Not all of us are natural born leaders, but this doesn't mean that you
can never be an effective leader if you were not born with natural leadership
skills. As a matter of fact, many of the most successful leaders in the world
have taken responsibility for training themselves to be great leaders.
Do these 5 things to train yourself to become a good leader:
1. Keep every promise that you make.
Avoid making promises that you don't think you can keep. The fastest way
you can kill your credibility is to breach a promise or commitment. To be a
good leader, you need to develop integrity and discipline to fulfill every
commitment and promise you make. You should practice it with your colleagues
and even with your kids, too.
2. Be properly dressed so you can influence.
You don't have to dress to impress. Instead, you should dress to
influence. What it means is that your appearance has to be consistent with your
professional and personal brand. Just try to imagine how you want your leader
to look. You also want not only yourself to look good, but your company as
well.
3. Treat your own employees the way you want them to treat your
customers.
It would be hypocritical for you to ask your team to be kind and
courteous to clients while you are being rude to your employees. When you are a
leader, it doesn't mean you have the right to be mean to the people under you.
Good leaders always find a way to support their employees so that they may be
successful.
4. Ask for feedback and don't just wait for it.
There are some leaders who are not comfortable with unsolicited
feedback. They treat such feedback as criticism, and so they fail to use it as
a chance to learn and be better. Good leaders know the importance of feedbacks,
and they know how to use them to improve. Instead of waiting for your team to
be brave enough to give you feedback, ask for it instead. The best way to ask
such information is by asking something like "What do you think I can do
to become a better leader?"
5. Demonstrate your commitment to personal growth.
When it comes to growing your business, there are two things you should
do - grow your team and grow yourself. When you and your team improve, the
quality of work that you all do get better as well. As a result, services are
more efficient, and your products are higher quality.
There are several ways to grow your employees. You may give them
training, or opportunities to be part of a coaching program. For leaders like
you, an executive coaching program will help you develop into a more
effective business leader.
