Some people believe that great leaders are born, while others believe that they are made. In reality, great leaders are probably developed through a combination of both perspectives. There are natural tendencies and then competencies that can be trained to and improved. Either way, there are leadership team development strategies that can be deployed to train leaders to become more effective in their positions.
We reviewed a series of articles that offered insights for leaders to learn and grow. This post references the following articles:
- Two tips every leader needs to know;
- A Leadership Secret for Today’s Distracted Leader;
- 5 Skills You Must Acquire Before You Can Lead ;
- 5 Ways Smart Leaders Overcome Their Greatest Weaknesses; and,
- What people wished their leaders knew.
Leadership team development strategies can focus on many important areas for leader development, but we digested it down to a tidy list to help leaders become more effective.
Prepare the body and mind. According to Two Tips Every Leader Needs to Know, leaders who devote time daily to both physical and intellectual preparation experience less stress and higher self-esteem. As a result they are better prepared to reason and problem solve. We compare this to the TIGERS® Leadership Teachings of being Mindful.
Be present. Leaders are frequently rushed with diverse competition for their attention. They often have several tasks going on at once. It can be tempting to spend all their time multitasking, but according to A Leadership Secret for Today’s Distracted Leader, being present means giving their best selves to those they are leading. From a TIGERS® perspective, distraction is a sign that delegation skills are lacking. Being present means offering your full attention, listening and appropriately responding to the conversation and offering input. Successful leaders recognize the importance of others around them, and convey that importance by communicating effectively.
Be proactive. Rather than always playing catch-up and reacting to situations, effective leaders are proactive and are prepared for many different situations, says 5 Skills You Must Acquire Before You Can Lead. By preparing for many different possible scenarios, leaders are better able to act rationally, rather than from a place of emotion, which can lead to poor decisions.
Understand your weaknesses. No one is perfect, and everyone has weaknesses. The important thing is how you let those weaknesses affect you. According to 5 Ways Smart Leaders Overcome Their Greatest Weaknesses, effective leaders understand what their weaknesses are, and they take steps to overcome them. This includes acknowledging those weaknesses, understanding when they are getting in the way of success and asking for help from others when appropriate. For example, in the TIGERS Den Leadership Training Membership, leaders receive an assessment that helps them identify their Achilles Heel along with a self coaching plan to leverage their strengths to transform problem areas that are making their leadership less effective.
Open the lines of communication. Most team members will have issues that affect their productivity, and your leadership may be one of these issues. Let employees know that they are welcome and encouraged to come to you with problems, including problems they have with leadership. According to What People Wished Their Leaders Knew, common issues include over promising, not giving employees enough time to finish tasks and not listening to the opinions of others. By opening the lines of communication, leaders can bring everyone to the same page, making for a more productive work community.
Invest in a leadership self-study program. A leadership self-study program, such as the 6 Principles That Build High Performance Teams Self-Study Team Building Training, offers leaders the opportunity to learn how to incorporate trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success into engaging behaviors that support daily tasks. The program is flexible, so even the busiest leader has the opportunity to improve employee accountability, employee engagement and business successes through one small change at a time.
A leader may be born or made, but with effective leadership team development strategies, any leader desiring to be more effective can be.
Copyright TIGERS Success Series, Inc. by Dianne Crampton
About TIGERS® Success Series
TIGERS® has a 26 year track record helping leaders build high performance teams and collaborative work cultures that employees love returning to after a couple of days off. We train and certify HRD Executives and other Consultants in the use of TIGERS proprietary organizational development resources. TIGERS offers 360 Team Behavior Assessments, Training, Organizational Development and Facilitation Resources.
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