When you think of a strong leader, what comes to mind? Leadership qualities are different for everybody, and some people would see a leader as assertive and adaptable where others would see them as intelligent and conscientious. A leader that is transformational is positive, empowering and will inspire those around them.
They value their followers and they inspire their followers to perform better and this makes them be a better leader as well. If there's one thing that we are seeing in abundance is that millennial leaders and management teams are being led by people who want to feel inspired so therefore they inspire others. This interview with Heidi Zak & David Spector of ThirdLove is an important one to listen to if you're looking to learn from transformational leaders. If you want to be a better leader in your daily life and in your business, then you should think about the way that you can implement the following strategies into your daily life.
Learn your own leadership style. You cannot be an ineffective and better leader if you don't know your own leadership style. What are your strengths? Where could you improve? This is so important as a question because learning where you could improve helps you to be better at what you're doing. You already know that experience and winning comes from failure, and that means you need to think about assessing your own skills. Once you have understood more about your own leadership style, you can determine which areas need more work. It's here that you can begin to look for ways to improve your current abilities and do better in the future.
Be as creative as possible. If you want to be a better leader than you need to be creative but more than that you need to encourage creativity in your team. Intellectual stimulation is one of the qualities as a leader that can define you as being transformational. Followers have to be encouraged to express their creativity and that means offering new challenges where you can. Making sure that the goals are within the grasp of their abilities is super important, and the purpose of this exercise is to get people to stretch their limits. They can do this without becoming discouraged by barriers to success.
Be a role model. Ideally, you want to be the kind of leader who is also a role model. You need to exemplify the behavior and characteristics that you want to see from your followers. It's all about walking that walk and talking that talk and knowing that you want other people to emulate your behavior. Being a role model as a leader is super important if you want to be better at it, because modeling those qualities that you'd like to see in team members helps them to know what to expect from you and what to learn from you. As a result your followers are far more optimistic and will have higher standards for their performances and achievements.
Be passionate. What do you want from a leader yourself? Would you look for guidance from somebody if they didn't care about the goals of the group? Of course you wouldn't. Great leaders are not just focused on getting group members to finish tasks. It's a quality that you can develop in leadership by thinking of different ways that you can express yourself. Being passionate about what you do is vital, and letting people know that you care about their progress is also important. When one person shares something with the rest of the group make sure that you know to tell them that you appreciate their contributions. It may seem silly to give grown people a pat on the back for their ideas, but it's what they're looking for from you. If people admire you, they want to hear that you appreciate them.
Communicate effectively. Another important quality of a great leader is to be effective in communication. It's not just talking to people though. It's listening to everything that they have to say. Expressing sincere care and concern for members of your group both verbally and nonverbally is going to show people that you give a damn about what they are doing. By keeping those lines of communication open, leaders in your group can ensure that the members feel safe and able to talk about what they are achieving and what they are struggling with. Comfort is key because if people don't feel comfortable talking to you, you are not an effective leader.
