Good leadership takes practice. As we reflect on the lessons from 2014 and head into a new year of opportunity, it’s the perfect time to set new goals and work on sharpening your leadership skills. Make 2015 count by taking the time to develop yourself as a leader and in turn, further your business. Here are eight leadership lessons to propel you towards a more successful 2015.
- Carve out time for personal growth
- Avoid isolation
- Cultivate innovation by cultivating diversity
- Freely share your knowledge
- Welcome and be open to feedback
- Keep taking risks
- Create camaraderie
- Understand motivation
As a leader, you already know that time is your most valuable resource. As you work to grow your organization in 2015, your time will become even more invaluable. Instead of getting bogged down every day with minor, tedious tasks, focus on hiring and developing people you trust to make decisions and manage your team. This will free up more time for you to learn, grow, and lean in to what’s important to you and inevitably, your business.
When your to-do list seems never-ending, it’s easy to barricade yourself behind closed office doors and work with your head down until it’s all complete. Great leaders, however, know that isolating yourself from the rest of your organization is like shooting yourself in the foot. Being transparent about your goals, challenges, and vision is important to developing a strong team, and ultimately a strong organization.
Do you and your team have big quarterly goals to hit over the course of 2015? Chances are, your targets will be impossible to reach if you don’t make an effort to be more innovative in your approach. Diversity breeds innovation. Knowing this, you can hire smarter in 2015 and grow a team that represents a multitude of viewpoints, perspectives, and thought processes. By taking advantage of more thought diversity in your organization, you’ll be able to push the creative envelope and solve problems in new ways.
Just as you shouldn’t get into the habit of isolating yourself, neither should you isolate your knowledge as a leader. Openly sharing thoughts, ideas, and advice with your team gets everyone on the same page, and will save time in the long run. How? If others know and understand what you expect and what you’re working toward, you eliminate the opportunity for misunderstandings and assumptions, and create a more efficient work environment.
Transparency seems to be a theme for 2015. This year, work on quieting your ego and instead, challenge yourself to be more open to opinions, ideas, and suggestions from others. The challenge here is not necessarily listening to the feedback, but taking action to ensure your team knows you are open to hearing from them. Approach team members first by asking them what you can do better as a leader, and what ideas they’re passionate about pursuing. This will create a feedback loop for open, effective communication.
Every leader faces setbacks. It’s just part of the game. And while it’s easy to feel shaken in your decision-making process after a speed bump or two, good leaders know that continuing to take risks is in the best interest of your organization. No matter what, remain confident in your ability to lead and be steadfast in your decision-making. If you don’t allow yourself to take risks for the good of your business, who will?
Teams that play together, stay together. This year, make it a goal to reward your team with some new perks that everyone can enjoy together. Whether it’s a ping pong table in the break room, free monthly lunches, or more consistent after-hours celebrations, strive to create an environment in which it’s easy for your employees to build relationships with one another.
Being a good leader means understanding that your team, as a whole, is made up of individuals. Individuals are motivated by different things, and in different ways. Taking the time to figure out how you can motivate the various personality types throughout your organization will make for happier and more satisfied employees.
Whether you’re a seasoned leader or are just embarking on a leadership journey, these lessons will serve you well in 2015. Happy new year!
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