5 ideas for Leaders to be successful

There are so many tips and pieces of advice for leaders. Which ones do you follow? Well, you are an individual leader, so you need to try out what seems best for you. Keep the stuff that works and try new things for stuff that doesn't. Here are five things I personally would advise to any new leader or existing leader who is getting a bit stale.

Always be learning

Know that you will never know everything and there is always something to learn. No two situations are identical. No two staff members are the same. The more you know, the more techniques you develop, the better equipped you will be in dealing with your staff behaviours, leading them effectively and building the confidence necessary to be an excellent people leader.

Don't aim to be popular

Don’t try to be a crowd pleaser. Trying to be popular will lose you the respect of your team members. In some ways, you need to ensure there is a little distance between you and them. If you need to pull someone aside and give them some developmental feedback, it’s more difficult if you are a close friend.

Follow through

Always follow through. The fastest way to build trust is to do what you say you will do. Ensure that you keep confidences and respect the views and opinions of others. Avoid speaking negatively of your superiors in front of your team members.

Speak up

If something needs to be said, you should say it. Let your team know by your actions that you will deal with issues that arise. Be consistent in your approach so that everyone knows where they stand.

Enjoy the role

Have fun. Enjoy your opportunities to lead. You aren’t likely to be 100% perfect in what you do, but try to be sincere and genuine and take the occasional risk and remember to communicate well to your team and show your appreciation to them. In short, be the kind of leader you would want to follow!

About the Author:

Derek Good has been a General Manager for a number of years and since 2002 has been involved in corporate training and consulting. He has won the North Shore Business Award for Customer Service Excellence and the TUANZ Award for innovation for general education.

These days Derek's focus is on researching the changes in training trends and developing his online micro video training organisation LearningPlanet which is currently accessed by thousands of users across a number of countries.

For more information visit www.learningplanet.me and my Amazon page for leadership books