Holiday time is a good time to contemplate the year ahead and how to effectively lead your team. Photo supplied.
Leading into Christmas and the new year, it’s time to start thinking about 2019 and your aspirations, goals and resolutions.
When it comes to your professional development goals for next year, I challenge you to think about how you can become a more effective leader.
The words “management” and “leadership” are two of the most commonly used terms when it comes to business but how many of you have actually thought about how they differ?
The majority of people use both terms interchangeably and believe they are representative of the same personality traits. After recently completing leadership studies and reflecting on my own personal journey, I am convinced this is not the case.
A leader doesn’t have to hold a position of authority in a business, they can simply possess the behaviours, personality and beliefs that people relate to, respect and are motivated by.
Everyone’s leadership style is different and there are a multitude of successful approaches depending on the structure of your business. Here are some broad questions, applicable to many businesses, for you to ask yourself to inspire you to think about what you can do to develop and/or be more effective as a leader:
What do you do to take interest in the success of your employees?
How do you enable them to reach their personal goals?
Describe your interpersonal skills when interacting with employees
Do you involve people in planning and ask for their input when planning the future of the business?
Do you trust your employees and empower them to perform their role?
List the ways you inspire and motivate your team
How do you communicate with your team? Does it produce successful results?
Are people following you or working for you?
If you’re unsure of some of the answers to these questions, why not ask your team?
Effective leadership directly relates to organisational culture and, in turn, correlates to business performance.
The more effective leaders we are and have in our community, the greater the prosperity and future of the Coffs Coast’s businesses and economy.