But unless you've hired people to take on the task of managing your employees, then The key to leadership success is to learn to effectively delegate both the And when they do a good job, employees want recognition from their bosses. successful leaders make their organizations fun places to work.
Table of contents
- How To Become A Better Manager: 10 Management Practices of Effective Leaders
- 2. Show empathy
- 1. Build a bond of trust
- Leading by Example - Workplace Leadership from leondumoulin.nl
Great bosses don't give you the impression that their time is more valuable than yours. They don't keep you waiting for scheduled meetings.
How To Become A Better Manager: 10 Management Practices of Effective Leaders
They show up prepared and get to the point, instead of trying to impress you. And they don't goof off on your time. It's not that they're unwilling to have fun at work, but they don't do it at your expense, causing you extra stress or making it necessary for you to stay late to catch up. A great boss is empathetic. Bad bosses only see their employees from the perspective of how the employees reflect on them. If their employees are doing a great job, they look good; if their employees are performing poorly, they look bad.
Great bosses, on the other hand, see their employees as more than just extensions of themselves. They're able to get inside their employees' skins and understand things from their perspective. That doesn't mean they're pushovers, or that they just say, "Oh, sorry you're having a bad day; don't worry about that deadline. A great boss is accountable. Bad bosses are quick to point the finger when something goes wrong. They'll throw their employees under the proverbial bus without a second thought. Great bosses understand that a large part of their job is being accountable for the team's performance.
They know that this just goes along with accepting a managerial role. That doesn't mean that they don't offer the team feedback on what is going wrong, but it does mean that they take the blame publicly. Even privately, they see the team's failure as a failure of leadership on their part, and they act quickly to correct it. A great boss says thank you. Bad bosses think the work their employees do is something the employees owe them.
After all, they're getting paychecks, right?
That's true -- but great bosses look past work as a transactional relationship and realize that people are putting a huge part of themselves into the work they do. They say thank you, even if it is "just part of the job. A great boss doesn't forget that people have lives outside of work.
2. Show empathy
Bad bosses tend to see people as one-dimensional: Great bosses, on the other hand, never forget that work is just one facet of their employees' lives. They never forget that they have families, friends, hobbies, and other interests and obligations outside of work, and they don't infringe on their "real" lives -- by asking someone to work late, for example -- without a very good reason. And when they do have a good reason, they acknowledge that they're asking for a sacrifice and express their gratitude accordingly. A great boss is a great communicator. It seems like some bosses will do anything to avoid giving a straight answer.
They don't want to say something they can be held accountable for later. Other bosses just don't want to be bothered with clear explanations and solid answers. Great bosses say what they mean and mean what they say -- and they say it clearly, so that people don't have to read between the lines or try to guess their real meaning. A great boss creates leaders. Have you ever noticed how sometimes all the promotions come from within one manager's team? Great bosses pull the very best out of their people.
They inspire, coach, and lean into people's strengths, and when their employees are ready for new challenges, they gladly send them on their way. He wanted his team turned loose, and he promised to listen to ideas from anyone in the company. Everyone from the lowest line workers to senior managers got his attention — if they had something to say or a new idea that might make the company better.
It wasn't just talk, and it didn't take his team long to figure that out. Welch stayed true to his passions and what he knew was right. As a result, GE became an incredibly successful company under his management. His team was always willing to follow his lead, because the people within it knew that he always kept his word.
What does this mean for you? If you give yourself to your team and show them the way, then, most likely, they'll follow you anywhere. We've seen just how powerful it can be to lead by example.
1. Build a bond of trust
But what happens when you don't follow this rule? How does your team feel when you tell them to do one thing, and then you do the exact opposite? As we said earlier, if this ever happened to you, then it shouldn't be hard to remember how angry and disappointed you were. When leaders don't "practice what they preach," it can be almost impossible for a team to work together successfully.
How can anyone trust a leader who talks about one thing, but does another? Consider what might have happened if Gandhi had, even one time, been in a physical fight with his opposition.
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His important message of nonviolent protest would probably have been much harder to believe after that. His followers would have looked at him with suspicion and distrust. The chances of them getting into physical arguments or committing acts of violence probably would have increased dramatically. Do you think that Alexander the Great's soldiers would have fought so hard for him if he had sat on top of a hill, safe from the battle?
He would have been just another average general in our history books, instead of the example of a successful leader that we know today. And so it is with your team. If you say one thing and do another, they likely won't follow you enthusiastically.
Leading by Example - Workplace Leadership from leondumoulin.nl
Everything you tell them after that may meet with suspicion and doubt. They may not trust that you're doing the right thing, or that you know what you're talking about. They may no longer believe in you. Good leaders push their people forward with excitement, inspiration, trust, and vision. If you lead a team that doesn't trust you, productivity will drop. The vision you're trying so hard to make happen may lose its appeal, all because your team doesn't trust you anymore.
Good leadership takes strength of character and a firm commitment to do the right thing, at the right time, for the right reason. This means doing what you say, when you say it. If your team can't trust you, you'll probably never lead them to greatness. Leading — and living — by example isn't as hard as it might sound. It's really the easiest path. If your team knows that you'll also do whatever you expect from them, they'll likely work hard to help you achieve your goal.
Mahatma Gandhi and Alexander the Great helped change the world because they lived by example — and, as a result, they accomplished great things. This article is an excerpt from Bruna Martinuzzi's book: Visit her website at www. This site teaches you the skills you need for a happy and successful career; and this is just one of many tools and resources that you'll find here at Mind Tools.
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