Your performance as a leader not only affects your personal career trajectory but all of the people underneath you as well.
Research from Gallup shows that bad business leadership costs companies billions of dollars. Leadership and management quality is also responsible for 70 percent of variance in employee engagement scores.
Being a great leader is no easy job, and it's easy to develop bad leadership habits rather than good ones because you mirror behavior you see other leaders exhibit. Some are excellent, many mediocre, and more than just a few are toxic.
Being a good leader in business requires a combination of hard and soft skills. Hard skills are specific, teachable abilities that can be quantified and measured, such as financial management or project management.
Soft skills, on the other hand, are personal attributes that enable effective communication and interpersonal relationships, such as empathy and emotional intelligence. These skills are essential to develop as they hold the key to highly motivated and productive teams.
Here are the four important business leader skills to practice until they become habits.
1. Delegation
One of the most critical business leadership habits that will set you up for success is the ability to delegate. Successful business leaders know they can't do it all. Holding onto tasks because you can't trust others with responsibility will:
- Minimize the efficient use of your time,
- Lock you into overwhelm, and
- Stifle team member and organizational growth.
Not being able to delegate also communicates to team members that you don't trust or believe in them. Instead of facilitating growth and progress, you'll stymie productivity.
One of the best mental hacks for mastering delegation is to aim to make yourself dispensable. If your team, department, or organization can function without you for a limited amount of time, you've nailed delegation on the head.
2. Active Listening
Another critical habit to cultivate for effectively managing people is active listening.
It can be easy to fall into the trap of rushing dialogs and interactions because you have a lot on your plate. But truly listening to your teams is one of the most valuable things you can do as a leader.
If you don't take the time to listen with full attention to those below you, you will miss out on valuable insights, ideas, and opportunities. Your teams will also feel unheard, disempowered, and unvalued, and communication as a whole will break down.
Make it a habit to devote your full attention to employees when they are speaking. Make them feel seen by verbal and non-verbal messages such as nodding. Ask follow-up questions, clarify, and paraphrase.
3. Being a Good Communicator
Good leaders are good communicators with the ability to effectively convey information and ideas to others, both verbally and in writing.
4. Effective Time Management
Effective business leaders don't just know how to manage people, they also know how to manage their time. Here are a few quickfire business leadership tips for improving your time management skills:
- Schedule your days out the night before,
- Try time blocking,
- Carve out periods for deep focus, and
- Tackle the hardest tasks first.
Looking for Business Leadership Tips and Best Practices?
Successful business leaders are also constantly learning and building their skill sets.
To develop these skills, there are a few steps you can take:
- Seek out leadership opportunities. Look for opportunities to take on leadership roles within your organization or community. This could include leading a team, taking on a new project, or volunteering for a leadership position.
- Seek feedback and coaching. Ask for feedback from colleagues and mentors, and seek out coaching or mentorship opportunities to help you develop your leadership skills.
- Practice self-reflection. Take time to regularly reflect on your own leadership style and identify areas for improvement. This could involve keeping a journal or seeking feedback from others.
- Stay current. For relevant business leadership tips, best practices, and training, browse our most popular articles and subscribe to my eNewsletter.
Fast Track Your Leadership Ability
To fast track your growth as a leader, get in touch. We help owners, executives, and teams to build essential hard and soft skills, know how, and the mindset to skyrocket success.
Our programs and approach have a track record of over 40 years transforming leaders, sales teams, managers, and departments performance. Why not set up a time to talk? Brian Tracy USA: 877.433.6225 Email Me feedback@focalpointcoaching.com
