A Guide to Better leadership

Many people claim that leadership is hard. But according to me I see this as a myth. However, I do not disagree with those people who have made leadership hard or those who have found it hard to lead.

I don’t like it when people conclude that it is hard to lead since leadership can be easy if you follow the tips in this article. The following tips will help make you a great leader and also help you improve your influence.

4 Tips That Will Make You a Good Leader

Smile More Often

The best thing about smiling more often is that it helps you create a more positive atmosphere which can lead to a positive attitude in yourself and in your teams. Smiling more helps you build a stronger connection with your teams and can make you look more approachable.

And you know what? Smiling is usually contagious. When you smile at someone, he or she will more likely smile back. Smiling more often has a positive impact on your overall wellbeing. When you smile, serotonin and endorphins are released by your brain. Endorphins are natural painkillers and help your body fight off symptoms of illnesses.

Serotonin is a natural antidepressant and is one of the best stress relievers. If you smile more often, your employees will feel more connected to you. So smile at everyone including your security, staff and other people you meet not just your employees or your boss. It is good to make smiling a habit. The good thing is that no degrees or MBAs are required to make smiling a habit.

Be a Good Listener

Being a good listener will make your teams feel respected and valued. As a result, your employees will trust and respect your leadership. Therefore, as a leader, it is good to become a good listener. While you don’t have to always take the advice or input given, being a good listener will make your teams feel more involved and in turn make them more committed.

Apart from being attentive during meetings, you should also listen to people in informal settings such as when getting a cup of coffee and in the staff canteen. As an added bonus you could hear something of value since people on the front lines usually know more than the managers about what is going on in the company and about any issues that need to be addressed.

I have come to realize that when I look approachable and ready to listen, people come to me with valuable information that has helped me deal with issues before they become major problems.

Talk More

If you would like to engage your team, prioritize communication. Don’t just tell your employees what you want them to do, tell them the importance of what you want them to do. It may even be better to tell them how they will benefit from what you want them to do. Don’t tell them once.

Repeat your messages to make your employees understand the importance of what you want them to do. Communicate your company’s goals, your company’s performance against these goals and the contribution of your employees. Doing this on a regular basis will help your company a lot.

Communicating on a regular basis will make your employees feel more involved hence increasing their commitment and involvement. This is one of the most basic leadership principles and should be something implemented and encouraged before you move on to more complex strategic leadership principles.

Praise More

People want to feel like their input has made a company succeed. Praise is the best and simple way to do this. According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs, praise is among our basic needs. Praise is beneficial in that it can boost a person’s self-esteem.

Praise can be as simple as congratulating someone for a job well done and does not have to be a major event. Remember that even small recognition can motivate an employee to work hard and motivate his or her colleagues to also work hard. Your employees will feel positive when you praise them as they know that you see and value what they are doing.

I often use the PRAISE model to increase the impact of praise by Praising employees in public; Recognizing what they do; being Authentic; giving praise Immediately rather than waiting for a monthly newsletter or an annual review; being Specific, the more specific the praise the more sincere it sounds and being Enthusiastic as enthusiasm is contagious and shows how much you value the contribution of your employees.

Praise costs nothing but can help your company a lot as it motivates employees to become more productive. It will also make employees try as much as they can to do what pleases you because they know that you appreciate any good thing they do.

Employees will be motivated to work in your company as they feel home there. So, go ahead and praise your teams whenever they do something good and remember to do it immediately.

Following the above 4 tips will surely help you become a good leader as it will make you more trusted, respected, engaging and help you inspire your team and make your team more productive. You will also feel more confident in your leadership and make informed decisions that will make your company more successful in your industry and make it achieve its goals.