People respond to good leadership! Period! It is in all aspects of our lives, not just business. A mother is a leader in her home; a son may be leader of a team sport or a daughter the leader of the debate team. A group relies on the person in charge to actually lead them to success. A true leader is highly ethical, honest and respected.
In our society we have leaders and followers. Are we born to one or the other? No! Can you hone your leadership skills? Absolutely!
The leaders that I admire seem to have all of these in place:
a) They think BIG! They dont put a ceiling in place. Instead, no limit is set as to how big or how much better something can be.
b) The goals are firmly set in place and the eye does not come off of it.
c) They make known to all involved the final product that they are all going for, example, if you sell widgets, it takes x number of widgets to be affluent, or you want to win that football game and ultimately the title. Know what youre going for.
d) They can get compliance to orders.
e) When goals are met they set new goals or raise the bar.
People will follow your lead willingly if you are honest, ethical, if you are consistent and treat them with respect. Rewarding someone when a job is well done is always appreciated. A good leader will also off load someone who consistently hinders the group who is just not a team player.
You can improve your own self- respect and become an inspiration to others. How great is that!
The Difference Between Boss and Leader
Every leader is a boss. But every boss is not the leader. This defines the difference between a boss and a leader. The biggest difference between a boss and a leader is one. The boss is respected and obeyed because of his/her seniority. A leader is respected and looked up to as a example not only because of seniority but mainly because of the qualities of character and ability. Please view these wallpapers in this reference.
Those who aspire to become leaders must lead by example. The team must always have a firm belief that the leader will be there during every crisis. Not to fix the blame, but fix the problem. If the team members find that the leader does not follow what he/she preaches, they will have no respect for him/her. They may obey him/her, but the respect will be missing. Leaders gain this respect by their actions. They look and act sincerely. There is no mismatch between their words and actions. They look integral in approach and character.
To be a leader, every boss must display characteristics such as knowledge, planning, anticipation, foresight, action, result oriented approach, perspective, respect every team member, earn their respect, act as a friend and act as a mentor. This is quite a list, but if you want to become a good leader you need these qualities. This is true not only for national leaders but for persons in every leadership position in any organization. Once a person earns the respect of his /her team members he/she ceases to be only a boss and transforms into a leader.
Simple Leadership Basics
A great cloud of jargon, debate, and junk theory surrounds the idea of leadership, what it is, who does it, and how to do it well. But if you have just been promoted, and you’re responsible for a group for the first time, there are only a few things you really need to know about leadership.
When you get promoted and become responsible for the performance of a group you become a leader. But you don’t undergo some magical change. In fact, it will probably take you over a year to completely adjust to your new role.
You’re a leader because the people in your group treat you like one. The only choice you have is what kind of job you’ll do.
When you become a leader your power actually goes down. As an individual contributor, you just have to decide to work harder, longer or smarter to improve performance. When you’re responsible for the performance of a group, the group is your destiny. They choose whether to act or not.
When you become a leader, your influence goes up. The people who work for you pay attention to what you say and do. They adjust their behavior accordingly.
The result is that you use your behavior (what you say and do) to influence the behavior of the people who work for you to achieve a defined objective.
Achieving the objective is part of your job as a leader. The other part is caring for your people.
It may be possible to achieve good short term results without caring for your people. But you can’t achieve long term success for you or your company without the willing cooperation of the best folks you can find.
At the end of the day, you can measure your leadership based on those two standards. Did we accomplish the mission? Are the members of my group better off today than yesterday?
