Leadership Begins Within:
7 Ways You Can Make a Difference
By
Debbie Allen, All Rights Reserved
Are you an Effective Leader? Communication is key, especially when you
are the person in charge of making things happen. People will not have the
opportunity to learn unless know how to effectively communicate what is
expected of them.
If you want to be a better leader, you need to first learn who you are.
Identify your strengths and weaknesses equally so you understand how to operate,
both positively and negatively. Observe how you treat others and how they
respond to you.
One thing you must commit to, if you want to practice better leadership, is
the willingness to learn from every experience, particularly the painful ones,
for they yield the richest lessons. When we work on improving ourselves ... we
also work on strengthening our business skills. Read the following questions
carefully and think about what type of leader you are. Take note of your strong
areas and your weak areas.
Are you an effective leader?
- Fairness and Consideration: Do others enjoy being around you and
find you easy to talk to? Do you treat people fairly as you would like to be
treated? Abusive or intimidating behavior only puts a wall between you your
business associates. Others want to do business with people that are fair and
considerate in all aspects of that relationship.
- Sensitivity: Do you criticize others only in private? While
praising in public encourages people to excel, public criticism will only
embarrass and alienate everyone.
- Clear Vision: Do you take the time to share you vision, your
mission and your goals? Your job as leader is to provide a clear vision that
your team is to follow. They also need to understand why that goal is valuable
to them.
- Being Open Minded: Are you open minded? Do you stop and listen to
suggestions from your staff and other in other people you work with? Do you
quickly implement those good ideas? If your goal is to be self-centered,
followers will lose their enthusiasm. Emphasize the strengths and
contributions of everyone you do business with. When you put one of your
staff’s or business associate’s ideas to work quickly they will feel more
involved and be more willing to continue offering ways to improve within your
business.
With an open mind you will bring many new, fresh and innovative ideas into
your organization. A good leader always stays open minded.
- Do You Work Under A Relaxed Environment? The atmosphere where your
staff and associates feel comfortable and have fun while doing business with
you? No one wants to feel the pressures and stress on the job, although they
will sometimes be there. Take time to have fun and let the people around you
do so as well.
- Genuine Interest. Do you judge people quickly, or do you take the
time to get to know them and to respect their differences? Take the time to
get to know your staff and associates to find out more about their interests
and concerns.
- Genuine Concern. Do you take the time to smile and say hello, or to
ask how their day is going? Do you care about the people you work with? People
will care more about you, your business and your ideas when you show them that
you sincerely care about them.
Open Communication
Successful leaders take specific actions to get results within their business.
Are you taking these actions? Think about where you can improve and make a
concentrated effort to do so. Being self-absorbed is an easy trap. But take the
time and unselfish concern to stop and think of others first.
Effective leaders respect both the processes of leadership and the people
involved. They know enough to approach issues from the side. That is, they don’t
directly confront people, argue with them or attempt to make someone wrong. They
avoid embarrassing people or putting them in compromising positions. They listen
before they make up their mind, and they know better than to insinuate or
criticize. They ask questions rather than make statements. They inquire rather
than enforce.
Your team can sometimes be like an extended family. You take the time to work
on your personally relationships and keep an open communication there ... so why
not work on your relationships in your business the same way?
Don’t expect others to know what you are thinking ... you must effectively
communicate to your staff all the time. Open communication is the key to any
great relationship!
Great leaders don’t demand respect; they earn it with their effective
leadership skills. Great leaders continue to learn and improve those skills all
the time. Are you a great leader?
Debbie Allen is an international professional speaker,
business consultant and author of Confessions of Shameless series of books. As a
marketing and retail business expert, Debbie has presented to thousands from
around the world. For more information or to sign up for Debbie’s free
newsletter, visit her web site at at
www.DebbieAllen.com.
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