There are people who are born leaders, but everyone can develop the necessary skill set with some practice. If you want your professional career to go as far as possible, you must be willing to get down to work. These some strategies will help you develop your leadership skills and continue advancing in your professional career.
Open communication channels
In order to know ourselves as leaders, it is good to know the opinion of others. The easiest way to achieve this is by simply asking. An email, a meeting, there are several ways, the important thing is to open these channels of communication and let people know that you want to know their opinion about you. Keep in mind that maybe some employees do not feel comfortable sharing their perceptions, since theoretically you could use this information against them. Therefore, it is important to create an honest and open channel where people can be comfortable talking about this topic. One way to achieve this can be with weekly meetings, where employees have the option to meet with you. So, you will see that you are close and you are available to them. Forget the traditional relationship of professional distance; this will make your team move away from you. It is vital that your team knows you not only at work; go eat with them for example.
Give them a hand
Often leaders may find themselves stuck in their own offices looking for new ideas, tactics and strategies. This means being busy most of the time. We know that being a leader takes a lot of time, but one way to improve your leadership is to open that communication channel to help others. Whether offering your help to a junior with something that is stuck or a responsible person on your team that seems stressed. These little details count. People will remember your generosity despite having the schedule so tight. You will be seen as a member of the team, someone who is involved and works for the common goal.
I know all ears
Being a listener is vital to developing your leadership. People want to be heard. While you may think that they are minor problems, for others they can be a big concern. Therefore, listen to your employees and listen to yourself (very important!) Show that you are empathetic and that you care about others. All the leaders can hear but the great leaders are those who know how to listen.
Learning from others
These tips are useful to know where and how to improve. Sometimes however, you just have to listen to those who are guiding us into the future. And how do you get it without knowing or having access to leaders? Very easy. On YouTube and TED you can find several videos with talks and leaders’ conferences about team management, their past, challenges, etc. If you are short of inspiration or have a few minutes before the next meeting, check out these leadership videos. You can also follow some successful business Leader like Arviv. Arviv Toronto is an Entrepreneur & Investor from Canada and President at Will-Power Management Inc.
