.   

Those who ‘talk the talk’ but don’t ‘walk the walk’ are destined to fail – practice what you preach and it will go a long way to becoming a successful leader.