Good leaders understand their people, know their strengths and know what motivates them to work within the team. Being a good leader means learning to manage different egos and their constant need for attention and recognition and ensuring that the right people are at the right place at the right time. So how can you become the leader of a successful team?
1. Know thyself
If you want to be a strong leader, you must first become aware of your leadership style and critically focus on the areas that you need to improve.
2. Get to know your team
Focus on what makes up the strengths and abilities of your team: each team member’s real historical, present as well as future skills. Become an expert in what activates the talent that surrounds you. See your team as a puzzle that can be put together in various ways.
3. Specify individual roles and responsibilities
Your goal is to recognize individual talents and judge them not only from the perspective of a specific role, but also according to whether they fit the company culture and can be team players. You also need to consider the fact that individual employees’ ideal roles often do not correspond to their job descriptions; in these cases you need to transfer these people to positions where they can make better use of their talents.
4. Provide feedback
Feedback should be proactive and continuous; there is no need to wait for a problem to appear. It should be a part of your routine communication with the team members and it should be two-way.
5. Demonstrate recognition
Do not take your team’s performance for granted. Find the time to express your recognition and respect. Reward as your people want to be rewarded.
6. Celebrate success
Use celebrations to understand what you accomplished as a team and what you learned from it.
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