To begin with, a leader, especially in a post-Covid world is someone who has a clear vision and is able to rally her or his community to achieve that goal. The greatest quality of a leader, whether that leader is a CEO, a counselor, or a parent, is to find a way to build self-esteem without crossing into delusion. Therefore, for a business leader, it’s important to remember that you work for your employees, they don’t work for you. You are supposed to build your team, provide value, and give them space to grow while holding them accountable.
They should know how to build a business and meet their goals without being a real hurdle to their employees and team members. While some leaders may have great relationships with their employees, still they love meeting goals and finding the balance between empathy and ambition. If these sound familiar to you, or you fall somewhere between these two leadership types, this article that is sourced from the connectd social channel site is for you. Following are three different methods to become a better leader.
1. Your team is important
The most important thing that you should never forget is you’re a leader, and you work for your team–they don’t work for you. If you are a CEO, it’s too much for you to expect your employees to work as much as you do. You love your business, because you own it, and your employees don’t love it as much. The life is all about a “them” game and entrepreneurship is same. If you want to be a good leader, it’s all about giving, and then asking.
Usually people make mistakes, and they can’t build scalable businesses, because they have selfish expectations from their employees. You may have fought hard to get to where you are–but that’s it, it’s your business, not theirs. You can’t expect them to be as invested as you are, even if you think you’ve given them a good reason to be. Moreover, you can’t ask an employee to work as hard as you because you think you pay them well. It’s almost similar to your expectation from someone to love your child as much as you do; it’s not possible.
You should give trust a lot easier than most business owners. Trust your employees, and if they prove themselves to be incapable, put restrictions around them. Remember trust is not given, it’s earned.
Most leaders measure candidates against themselves, and then inflate their egos by finding ways candidates don’t match up. It’s important to hold employees to the same standard that you hold yourself. Your hires don’t perform as well as you would because they’re freeing up your time. If you keep these two things in mind, it will help you become a better leader.
2. Stop Micromanaging and train your team
If you face problem in structuring your business, and go through rounds of hiring and firing, if you have trouble finding the “right” team members, maybe it’s your problem. It’s tough to accept but good leaders can handle the truth. It’s not impractical, but good leaders don’t caste judgment on their employees.
Good leaders don’t shout and scream, or watch their employees’ every move. They are supportive and ask how they can help. They don’t get upset that their employees are drowning; they teach them how to swim.
3. Build a strong company culture
To build great culture is not in words that are written on the wall, but that shows in your actions. You need to make each employee and team member understand that you care more than you want them to care about you. It may sound impossible, but you can’t be hamstrung by the task. It’s difficult, but, if you do it, you will build a great culture. And if you don’t, every day that you work will take you further away from that culture.
You should ideally practice this 24x7x365. So, you shouldn’t be afraid to fire your top sales personnel because he isn’t a good person. It’s equivalent to knowing who your employees are, what drives them, and have their needs changed. It also amounts to promoting and compensating people based on how good they are, and not on how well you know them. A great work culture works for everyone. It shouldn’t work only when things are smooth, it should also work when, unexpected happens.
The moment you falter on your culture is the second you lose. Meritocracy is needed, empathy is too needed, and knowing the culture that suits you and your employees is the most important thing you need. These words mean nothing if you don’t listen to them and internalize them, so, they should become a part of your everyday life. What will you do now? Go to resource and share it with a leader you admire or someone you know that is actively making an effort to become a better leader.
