Every industry needs leaders to run. From managers all the way up to the executive level, leaders can be found, and are essential for any company to run and thrive. You don’t even need to work for someone else in order to become a leader. You can manage a one-person company and still be thought of as a leading figure in your field.
If you want to become a leader, then you need to start by building up your skills, honing in on your approach, and understanding that you need to do more than manage to be a good leader. This guide will help outline the many different approaches that you can take to become a leader in your field.
What Makes a Leader?
Leaders are not born. While some people may be naturally charismatic and take up the role of leader because of it, this does not mean that they are infallible. They also need to learn how to listen, communicate, delegate, and help those under them build on their strengths and improve on their weaknesses.
These essential skills can all be taught. If you don’t think you’re a natural leader, don’t worry. All it takes is time, practice, and training. Leading is a skill like any other, and there are many different ways that you can approach leadership to make it your own.
Top Leadership Skills You’ll Need
There are many skills that a leader will need in order to successfully manage a team or even a business. Though the individual skills can be incredibly varied from one industry to another, these common skills are essential:
· Communication
You need to be able to clearly and concisely explain what you want to your team. If they can’t understand you, then you won’t see your vision come to life. Your team are not mind readers, so it’s up to you to learn how to communicate well so that you are inspirational while also being extremely clear on what you mean.
You can practice your communication skills first and foremost by practicing speaking. Read aloud when you’re at home, especially other people’s speeches, and you’ll find that it’s much easier to talk later on.
Of course, you’ll also need to know how to convey what you want to say. If you have trouble doing this verbally, write it down and send it via email. There are many ways to get your team all on board with the same idea—you just need to find the right approach.
· Listening
If you don’t listen, then the only opinion you’ll ever have to work with is your own. This is where ideas go to die. You need to listen to ideas, feedback, recommendations, and questions so that you can workshop your approach and improve.
Listening, of course, means more than just paying attention. You need to also adapt your approach so that each of your team members feels like they are being heard. You can have a one-on-one meeting, you can offer for them to email you, or you can even just be patient while they explain their idea.
· Organization
Every leader needs to be organized so that they can keep their work on track and reschedule if needs be. The good news is that staying organized nowadays is as easy as finding the right management program and keeping everything up to date. In most cases this will mean having your employees also use the same program so that you can remotely keep up with where they’re at.
Types of Leadership
There are many different types of leadership:
1. Authoritative Leadership
In this instance, you are in complete charge and delegate tasks to your team with explicit instructions. While this type of leadership style doesn’t work in most situations, it can be the go-to for short-term projects. For example, if there is a set way of completing a particular task, and little time to discuss, delegating tasks with minimal discussion can be the go-to.
2. Democratic Leadership
Democratic leaders are usually found in team environments. The team in question will need to all work together on problem-solving activities. Rather than lead in the sense that your vision is the one that is automatically acted out (as is the case with authoritative leadership), democratic leaders are more moderators for discussion. They work by encouraging dialogue and then having everyone work out their roles for themselves.
3. Transformational Leadership
This type of leader is one of the most aspirational. They don’t just lead and get the job done, they inspire their team and help every person under them reach new heights. You may help boost team morale while also improving the bottom line. The goal of transformational leadership styles is to change or transform the business or a specific concept into a better one. It’s a very effective style, particularly when the company in question is trying to take their business model in a new direction.
4. Delegative Leadership
Similar to authoritative leadership, you will also be primarily delegating tasks. The difference is that that your team will have control over how they approach the task they’ve been given, and even when they do it. It’s a laid-back leadership style that works well when you can trust your employees to take the initiative, and to work together when problems arise.
5. Transactional or Rewarding Leadership
Transactional leaders are those who create clear roles for each employee to make everyone work effectively together. They encourage initiative by offering milestone rewards and incentives that match the level of work presented.
How to Develop Leadership Skills
Being a leader is an ongoing journey. There’s no end date, because your approach must always adapt to both those working under you and also to the changing times. There’s a difference between managing a team and leading a business, and to be a success you must know how to do both.
To establish these skills, you’ll need to focus on both how you can become a better business leader and people leader.
Establish Business Skills
Every leader needs to understand how businesses operate, how to make them profitable, and how to streamline workflows so that everyone is working effectively with their strengths. Today this is mostly about understanding all the cogs in the machine and knowing what your team needs so that you can match them with the tools necessary to improve their productivity.
We have computers and machines to manage admin and data tasks. People are needed for creative problem-solving. As a leader, you need to understand how your business works, how it could improve, and how to manage it effectively.
Earning a degree in business is a good starting point, but you’ll want to go further. Business principles change often and it’s up to you as a good leader to stay on top of the latest thinking, trends, and principles that will guide your business into the next phase.
A commitment to ongoing learning is essential if you want to make it in business, and considering every career path involves a business (your own or someone else’s), it’s essential for everyone.
Read reports, listen to interviews, go to conferences and talks. There are so many ways that you can stay updated on the latest thoughts, recommendations, and ideas that will impact business management and even your business model itself.
Establish Leadership Skills
Combining business and leadership skills is a must for those who want to effectively lead a team, a department, or even a large corporation. It doesn’t matter the scale or the type of business you run, either. Effective leadership will help those running a consultancy just as much as it will help those managing an international company.
How you learn and develop these skills is up to you. One of the most effective methods, for example, is to earn a masters in leadership online degree. Click here to see the full list of course outcomes, but know that overall degrees like this are designed to help you improve your organizational intelligence so that you can navigate legal, ethical, and even political issues that may arise as a manager. You’ll also learn how the company and all its moving parts work together and how to lead large corporations effectively.
Invest in Your Personal Brand
If you want to truly establish yourself as a leader in your field, you need to go beyond just your workplace. You need to create a name for yourself and work on influencing others in your field in order to collectively work together towards a better, brighter future. The good news is that you can start on every recommendation in this list today. If you are still in university and learning how to be a better leader, or if you’re already in a leadership role and want to establish yourself as a top figure in your field, consider using these tips:
· Guest Posting
Guest posting is great to get your name and ideas out there. It’s essentially independent journalism. By creating well-crafted and researched think pieces, you can then see if publications in your field will publish your work. Not only will you get paid when you get published, but you’ll also start getting your name out there. This way, if anyone were to search for you online, they’ll start to see your professional profile, rather than a mess of unrelated people or even private accounts that won’t help you with your career goals.
Guest posting can also be a good way to get more people to your website, if you have one.
· Talks
The other end of the spectrum from guest posting is to create talks. These talks can be podcasts, vodcasts, or even hosted talks by other organizations. TED Talks are a popular format that can help you get your face and ideas out there on a professional platform.
You’ll find that the more effort you put into creating a persona online, the more opportunities you’ll have to reach new audiences. You may be interviewed, for example, or asked to be a panel guest at a conference or workshop.
· Online Platform
The moment you start to advertise yourself and your expertise online, you need to establish an online platform. This should, as a minimum, be a website and social media profile. You’ll want to keep these profiles active as much as possible, so try to limit your presence to the channels that make the most sense for your brand.
In the past, for example, your go-to social platforms would likely have been Facebook and Twitter. Today it may be Twitter and Instagram, or even TikTok. It depends entirely on the format of content you want to create and who your audience is. If your goal is to get in touch with new Gen Z professionals, Tik Tok and Instagram are the better tools. If you want a more streamlined presence, Twitter is still a great option.
· Awards
Enter competitions, nominate yourself or others you know for awards, and in general, start paying attention to the competitions that would look good for your career. Not only can earning awards help strengthen your professional portfolio, but they can also actually help you with your efforts to become a better leader.
· Certifications
Every time you learn a new skill, you should have a certificate to back you up. Not only is this a good way to showcase your many credentials, but it’s also a great way to lead by example. The best teams are those filled with people committed to learning and improving their careers. If you can show the value of learning by committing to a life of learning, you can help not only your career, but your team as well.
The Importance of Feedback
Regardless of who you are, you need to get honest feedback from those around you. If you surround yourself with yes-men who never question your judgement or leadership style, you can never grow. The best place to get started with your feedback is with your employees themselves. Have an anonymized feedback system that in no way implicates any one of your employees. If you are someone who takes criticism on board and works to improve, they won’t be afraid to let you know when there’s an area in which you could improve.
