Do You Have The Seven Traits Of Effective Leaders
There are those who believe leaders are born and those who say it’s a skill that can be learnt. Whatever the reality there are many facets to being a good leader, many skills that have to be mastered to be an effective leader. Here are my top seven skills of a highly effective leader:
1 – Lead with a vision: If you dont have a vision you dont know where your going. This could be a vision for the company your work for, your own business or your family. Everything begins with a worthy vision that provides a goal to work towards
2 – Care for your team: People follow people who genuinely care about others. It sounds simple, yet this is an area where so many leaders fall short.
- Take a true interest in the people who work for you.
- Learn about their hobbies, goals, and dreams.
- Take time to get to know names of team members’ spouses, kids, and pets.
Who would you rather worked for the boss who remembers your birthday or the boss who forgets your name.
3 – Celebrate success and a job well done: Appreciation is motivation and inspiration. Don’t leave team members in the dark. Show them you appreciate their achievements. Celebrate their successes. This not only lets the individual know you appreciate their work, it encourages all your team members. When a team member exceeds and reaches a goal, go out of your way to celebrate them both publicly and privately.
4 – Dont pass problems down to your team/employees: You’re the leader of your team/business/family, your the one when things go wrong people want to lean on. Be a good solid example. Pass your problems to your boss/mentors/above family members but never pass them down to your team, set the example that your always pushing forward.
5 – Learn from mistakes: You maybe the leader but your only human, so you will make plenty of mistakes on your journey. Making mistakes is good, but learn from you mistakes quickly
and dont make the same mistakes again and again.
6 – Be a good listener: Listening is an essential part of communication, and it is different from just hearing, it is about activley listening to really understand what someone is tellin
g you. Being a good and patient listener helps you not only solve many problems at work or home, but also to see the world through the eyes of others, thereby opening your understanding and enhancing your capacity for empathy. In
addition, you learn a lot from listening. As simple as listening to and acknowledging other people may seem, doing it well, particularly when disagreements arise, takes sincere effort and lots of practice.
7 – Lead from the front: As I said in my last leadership blog, leading from the front is a massive part of being a leader. Be the person with the higest monthly sales, the best mentor,have the higest standards. Dont expect others to do things you wouldn’t do.
This is not a comprehensive list but does reflect the leadership skills i have learnt and employed to lead and mentor our growing team of Scentsy consultants as thier Directors. What skills do you think are effective for leaders – please share them in the comments box below.
