We’ve often wondered if there’s one silver bullet secret that makes leaders great, or even a trait they’re born with that allows them to succeed. The truth is, it’s none of those things, instead it’s a combination of hard work and a relentless self-assessment that keeps them always evolving.
While we don’t have one single answer, we do have a bunch of things that we’ve found make incredible leaders.
Be emotional
That doesn’t involve crying around the board room table or sharing your most embarrassing moments to your leadership team, but being emotionally aware and empathetic is a huge part of successful leadership. Having the ability to engage with your employees about the things they’re experiencing and dealing with is the difference today between good and great.
Self-assess
As much as you can. And once you’ve done that, do it again. If you don’t, you run the risk of becoming irrelevant and outdated. The best leaders are the ones who can continuously develop and evolve, keeping up to date with changing markets and new trends. That’s not to say you need to be an expert on every subject, but you do need to have a finger on the pulse of what’s going on to provide context to your leadership.
[clickToTweet tweet=”The best leaders are the ones who can continuously develop and evolve.” quote=”The best leaders are the ones who can continuously develop and evolve.”]
Hire smart people
Once you’ve done that, get out of their way and let them get on with their job. The art of delegation is a great skill that will save you from burning out and becoming apathetic. A leader isn’t supposed to be an expert on everything, but they should know when to bring in people who are smarter than them.
Strategy, strategy, strategy
Without one, you’re just lost at sea, and a leader without a plan doesn’t have much to lead. As a leader or senior member of staff, your job is to look a level higher and recognize patterns and previous company history, as well as identifying how you’ll impact on the business in the upcoming years. Without purpose and a mission, it’s hard to encourage your people to get behind you and hit the targets needed.
Sit at the lunch table
Leaders often get busy and lost in the important stuff, but sitting down with your staff for lunch on a regular basis is just as important. It keeps your ear on the ground and keeps you a visible and relatable figure across the business. No one wants to work for unknown faces and the people who sit in glass boxes. They want to know their leaders and interact with them on a human level, and what better way to do it than over some food.
[clickToTweet tweet=”No one wants to work for unknown faces and the people who sit in glass boxes. ” quote=”No one wants to work for unknown faces and the people who sit in glass boxes. “]
Cut the meetings
If you’re spending your weeks catching up with everyone on your team, you’re basically spending your week in a meeting room. And while meetings are good and needed, they don’t always equal results. Create the spaces for catch ups, but at the same time, cut the meetings out and leave your people to get on with what they do best instead of hauling them into a meeting room to discuss the latest email that just went around. They’ll honestly thank you for it.