2015 is right around the corner and it’s time to step up your leadership skills. As a Jaycee, you’re already an active member of the community – initiating projects, getting involved, and helping others. It’s time to expand your role from a participant to a leader, and there’s a great article in Forbes by Leagh Turner, Chief Operating Officer of SAP Canada to help you.
The following tips will ensure you are on the right path to becoming an exceptional leader.
Tip 1: Build a team of personal challengers. To continue progressing, leaders must find ways to constantly challenge themselves. Developing a set of mentors, coaches, advisors, and friends will help you assemble expertise in a breadth of industries and roles – key people to help you in future projects.
Tip 2: Convene and intervene. Bring people together under a common purpose and rather than simply directing their efforts, sit back and let them advance new ideas and solutions. Intervene by using your leadership position as an opportunity to shape their thoughts and growth. It will help you understand your people, and lets everyone feel engaged in the process.
Tip 3: Two-to-one. When coaching people in a professional or personal environment, use a 2:1 ratio for positive to negative comments. By creating more positives, you give people’s egos a boost, and encourage them to work on the areas that can be improved. Too many negative comments can result in disassociation and a lack of motivation.
Tip 4: Flying high and diving deep. Organizational leadership requires an ability to understand strategy at the higher levels, and also the day-to-day operations of the team. As a leader, realizing when to focus on the big picture and when to dive into the details is a big part of success. Work on balancing the two roles. It will not only keep you abreast on all aspects of the organization, it will help build trust in your decision-making from your team.
Tip 5: Give, give, give, gone. Time is incredibly valuable these days. How you manage your schedule is critical to overall success. When people are asking you for something, give them your undivided attention, and try to accomplish as much as you can while you’re with them. When they leave, move onto the next thing – people get what they need from you and you’re always ready for the next challenge.
Work these tips into the start of 2015 and you’ll get results on your path to exceptional leadership. Do you have any suggestions for simple ways to improve your overall leadership? Share them on our Facebook and Twitter pages. We want to hear from you!
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