Acting as a leader

In the last of this series, we look at the challenges of being a leader in today’s world pose.. Not only are you facing the high expectations of your workforce, but you have to deal with unexpected circumstances such as lay-offs, returning to work and perhaps furlough as well.

The demands of your customers are also continually in flux, but everyone still expects you to deliver constant improvements in output and efficiency.

To face up to these challenges, leaders need to be effective on many fronts and be able to direct their teams with inspiration and motivation.

So how do you act?
Research has demonstrated that success in business is not all down to acumen or technical expertise and that a degree in management is not the way to get the best performance from your workforce.

What you do is often not so important as how you do it, take the time to study the behaviour patterns of leaders who inspire and understand how they act and react. If you analyse these behaviours with care, you may find ways in which you can adapt and build on them. Establishing best leadership practices will eventually inspire and motivate your workforce and generate an increase in overall productivity.

Common traits in effective leadership

• An effective leader is one who inspires others with their positive outlook. This doesn’t just depend on their naturally sunny and positive personality, but because they bring this positive attitude to bear on all their daily actions.
• An effective leader is a clear communicator. They don’t dictate orders and sit back while others scurry about, but share their aspirations and goals with their team. They have time to listen to others’ opinions and encourage their ideas, and they always make sure that others’ achievements are duly recognised.
• An effective leader is clear about communicating the targets that need to be achieved. Furthermore, they make sure to share with their team the reasoning behind the targets being set and, wherever necessary, to demonstrate how they may be achieved.
• An effective leader is above all a role model, whose everyday actions and overall business performance demonstrate the nature of successful achievement to their colleagues.

Recognising and adopting good leadership practices will help you to create a working environment that is more effective and positive for everyone. These behaviours give your employees the opportunity to experience real meaning in their work and thus maximise the potential of the whole workforce. They will also take pride in recognising their own participation in the success of the company.

Developing your leadership style to incorporate such good modes of behaviour and best practice can make a big difference to the overall performance of your company. Even if you work up to it gradually and adopt one effective practice at a time, any such improvements you make in your leadership approach will give you an edge.

Try our Business Leadership Academy today to help you with developing your approach, and make you the leader you aspire to be.

 

Our team at BHP Consulting all run successful businesses, we understand that businesses are unique and our approach involves sharing this experience to improve your business. For an initial telephone conversation or face-to-face meeting, click here