How to be more successful as a leader
Growing to your potential as a leader takes time and perseverance. Success is not created in a day, it is created daily.
By reading this blog, I know that you are among the few who have decided to be more intentional in your personal growth as a leader. For that, I honor you.
Here are 11 proven ways to grow faster and with more quality. Enjoy.
Do I value people?
Trust is the foundation of leadership. Believe in your people and encourage collaboration and team-building. Leaders who inspire trust will experience better retention, morale, innovation, and overall improved output.
Am I growing yourself?
Give your leadership growth plan the number one priority. You grow yourself into opportunity and make sure to do something every day and see how the compounding effect will take you further than you ever thought possible.
Model the best because success from others gives clues that you can pick up and adopt.
Carve out thinking time and write down your reflections and learning. What went well and way? What can I do differently next time?
Make sure to celebrate often and have fun on your journey to success. Life is happening now, not when you have arrived at the end station.
Do I invest time in growing new leaders?
Look for new leaders all the time. Give potential leaders influence. Take the leaders you are growing further than you are. Be happy for them instead of seeing them as a threat to taking your place.
I remember when I went to university and how proud my father was when he said that he couldn't help me anymore with the math problems due to the Greek letters instead of numbers.
Be happy for the success of others.
Lead by vision
Your ability to paint the a brighter future for the people and the company that your are leading determines how many followers you will have. Hope of the future creates power in the present. When people feel that they can trust you and that you are there for them they will follow you.
Do I actively work on my succession plan?
Do I hand over the leadership flag when I am away? Build structures and give authority to others so that the consequences of you being away from work are slim to none. Eventually, when you leave your positions, there is a natural substitute ready to take your place, and the business will continue in the path that you have set up.
Do I have the right attitude?
Attitude is an outward expression of an internal feeling. Your state will affect your attitude, and that is something you can control with some practice. A positive attitude will help you through rough times better than if you have a bad mood. Read more about positive attitude the related effects here.
Am I focusing on my relationships and the people closest to me?
A Harvard study, almost 80 years old, shows that higher quality of your relationships with the people closest to you helps you live longer, and be happier. Perhaps surprisingly to some people who might have thought that money, position, education, or fame would be valued higher for happiness.
Where focus goes energy flows. Make sure to value your relationships.
How do I make decisions?
Successful people tend to make a fast decision and then stick with it for a longer time than others would do. It is like the marshmallow test where the kids grab a marshmallow right away or received two if they waited a while.
Don't give up right away even if it is not working the first time. Be a little stubborn and stick with your plan because eventually, the reward is going to be worth it.
Thomas Edison's 10 000 light bulb test or Henry Ford sticking with his T-model over time, made them successful even though people said they were on the wrong path.
Do I have SMART goals?
Action without purpose is a waste of time. For you to have a better life you need to know what you want and the reasons for that. Finally you need to put in massive action to the goals you wish to achieve.
Aim for the stars and you will reach the treetops. At least you know the direction if you are an Archer and aiming for the stars. If you instead blind fold the Archer and spin him around and then tell him to hit the target that you place out on the ground, I will bet you that he won´t hit it.
You need to have goals (S=specific, M=measurable, A=Achievable, R=Relevant, T=Time-bound).
Personally I like my goals to have a little stretch so I challenge the word Achievable since I am aiming for the stars.
When you work in the direction of your dreams, you will not consider it to be work. Instead, you will be gratefully for doing the things you love to do.
Do I take action?
When would Now be a good time to start? Procrastination is the thief of time. Nothing will happen by itself, and you need to put in a lot of work. Mastering how you use time more effectively will give you an advantage edge. My experience is that doing something every day is the best way to generate results.
Don't underestimate the power of the “one brick at a time” principle.
Do I have a mentor?
Learn from the best, and you will focus on the right things. A mentor can help you see things you don't see right away. The mentor gives you clarity and pushes you to reach your potential faster.
Am I leading myself?
The hardest person to lead is yourself. When you start driving yourself, you learn more about yourself, and thereby learn more about others as well. How you see yourself is the way you see others.
Positive affirmations, physical training, health food, etc. will give you an extra edge in all parts of life.
Program yourself for success. Visualize your accomplishments in advance and make the feeling as authentic and as real as possible. Your subconscious mind will then start guiding you there. An excellent book for every entrepreneur and business leader is Think and grow rich, by Napoleon Hill.
Great leaders know when they are in their strength zone, and they also are aware of their blind spots. They see setbacks as learning experiences and challenges as something to overcome.
