A good leader is always looking for leadership improvements to grow, stretch and learn more. They never become stagnant in their skills. There’s so much you can do outside of work to improve your leadership development! If your career progress has been slower than expected or if at some point it felt like the baton just dropped on what used be one of your strengths (a common theme among leaders), don’t worry. Here are some leadership improvements that will help get them back into shape really quickly:
Here’s a quick checkup you can give yourself on the skills leaders most often need to improve:
Communication skills.
The most effective leaders are master communicators, with skills that center around being concise and transparent. They leave people feeling like they have an understanding of what needs to be done–if your team is frequently messing up or getting things wrong then there may not only BE confusion within yourself as the leader but also amongst them too!
Growth Mindset.
A growth mindset helps you challenge yourselves when faced by new challenges- without it we’ll never progress beyond our limits. Losing this sense can lead us into stubbornness which might prevent further improvement; get coaching now so these mistakes don’t come back later.
Emotional Intelligence
In order to be a good leader, it is important that you understand other people’s thoughts and feelings as well control your own emotions. A strong leader has honed the skill of emotional intelligence which allows them achieve self-awareness in addition with social awareness necessary for leading others effectively; if not then they are operating without trust level needed when guiding teams. A great way make sure we can provide an excellent customer service experience at all times? By focusing on our Emotional Intelligence (EI) skills!
Influence Building Skills
The more connections you have, the better. It is important for leaders to know how they can gain influence within their organizations and across other networks so that people are following them because of what benefit it will provide instead of simply out loyalty or fear from not wanting trouble with management .
Increase your “Thank You” muscle.
I’ve worked with too many leaders who take credit for all the wins in their organization without giving recognition to those who most deserve it–the people that made those successes possible. No matter how much you do yourself, expressing appreciation and sharing a little bit of shine will help get things done as an effective manager or leader and will put you well on your way with your leadership improvements.
Humility.
The more you humble yourself, the stronger your leadership skills will be. When a person has an ineffective sense of humility they often get into the habit of assuming that they know everything or have all answers up on their sleeve which leaves them in desperate need for learning new things about themselves and other people who may share similar traits as well. A healthy amount can help free oneself from feeling like one knows everything while also understanding where others might offer valuable input; this leads to being able work towards finding common ground instead Forceful disagreement between peers due only because each was trying hard not let someone else win.
Now What?
It takes more than just being born with natural leadership skills to become a great leader. If you feel like your current level of performance falls short in any areas listed above, take some time out to look at leadership development areas and find an executive coach who can help guide the way towards becoming exactly what’s expected from those holding such positions within companies today. You may also want to read several blogs that will expand your thinking on Leadership Improvements for todays world.
I would truly enjoy being that coach if you do not already have one. Set up a free call with me to see if we may be a good match.