As a leader, you are followed, admired, watched carefully, and sometimes even heavily scrutinised by those around you. Trying to be the best leader that you can leave you burnt out. It is impossible trying to please everyone, and in trying to do so, you will not be as successful as you want to be and as you can be. To be a better leader, you must focus on self-improvement as well as business improvement. When you focus on improving yourself, and then you focus on improving the business you oversee, you can guarantee that you will have more targeted and more driven results simply because you will know where the areas for improvement are.
Part of being a better leader is self-improvement, and within this, you must evaluate who you are and what you bring to the business, so it is essential that you analyse just what you bring to the table as a business leader sooner rather than later.
What Do You Offer?
As a leader do you offer stability, do you offer a listening ear, or do you offer a plan to get the business you oversee back up to its finest form? As a leader, what are you bringing to the table, and most importantly, what can you be bringing to the table? Taking a step back from your current role to look at your offering is essential. Trying to view your position and your role from an outsider’s perspective is important and will essentially help you see your flaws and faults.
Setting Standards from the Start
It is important that standards are set and maintained as soon as possible. If you have not been setting and keeping standards already, then it is never too late to start. When you set standards, you can begin to ensure consistency with the business from the top, filtered right down to the bottom. When you set standards, everyone within the business knows what to expect, and they know what is expected of them. If there are no standards to adhere to, then employees will struggle to be as efficient and effective as they can be. When you set, enforce, and maintain standards, you let everyone know what is to be expected, which ensures consistency across the board.
Having a Vision and Staying Focused
If you do not have a vision and are not focused on this vision, how can you expect others to follow you? Without a vision, business progress and development will be difficult to achieve. So, before you do anything else, what is your vision as a leader, and how does your vision impact the business? For example, is your vision a more cohesive workforce that, as a result, is more efficient? Once a vision is established, focus can be maintained. Without focus, you will not be able to achieve what you set out to do.
Enhancing Your Education
Part of self-improvement is improving your areas of weakness. When you enhance your education, you improve your overall offering as a leader, and you recognise the need for constant growth, change, and development. A leader that undertakes a doctorate in business administration will be seen as a progressive leader that is not afraid to lead the tides of change. When you acknowledge that you need to and want to improve your education, you show others that change and improvement can and will happen at all levels.
Learning While Working
When you have decided to enhance your education, you may have concerns and worries, which is only natural. One of these concerns might be – how will you study alongside your current role? Of course, all situations are different, but if you are aware that you will need to make temporary sacrifices and compromises, the whole process will be easier and more enjoyable. Studying for a doctorate can be done exclusively online, which will significantly ease the burden on you and your ongoing commitments.
Leading By Example
Through periods of change and through periods of growth, you need to ensure that you always lead by example. Showing others the way and directing others by being a strong leader is a must. Leading by example is important for progression, and if you cannot set the example for others to follow, then you must ask yourself what type of leader you are now. A leader who is not prepared to be exemplary is a leader that will eventually lose their following one way or another.
Focusing on Sustainability
You cannot do everything well all the time, and you can also not expect fantastic results from others all the time either. As a good, if not fantastic, leader, you need to focus on sustainability. If your team or group of employees are highly active and productive just some of the time, then your attitude and business attitude need to change. For a business to be sustainable, you need to focus on achieving sustainability from the top and all the way down the hierarchy. Greater and improved results can be achieved when you focus on sustainability moving forwards.
Communication and Listening
If you do not communicate and listen to others and to feedback, then what example is this setting to others who you are trying to influence. Listening to what is being said and communicating clearly and concisely is what a good leader does. Now is not the time for shying away, now is the time to encourage open and clear communication at all levels.
Anticipating the Needs of the Business
When you are too close to the daily running of a business, it can be hard to anticipate the business’s future needs, which can be problematic, even for the experienced leader. Anticipating what needs to happen and forecasting business growth and development is what all good leaders do. If you do not anticipate what the business needs to grow and develop, then ultimately, your business will lose its position within the marketplace, which is not good for anyone involved.
