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May 2014Leadership is giving direction to those that have none. Natural leadership skills are innate to some, but other people need to study and learn the skills. To learn more about becoming a great leader, continue reading this article.
If you want to be a better leader, improving your honesty is a great starting point. Your team needs to be led positively. People will notice your honestly and respect it. Stay open and honest and your team will return the favor.
All good leaders must be focused on the future. You must look ahead to see what's coming and plan accordingly. Obviously, you won't always know what the future holds, but with learning and practice, your gut can steer you correctly more often than you think. Set goals for yourself and develop a plan to achieve them.
You should regularly make people aware of potential issues. It used to be that hiding business problems was the norm, but now great leaders do the opposite. Are you wondering why? Communication is essential in today's environment. There will be someone talking about the problem whether you wish for them to or not. You should control whatever the message is instead of always being forced to react. Good leaders know to go down this road.
Cop to your mistakes. Even the best leaders will make mistakes. But, great leaders are willing to step up and take responsibility. It proves you have flaws, like all humans. That might not be a stereotypical leader trait, but that can often result in a great deal of loyalty.
Your subordinates are going to judge you according to your decisions. Who do you trust to delegate responsibilities to others? What type of person do you hire to fill important job roles? All those decisions cause others to see you in a certain light. If you show favoritism instead of rewarding individual merits, you can devalue productivity and lower employee morale.
The group you hire to build your business should be diverse. Diversity in your team can give you wider perspectives.