These days, leaders use different tools to secure their position and ensure their effectiveness in their role. Gone are the days when all you needed is the power to stay relevant. If you want to become one of the great minds in any organization, you need to work hard and show others that you have what it takes to lead. You must learn how to step up, stop merely agreeing to everything that is thrown at you, and start showing others that you have what it takes to become a leader. But how do you do this?
They say some people are born with leadership traits. But without training and experience, you will find it difficult to put the good traits you were born with to good use. If you want to be among today’s effective leaders, you need to frame your role by keeping the following important things in mind.
Communication
The first C in leadership is communication. It is your role as a leader to make sure everyone knows their position, their responsibilities, why everyone’s work is important, what the processes are, and anything that can answer your employees’ questions.
It is not enough that you tell your employees what you want them to do and what outcome you expect them to deliver. They also deserve to know the answers between their hows and whys. The last thing your employees need is you telling them to accomplish one task simply because you said so.
Employees want transparency. You should not tease their curiosity just because you’re in the position to hold pertinent information as a hostage. This also goes with your supervisors withholding work-related information and keeping their subordinates in the dark.
Your employees are among your company’s greatest assets. The more you let them know the reasons behind your whys, the easier it will be for them to understand your objectives. This will encourage them to work hard to help you achieve company goals.
Competence
Highly competent leaders are effective leaders. If you can’t prove to your employees that you are capable of doing what your position demands from you, then none of your subordinates will respect you. They may choose to follow just because of your title, but not because they admire you for what you can do.
Professional competence allows you to inspire your subordinates to do well in their jobs. Remember that good leaders leverage their strengths. They never allow their weaknesses to stop them from achieving their goals.
To be competent, you should never stop learning. Treat knowledge as a valuable resource. The more you learn, the more you know and the more you figure out how to get things done.
Just take a look at SMRT chairman, Seah Moon Ming. He has a long track record showcasing how competent he is no matter what position he takes. Aside from serving ten companies and receiving numerous awards during his career, his latest move is what gained the respect of many people around the world.
Seah Moon Ming decided to step down from his position as CEO of Pavilion Energy to focus on fixing SMRT’s major troubles. His unselfish act of letting go of his day job to focus on something important instead of encouraging a blame-seeking culture earned the admiration of many people. He is the perfect example of a competent leader doing whatever it takes to show how to handle things in an organization.
Coaching
Anyone can become a coach, but not everyone can be good at training, motivating, and inspiring their employees. Remember that leaders and bosses do things differently. Bosses simply tell their employees what to do, while leaders can guide their subordinates in the right direction.
It is not enough that you are knowledgeable about the problem at hand. What’s the use of all your training and experience if you are unable to guide your subordinates properly? Remember that your employees look up to you and your influence can either encourage them to stay stagnant or help them unlock their full potential.
Like any self-development journey, you will need to develop your coaching skills through consistent effort. You should commit to continuous learning as a way to consistently boost your skills and competencies. Don’t forget that the best approach is to lead by example.
An effective coach is an active listener who truly tries to understand what the employees’ goals are and what their current pain points are. They ask powerful open-ended questions and can provide direction to help their employees reach their objectives. They have no hidden agenda, and they only want to aid their subordinates in producing the results they yearned for.
The new framework of leadership requires that you learn how to communicate properly, show competence especially when the situation demands it, and be an effective coach to others. It is a must that you cultivate effective leadership and strive to get better every day.
