How Can Leadership Skills Boost Your Career

Photo by Markus Spiske

Originally Posted On: https://www.howsitlike.com/blog/How-Can-Leadership-Skills-Boost-Your-Career

A lot of times, you hear the saying – Lead from where you are. Leadership is not just about the title; it is a bit about authority and a lot more about responsibility. It is the energy and the purpose through which one can lead themselves each day by serving others. The best way to approach leadership is finding a suitable method to lead the organization. Irrespective of the role that they are in, a leader shall think of a situation as an opportunity to fulfil the roles and responsibilities. Additionally, a leader can get the joy that comes from serving people with a purpose. Leadership can also keep you fulfilled when it is used to advance your career. That being said, your time is now, and you shall stop waiting for that one magical moment.

It would help if you led from where you’re and here are a few tips that can help you in leading:

Use your own voice

Always remember that you are hired for a particular reason. The company has believed in your potential, which is why you need to believe in yourself as well. Your voice matters, and with time, you shall use it to bring value to you and your organization. By opinionating and by using your voice to express these opinions, one can build immense confidence and overcome the phobia. Most of the successful people in the organizations are the ones that do not shy away from saying what they feel even when they’re not entirely right.

A way to overcome the shadowing or the imposter syndrome at work is to learn about it in detail and see how it’s helpful to progress in the industry. Have a strong knowledge of everything to understand your role. Learn what others do in the organization and how your work is aligned with them. Connect dots in the team and collaborate with other teams using these dots. Whenever there is a scope of introducing new perspective, speak up to display your skills. You might not always be right, and people won’t expect you to speak only when you’re right. Habituate yourself to using the voice.

Never stop learning 

Learning is a lifetime experience. With each day, you will be subjected to new things that enable you to become bigger and better. Successful leaders are those who never flinch away from learning. Remember that there is no shame in learning from someone who’s subordinate to you. Things keep changing, and you can’t always keep up with the trends.

Even when you are at the top of a particular subject, there will always be advancements in the subject, and it is your responsibility to be updated. Go through resources in whichever form they are – bet it podcasts, books, journals, videos, seminars and presentations. Focus on developing your skills from time to time. It is only through continuous learning; you will be able to contribute and achieve.

Set short term personal goals

Even when you’re working for the company, it is important to have personal goals or else you would feel that you’re working for someone else. Make sure to set annual goals that align with your professional work. If not, try to learn some new skills within a particular duration of time. By setting goals, you can not only make growth but also climb the ladder of the organization. Milestones are the best way to track progress. Here are some that you can try:

• What is the first thing that you want to achieve?

• How long will you take to do that?

• What is a success, according to you?

• Is success important to you, or is it the journey?

• What is the way that you have chosen to get there?

• If you don’t have a goal in mind, how long will you take to come up with one?

Make sure that you celebrate your progress every time you achieve a smaller goal. Write all your deadlines, achievements and milestones for tracking the progress. In this way, you can speak of all the things that you have achieved to inspire others as well. Leadership is nothing but being clear on where you stand and inspiring others from there.

Always raise your hand

The major misconception of leadership is that it will come to you. No. It would help if you walked into the opportunities to show that you are eager to lead. You always shall raise your hand in finding new opportunities. Make sure that your boss knows that you are willing to take new opportunities. Take up new tasks and keep sharing ideas. IN case if you are not sure that a particular project is not right for you, consider activities that prompt you and promote you. Remember to bring utmost enthusiasm to work in whichever way possible. But before raising the hand for something, know that not all opportunities are equal.

When you raise your hand or volunteer, keep wise productivity in mind. At times, the benefits of volunteering for a project might not be apparent at the start, but they would somehow affect you and others in the organization. Be sure of your detriment and identify the chances that will help you better your skills, talents and strengths according to the company needs.

Support your team and colleagues

The first rule of leadership is being considerate of the team members and addressing their issues. As you serve the people, it is important to remember the power they have. While you can’t change the organization at a macro level, you can undoubtedly impact your colleagues by creating a positive effect on them. Always cheer your colleagues on their small achievements. Hi-five them whenever they have changed their behavior for the company’s progress.

Appreciate them when they have brought a new client and send them a note when they have a tough day. Acknowledge them openly and notify their accomplishments to the boss. It is essential to understand that their success can’t diminish your success. Even when you are not the team leader, place yourselves in the authority of mentoring and caring for others.

When you do it successfully for longer durations, you will soon be seen as an employee that can contribute to the team in more than one way. Share ideas, projects and thoughts to be a compassionate team member. The only way to progress as a leader is to make your team successful.

What are some qualities and skills that you should have?

Before leading from wherever you are, you should understand the importance of leadership qualities. A good leader shall possess these qualities before they start their journey:

• Conscientiousness: A leader must make himself/herself accountable for all the deadlines. By being aware of the goals and by having a sense of responsibility towards them, the leader must motivate the group to follow the suits.
• Competency: It is important to have competency in work as a leader. Having complete knowledge of the organization and the teamwork will help them in regulating success. Even when they do not have mastery of all the skills, the basic familiarity attached with the expertise can increase the overall confidence of the team.
• Vision & Empathy: The ability to comprehend the company’s mission is important. It allows the leader to think of the past, the present and the future. The leader can communicate with the team based on the purpose of the organization. By having empathy, a leader can possess needed respect for the others. They can have a perspective of all the team members so that a smooth functioning can happen with efficiency. Vision and empathy leave no errors in the company.
• Basic fairness and Self Confidence: It is important to acquire basic fairness. Without it, a leader can’t manage a team with people full of diversified interests, backgrounds and attributes.  The self-confidence in the leader will allow them to be their own judge. By analyzing the abilities without feeling low, a leader can work on himself/herself. They also will welcome inputs and constructive criticism without feeling attacked. All these things will put confidence in the leader, eventually.
• Positive Mind, Intelligence and Analytical Ability: These are the three important qualities that a leader must have to manage the potential problems, analyze the challenges and come up with solutions that unite the team members and progress them towards the goals.
• Enthusiasm and Organizational ability: A good leader knows that enthusiasm is contagious and uses it to energize the team. He/she can communicate with the team about the organizational goals and help them in aligning their personal goals with it for the betterment of the team and the company.
• Loyalty and Integrity: A leader shall never the team in the time of crisis. He/she should always stand as the greatest support and do the right thing. Building trust is one thing, and taking the blame is another. The team can’t handle the blame when a major error happens, and it is the responsibility of the leaders to see how the mistake can be resolved so that the team can learn from it and perform better.
• Charisma & Decisiveness: Charisma is not a must, but when you do things right, you will automatically have it. Being well-spoken and polite creates irresistible attractiveness. A leader shall also be extremely decisive even if it means taking huge lumps in the throats.

How do good leadership skills benefit an organization?

Good leadership can promote confidence and positive attitude in the organisation if not anything. It has the ability to permeate all the organisational levels to create smooth functioning. All the teams will stay together under the umbrella of good leadership. Under a qualitative leader, the teams stay together by promoting an organic workflow. A good leader fosters unity, strength and growth in each and every employee.

A good leader is also open about communication. He/she makes sure that transparency is at the centre of the organisation. By sorting out for the contribution of all the employees, a leader inspires them to give their best in terms of time and effort. A well-read leader knows that any organisation should have a definite set of goals that foster accomplishment and productivity.

One of the major problems with attaining the organisation’s purpose is to translate the vision and mission of it to the employees for the precise results. A good leader can comprehend the objectives and explain them to the employees by drafting the key spheres. He/she will solicit input from the team members in the full-fledged development of the objectives. As a result, the team gets invested in the job for improved results and better outcomes. A good leader can never make the team feel alone.

A leader is important to manage all the organisational changes. He/she shall implement the compensation structure and the reward structure in order to attain the strategies that result in the juxtaposition of enterprise and personal goals. A good leader is not only concerned about the company but also will take some time in suggesting personal goals to people with undefined vision. He/she encourages them to mark deadlines for professional growth and its tracking.

The leader must encourage the adoption of the company goals by the team members. A leader shows the team that they are immensely valued by listening, speaking, communicating and respecting them. A good leader knows in and out about the employees. He/she will not take the employees granted and will always acknowledge their contributions. It is only through their behavior; the organisation will get benefited.

In conclusion, one shall not wait for the chance to popup at the doorstep. They should start leading from wherever they are. By attaining the above qualities and taking the forward curve, a person can establish themselves as an efficient leader in no time. All you need is some patience, time, effort and understanding of what all will help the organization become better under your leadership.