Whether you are a brand new leader fresh in the role or a seasoned and experienced veteran, there are opportunities in your management style that could use improvement. You might be an effective leader, but once you become stagnant and stop focusing on developing your skills, you run the risk of becoming complacent, which isn’t inspiring for anyone. So as a leader, it’s important that you are constantly assessing your current skill level and determining areas that could use improvement. When you focus on improving your skills, you help everyone on your team to be more effective. This said, there are several team building strategies for strengthening your leadership style.
Tips for Strengthening Your Leadership Styl, leader4e
Listen to your adversaries.
Good leaders know that they need to approach their tasks with a balance of both positive and negative team feedback. When times are good and projects are going well, it’s easy to just focus on praise and optimism, but this approach won’t help you for the inevitable times of strife. So instead of surrounding themselves with agreeable supporters, great leaders also understand the importance of getting opinions from those who disagree. When you seek advice from both sides of the coin, you are better equipped to make informed and unbiased decisions. By adopting this approach, you are better able to tackle problems as they arise, making yourself a better leader both in times of gains and in times of losses.
Be accountable.
Once you achieve a certain leadership level, it may seem easy to discount the importance of your own accountability, which is a major mistake for any leader to make. As a CEO of a company, you don’t have anyone in charge of your progress, and when you don’t have anyone to keep you accountable is when you make mistakes. To keep yourself accountable as a leader, you need to create a culture of accountability, one in which the entire team, no matter the individual’s level, keeps everyone else accountable. So a temp worker has as much a right to ask the CEO questions as the CEO has to ask the temp questions about their performance. In this type of company culture, everyone is taking accountability for everyone else, which only creates a stronger team and a stronger brand.
Make time for face-to-face conversations.
Written communication absolutely has its place in business, but when you have the choice, face-to-face conversations are typically always more effective because you have in time feedback. The reason that spoken conversations are more effective is because the listener has the opportunity to ask questions when statements are ambiguous. In an office setting, a quick email can save everyone time, but if the reader has a question, they can quickly contact the sender. But in other settings, readers won’t always have the opportunity to speak directly to the writer and clear up any miscommunication issues. So as a leader, it’s important to identify what needs to communicated and then decide the best course of action to get the message across.
Step back.
A strategy used in golf can prove beneficial for leadership, too. In golf, loosening your grip while taking a swing may seem counter intuitive, but it is a proven strategy for success. The same can be said for leading. When a leader micromanages, the team feels stifled and unable to freely tackle their tasks. But when managers take a step back and trust their employees to get the job done, the employees are able to thrive and actually become more productive. If you struggle with a need to step in, there are some strategies that you can implement to take a step back. Instead of focusing on all of the company’s problems, focus on the most urgent and important items first, one-at-a-time. Delegate where you can and tackle problems as they arise to keep everyone and everything on track.
Join a skill building program.
A leadership program like the 6 Principles That Build High Performance Teams On Demand Leadership Training program is an effective tool for leaders to improve their existing skills. The program coaches leaders in how to incorporate engaging behaviors into their own suit of leadership skills, as well as how to improve employee accountability, engagement and improved business success though the application of six common-sense principles that improve collaboration and cooperation in the workplace. The program focuses on trust building behavior, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success principles that are anchored by behaviors that employees champion.
As a leader, it’s important to strengthen your skills as you progress in your career. When you become complacent in your role is when you lose your edge and effectiveness. It’s important that you are constantly assessing your skills and finding ways to improve yourself. Some team building strategies for strengthening your leadership style include listening to your adversaries rather than just your supporters; remaining accountable to everyone in the company; making time for face-to-face conversations; taking a step back from micromanaging and trusting your team; and joining a proven leadership program.
Here are some additional resources we believe adds value to this conversation:
- Why the Smartest Leaders Surround Themselves with Adversaries
- How Your Leadership Skills Will Determine Your Company Culture
- Why Speaking Beats Writing
- Lead Better: Five Rules To Loosen Your Grip On Your Business
- 4 Ways to Exercise Your Courage Muscle
Copyright TIGERS Success Series Inc. by Dianne Crampton
About TIGERS Success Series, Inc.
TIGERS® Success Series is a Bend, Oregon Leadership and Team Improvement Consultant that helps committed leaders build more cooperation among employees and collaboration between departments for improved growth, revenue, purpose and impact. We also license and train HRD Executives, Project Managers, Managers, Trainers and Team Consultants in the use of our award winning resources.
We do this by deploying the TIGERS team process that improves workforce behaviors that are anchored by trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk resolution and success. Providing diagnostics and customized team interventions, you can improve both work culture and transform your adequate teams into exceptional ones.
For more information, call 1+ 541-385-7465.
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