You might know it and you might not. But you’re always leading. You are a leader in small ways every single day. To achieve success as a leader, it’s not about mastering a new skill, but rather honing in on your natural abilities and instincts, and maximising your efforts. Here, let’s take a look at exactly how to be a leader and the way to reach leadership success. 

You are Always Leading- On and Off Duty

Being a leader isn’t something you take on and off like a coat. Leadership skills and operating from a leadership perspective is something leaders do on and off duty. That’s because the skill sets that make a great leader also make great spouses, parents, community partners, volunteers and mentors.

Great leaders don’t go to work and put on their leadership hats only to take them off when they leave. Great leaders lead in all that they do. They lead by how they solve problems, approach conflict, prioritise their schedule, treat people in their lives and a lot more.

Great leaders succeed in their leadership because their leadership skills are ingrained in their everyday life. How you see them when they lead is also how you’ll see them when they’re behind closed doors.

In the truest sense, everyone is a leader one way or another. Your title might not officially place you in a leadership role, but you are leading. Whether it’s leading your family, friends, or a small group of people volunteering in the community, you are leading. Taking on a leadership mindset on and off duty can help you be a more effective leader that people willingly and enthusiastically follow.

It’s important to realise that people are always watching, and in doing so they are evaluating one another’s leadership skills and getting behind the people who are leading the way. People feel comfortable with others who are confident, considerate, and consistent in their behavior and their attitude.

Not all leaders want to lead. Some people are placed in situations where they are required to lead despite their preference to blend into the crowd. Leadership is important though, and having the courage to lead, even when you don’t want to, is important too. Sometimes you’ve got to take the reins and do what’s best for the situation.

 Be aware of the importance of leadership and having a leadership mindset whether you are at work, at home, or in the community. Be aware of your impact on others and be sure that your leadership style is motivating and encouraging so you aren’t overrunning others or making them feel inadequate. The best leaders consistently make those they lead feel empowered and capable of whatever tasks need to be done.

3 Habits to Break That Will Make You a Better Leader

Some people set out for leadership. They want to be in a leadership role and take charge. Other people find themselves in leadership roles reluctantly. They don’t necessarily see themselves as leaders but circumstances or necessity dictates that they’ve got to step up and lead. Either way, both potential leaders bring more than positive skills to the plate.

We’ve all got habits that we need to break. Too much fast food. Binge watching Netflix and other habits don’t always serve us. Leaders have bad habits too, even when they are leading others. Breaking bad habits can make you a better leader. Breaking bad habits does more than reduce the negativity in your life, it molds you into a better and more effective leader. Here’s how.

Losing the bad habit is one thing, but what you learn in the process is a secondary benefit. Dropping the bad habit itself will make you healthier but overcoming the mindset and behaviors that accompany the bad habit is equally beneficial. 

For example, dropping the fast food habit will make your body healthier. Dropping the thoughts and behaviors associated with buying and eating fast food goes even farther to making you a better leader because you can model and teach these skill sets.

Here are 3 bad habits you can break that will make a you a better leader

Break the complaining habit

Complaining is a form of passive aggression. Complaining has no room in a leader’s tool kit. 

Complaining is an immature way to manage stress. Sure, recognising that something isn’t right is important. Analysing things for their merit matters but going on and on about it without making changes is worthless. 

Venting has its place in the right context but complaining wears people out and gets them riled up. Solving problems and finding solutions to whatever needs to be changed is the answer. Great leaders don’t complain about things, they tackle them and do what needs to be done.

Break the gossiping habit

The surest way to sabotage your leadership is to gossip. Talking about others behind their backs doesn’t do anyone any good. As the saying goes- snuffing out someone else’s light doesn’t make yours shine brighter. 

The gossip habit is a bad habit that all good leaders let go of. You can avoid gossip by refusing to speak negatively about others as part of your personal standard. You can avoid gossip in groups by removing yourself from conversations that include gossip. You can also set the standard with the people you lead and those you influence on and off duty by making it a policy not to gossip.

Break the avoidance habit

Leaders get things done. That’s why they’re leaders. Leaders don’t wait to be told what needs to be done. They recognise and see what needs to be taken care of and take initiative to do it. If something is difficult, they find help. If something is too complicated, they seek guidance. 

Leaders don’t procrastinate and they don’t avoid anything. This includes avoiding tasks, avoiding difficult conversations, and avoiding challenges. Dropping the avoidance habit helps make leaders more consistent and effective.

Whether you are asking to lead or being pushed into it, you might have some habits worth breaking before you do. Breaking these habits can help transform your effectiveness as a leader on and off duty and make your overall life experience much better.

Treating Others Well is the Sign of Great Leadership

“The people with the greatest love, not the most information, will influence us to change.”- Bob Goff

Bob Goff is the New York Times best-selling author of the book Love Does. His quote reminds us that it isn’t what you know that matters as much as how you behave. You may have all the knowledge in the world on important subjects which will make you an expert, but if you don’t have the social skills to lead others with love, you won’t be very effective.

Goff shared a story in a blog post about Galileo, a scientist who used a telescope to determine that the Earth and the other planets rotated around the sun. At the time, this went against the standard beliefs in science and caused Galileo to be arrested and jailed. What Galileo discovered was truth, but his truth threatened those in leadership and instead of listening, they reacted defensively.

As leaders, it’s important to realise that information changes and what we think we know might be proven ineffective or wrong at some point down the line. As a leader, how you treat others is more important than what you know. 

Here are some key concepts to keep in mind.

Being challenged doesn’t require defensiveness

Some leaders feel that their authority should not be challenged. It’s true that a leadership role holds an expectation of authority and in most cases deserves respect; however, respect is best when it is earned. 

If your authority is being challenged, hold your peace and your maturity and determine if the challenge is worthy. If so, embrace the challenge and work together to seek a solution or remedy or embrace the new information with gratitude.

Seek to inspire not command

Leadership should inspire others to want to take action on behalf of the leader or the common goal the leader represents. How you treat others will determine how willing they are to serve the cause. 

Great leaders inspire people to go beyond what they might do on their own. By serving as an example, doing the work alongside others, and being the hardest working member of the group, leaders can encourage others to give their best as well.

Surround yourself with people smarter than you are

Great leaders know that life’s an ever-evolving thing and it requires life-long learning. No one person can know everything in all areas. Strong leaders surround themselves with people smarter than they are in certain areas and empower them and support them to shine. 

They aren’t threatened by someone else’s knowledge or the fact they don’t know everything. True leadership includes the humility of being less knowledgeable and making no apologies.

What you know isn’t as important as how you operate. Being a great leader includes knowing your stuff, but more importantly it includes being kind, compassionate, and treating those you lead with dignity and respect.

Serve Others- Even When You’re the Leader

Most leaders started out as followers. Leadership comes from mastery of a concept or idea and inspiring and motivating others to achieve a common goal. Good leaders have spent significant time in the trenches and never stop, even after they’re promoted.

Being a leader means more than being the boss. It requires a willingness to take on more responsibilities than the team and to be willing to work just as hard, if not harder. 

Sadly, leadership can get a bad name. 

The imagery of someone sitting at a desk with their feet up while others do the work that they claim for themselves leaves a bad taste in your mouth. The idea is that leaders have paid their dues and don’t have to work hard anymore. Sadly, this is a way that leadership gets a bad name. 

Some leaders lose touch with what it takes to be on the front lines and diminish or discount the hard work of the people they lead. In both cases, this can cause a rift between leaders and teammates.

The best leaders have a heart for service and never stop. No matter how high their leadership title, great leaders serve others and seek to better understand the needs of the people they are leading. 

Here are some easy ways to continue to serve, even when you’re the leader.

Delegate, but be sure to do the work too

The best leaders make time to get alongside the people they serve and do the work too. Delegating is an important part of leadership. 

You can’t lead if you are doing all the work but it’s important to keep morale high and keep your skills polished too. You can do both by working alongside the people you lead and showing them there’s nothing you aren’t too important to do.

Find out what people need to make things easier

The people you lead have a lot on their plate. They have on and off duty lives too. Keeping your finger on the pulse of what they need offers opportunities for you to serve them and build their trust and respect for you. 

Great leaders know when their teams need something to make their work easier or to offset troubles they have off the clock. Stay in touch and in tune with your teams and you’ll transform your leadership skills exponentially. 

Always ask questions

Leaders have to hand down a lot of policies and procedures that their teams have to follow. Whether it’s your family or people you lead for work, asking them questions and getting their input can help everyone feel heard and valued. 

Sometimes someone you lead might have an idea or a process that is better than the one you came up with. Great leaders include their wealth of resources in their leadership. This includes asking questions of the people they lead.

Serving others, even when you’re the leader, is vital. There’s no title too high that excludes someone from service. There are many ways to lead and many ways to serve and the two always go hand in hand.

Mentoring Others Makes You a Better Leader

If you’re in a leadership role, you didn’t get there on your own. Someone at some point poured into you and helped shape you into the person you are! 

Having a mentor can make all the difference when it comes to being an effective leader. Being a mentor helps pay forward the help you’ve been given and the lifetime of knowledge you’ve accumulated.

Mentoring others makes you a better leader because it helps you to teach a wider range of skills, motivate new leaders, keeps you grounded.

Mentoring teaches more than the obvious

Mentoring an up and coming leader requires more than basic skills. Mentoring someone to do a task in and of itself is a great thing to do. Passing on traditions and skills has been a form of teaching for generations. 

Mentoring someone in leadership surpasses practical skills and includes esoteric skills that go beyond the technical aspects of a trade. Mentoring leaders teaches the psychological and interpersonal skills that make great leaders.

Mentoring motivates new leaders

Part of the role of leadership is motivating others. Getting them excited about the possibilities and feeling confident about what they can accomplish. Mentoring new leaders is the epitome of motivating. 

Sure, you’ll have to cover the challenges of leadership, which are many, but overall you can help motivate a new leader to be their best. This in turn, motivates you and helps remind you of the benefits of being a leader as well. 

Mentoring keeps you grounded too

Being in leadership should be humbling. Serving others is what leadership is all about. Being a leader has perks and advantages, but it also has tough realities those who aren’t in leadership don’t have to face. 

Mentoring others keeps you grounded and reminds you that leadership is an important responsibility and that the well-being of those you lead is in a leader’s hands.

Mentoring is a wonderful way to sharpen your leadership skills and transform you as a leader. Teaching up-and-coming leaders the nuances of their roles can help them become better leaders in a shorter amount of time. 

Remember those who taught you along the way and be sure to pay it forward to the people you are fortunate enough to impact. Your teaching time can be learning time for you too because your mentee will surely have something new to teach you as well. Celebrate your mentees and help them achieve their best by mentoring them and pouring into their futures.

3 Tips for Growing as a Leader

Being the leader isn’t the end of the line. You’ve only just begun the leadership journey. 

Becoming a leader qualifies you to lead others, but your skills will grow over time making you more and more effective. Growing as a leader should always be the goal whether you’ve just begun or you’ve been leading for years.

The best leaders have things in common. They are generally confident, considerate and consistent.

Being confident, considerate, and consistent are not static things. They change all the time. Conscience might waver from time to time when life throws curve balls. Being kind and considerate of others can be a challenge when you’re overly stressed or worried. Consistency gets jeopardized when life is overwhelming or underwhelming. 

That’s why great leaders are always working on these areas of their lives.

Here are some practical ways to keep growing as a leader in the areas of confidence, consideration, and consistency.

Confidence

Pay attention to what gets you down. We all have the triggers that affect our confidence. It’s possible to be highly confident in one area of life and completely wrecked in another. 

Pay attention to what gets you down at certain points of life. Your confidence might need to be bolstered here and there, even when you’re leading. Life’s circumstances can trigger areas where you don’t feel strong. 

Seek to find solutions when you feel your confidence get weak and you’ll be able to overcome your insecurities and become a more effective leader in the process.

Consideration

Pay attention when you feel foul. When life’s firing on all cylinders it’s easy to be kind and considerate. People respect leaders who are fair and decent. They resist leaders who are harsh, unrealistic, and mean. 

Your off-duty life could be affecting your on-duty leadership. If you’re going through a tough time, it’s a great time to stretch and grow and learn new stress management techniques or how to overcome overwhelm. 

Whether you are leading your family, a community project or a team at work, being considerate is a primary character trait of successful leadership.

Consistency

Pay attention when you are erratic. One of the key characteristics of great leadership is dependability and consistency. That how you show up is the same today, tomorrow, and down the line. 

When it comes to leadership, consistency is key. If you find that you are going through a season where you’re dropping the ball or you are acting in unpredictable ways, it’s a great time to grow as a leader and learn how to manage yourself and get back on track.

Leadership is not a destination, it’s a journey. Being an effective leader includes the commitment to grow. The issues you face today, won’t be the same tomorrow. The people you lead on and off duty will cause you to need new skills. Keep focused on your confidence, consideration, and consistency so you can grow and maintain high-quality leadership skills.

Lift Up Leaders and Help Them Grow

Being a mentor is a wonderful thing. Helping lift up-and-coming leaders up and help them grow through a mentorship relationship helps the mentor and the mentee. 

Outside of mentorship, leaders can help one another out too. Your colleagues need your support to help them thrive and grow, because leadership isn’t for the weak.

Everyone faces tough times- Businesses close, projects fall apart, new launches are delayed, and things at home can impact everything else. 

Leaders need other leaders to help. No one understands the struggles that leaders face better than other leaders. It’s important to lift leaders up and help them grow in the process.

Be there when your colleagues need you

People who lead need other people who lead to be there when times are hard, whether they ask or not. If you see someone in the leadership community struggle, get in there and offer your support. Reaching out and letting someone know you care can make all the difference in how well they cope during a tough time.

Note that leaders aren’t just work folk. A struggling mother or father is a leader. If you see someone who needs support, reach out and help lift them up.

Celebrate when your colleagues win

It’s natural to feel a tinge of jealousy when your “competition” gets a win. Great leaders celebrate big wins whether they’re for the competition or their friends. Your genuine enthusiasm for other people’s success will only make yours stronger. 

There’s no limit to the amount of success available to you and those you are in leadership with. Get excited about their successes and genuinely congratulate and celebrate with them.

Step in when your colleagues fall down

Sometimes people take a fall. An illness, injury, or even a scandal can set someone in leadership back. Be willing and able to step in when your colleagues fall. Offer to take some of their workload, offer to assist them in practical ways, or take the initiative and lead for them in their absence. You’re a leader and there’s no better time to lead than when your fellow colleague can’t.

Being in leadership is a sisterhood and brotherhood unlike any other. There’s a comradery between leaders who have worked hard to encourage, mentor, and motivate their teams. They need the same encouragement themselves. Leaders lean on leaders who understand and have the unique abilities to support them and help them grow too.  

Conclusion

Being a leader is more than just about leading a team. A good leader certainly doesn’t mean that you should sit back and let others do all the work. Only through the right mindset and strong relationships, consistency and genuine interests in those around you would you be able to  succeed as a leader and flourish as a mentor.