This guide outlines 4 key steps that will swiftly help you become a better leader.
One reason people mystify the concept of leadership is that they won’t accept that their own poor leadership is due to their lack of effort, not to a lack of some innate talent.
If they did realize that leadership can be learned and taught, they might feel the pressure actually to start doing something about it. They might face the challenge of actually becoming a better leader, and challenges are scary. It’s easier to say that you either have it or don’t.
Criticisms faced by women leaders
4 steps to become a better leader
On the other hand, if you’re not afraid of the challenge, there are some quite concrete things you could change today and immediately become a better leader in your business management. Here are four such steps.
1. Be fair and responsible
You can be the coolest, hippest boss in the world, but if your paycheck is late, don’t expect your team members to look at you with much love. At the end of the day, while it’s nice to have them love you, love in the workplace is optional (almost as optional as it is abstract). Respect, on the other hand, is non-negotiable.
You earn respect by giving it, and we don’t mean being polite whenever you interact with them. Show them that you respect their work, most importantly by paying what it’s worth.
In this day and age, you don’t even have to memorize that much information to become a better leader. Small business-focused payroll software is relatively cheap to get, and this will handle the administrative side of this accounting. So, your main concern is getting the license and having enough money in your account when the date is due.
Be fair when delegating tasks. You see, one of the most important things you need to understand is that while different people have different aptitudes, there are some tasks that no one loves doing. If you give this task to the same person too many times, they’ll accuse you of favoritism. Even if it’s completely baseless, it’s enough for them to believe this accusation for the morale to dip.
So, other than just getting payroll software, you need to make sure that you have good scheduling software, perhaps even project management software. This way, you’ll keep everything in check.
2. Insist on transparency and trust
Leadership transparency is one of the best ways to inspire trust in your organization. When you keep people in the dark, they start developing theories, and these theories seldom go in your favor. Conspiracy theories spread quicker than positive rumors, and the last thing you want is to give room for office gossip.
First of all, you need to communicate all the major decisions in the company to become a better leader. These decisions affect them on a day-to-day basis, and they deserve to know that the company is taking this specific direction. This already sets the foundation for a positive work culture.
Avoid holding endless meetings and keep these announcements brief and on a need-to-know basis. You still need to keep everyone engaged and focused on work. An average employee wastes roughly 31 hours in needless meetings, and, in this day and age, a circular email or a chat in the general channel of your business software can be just as good.
You can maintain a transparent culture even without communicating absolutely everything. In fact, if you want to be really pedantic about it, you’re increasing transparency by not going into too much detail. This way, you can avoid overwhelming your staff members and ensure that they get the most important message.
Most importantly, you need to be transparent about the matters that concern them. If there are any major changes, like increasing the size of your team, downsizing, switching to a different business model, etc., you need to bring that up in time. Sometimes, when you say something, it impacts the transparency more than the exact words you use.
3. While in the office, always be focused on business
The best way to build up authority and to become a better authentic leader is to focus on business whenever you’re in office. Appearances are more important than you think, and the person who said that you shouldn’t judge the book by its covers clearly never checked out the best-seller list.
Sure, you might feel tempted to take a break and play a few spins on one of your favorite anonymous casinos, but what if you’re seen doing this? Regardless of what your employees think of gambling, the way they’ll interpret this is that you’re just idling while they do all the work.
Your employees probably already feel a touch of envy. After all, they know that you get a fatter paycheck and that when things go right, you get all the praise. They know that you can get off work earlier without repercussions and arrive late if you feel like it.
What they don’t get is the fact that your profit margin may be lower than they think. They don’t think about the fact that you take all the blame when things go wrong. They also don’t know that you’re probably putting in more hours than they are.
Don’t expect them to take your word for it (they won’t). Show them instead. Be the first one at the office and the last one to leave. Also, while there, make sure that you’re 100% focused on business to become a better leader. Don’t assume that there’s no one looking, which means that you can boot up a game on your office PC or that you can take a short nap.
4. Avoid meddling and micromanaging
Micro-managing your team often seems like a good idea to become a better leader. After all, no one cares about your business as much as you do. Even a competent employee will have lower standards than you since they’re never as invested in the success of the project as you are.
However, micromanaging has several huge flaws that could cause you a massive problem. First of all, micromanaging may be seen as meddling. People hate the idea of someone else trying to partake in a task that they believe they are completely competent in doing themselves.
In fact, they might start questioning your motivation for excessive micro-management. They’ll assume that you don’t trust them, either their dedication, their competence, or even their honesty.
They might end up offended, but even if not, it will leave a bad taste in their mouth. This diminishes their employee experience and may increase your talent abandonment rate.
Second, by micromanaging, you will foster a culture where your employees develop a feeling that you’ll always be their safety net. This will slow down their growth since they’ll become so reliant on you that they will be incapable of operating autonomously. Why would they when you’re always there to help out and assume responsibility?
Lastly, you can’t be everywhere at the same time. This means that the impact you’re making by micromanaging is actually lower than you think. At the same time, you’re stretching yourself too thin, stealing time from your core responsibilities, and driving yourself dangerously close to a burn-out. You just need to trust your team!
Final words: Leadership takes determination
A real leader is someone who’s not afraid of challenge or extra effort. It’s a person who drives themselves harder than any of their subordinates and always has their eyes on the goal.
Most importantly, a leader is someone who at all times remembers that they’re not alone in the ordeal (regardless if it’s a project or a battle). This is why your leadership and your path to become a better leader is determined by how you treat your team.
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