12 September 10 things to do to be a better leader September 12, 2018By Greg Mowbray People Management 0 I’ve been banging on recently about how we should stop trying to be perfect (because it ain’t going to happen!) and just focus on becoming incrementally better. If we tried, each day, to just be a little better than we were the day before, and we did it for long enough, our leadership effectiveness would skyrocket, our people would be more engaged and our businesses would be more effective. Willing to give it a go? Here’s ten simple, practical things that can help you become a better leader. 1 Tell others you are trying to be better Don’t pretend you are perfect, that you know it all and you always get it right. They haven’t swallowed that crap before and they are not going to now. Show some vulnerability, admit you need to do better and commit to trying. 2 Try to be better Legitimately try to be better. Do a SWOT Analysis of your leadership (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) and if you are fair dinkum, ask others to participate. Work out what your priorities for improvement are and work on them first. 3 Show your people you care Your people are everything. Treat them fairly and with respect. They’ll respond positively. If you don’t believe me, do the opposite and see what happens. 4 Make your expectations clear Be clear, really clear about what you expect from each of your people. Sit with them. Discuss what you want and expect. Seek input. Write it down. Rinse and repeat. 5 Give honest feedback Now they know what you expect and they have agreed to deliver, monitor their progress and give honest, prompt feedback both good and bad. Consistency is the key. 6 Be honest People have good BS detectors. Lie and your integrity flies out the window and it’s not coming back. Honesty really is the best policy. There’s no right way to do the wrong thing. 7 Do what you say you’re going to do Don’t make promises you can’t keep or have no intention of keeping. Reliability builds trust and trust builds relationships. Make every interaction a deposit in the trust bank. 8 Get in control of your time It’s simply not possible to do everything we think we have to or should. The only way is to determine what things are essential, prioritise tasks and take action. 9 Say no more often We say ‘yes’ for a variety of reasons. We feel we have to. We aren’t clear about our purpose. We want to please others. We aren’t realistic about what we can achieve. Saying ‘yes’ to everything is setting yourself up for failure. 10 Get help The best athletes in the world have coaches and support teams. You can’t do it on your own. Seek advice or support from a trusted professional or reach out to someone that can mentor and guide you. Remember, better doesn’t mean perfect, just better. What can you do today that will mean you are a better leader than you were yesterday? To see more of this author visit www.gregmowbray.com or follow him on Facebook linkedin Twitter Related Posts 4 Ways To Overcome Leader Loneliness In 2020 Harvard Business Review reported that 61% of CEO’s feel that loneliness hinders their job performance. Leader loneliness is a real problem affecting our society. Have you ever felt lonely, isolated and there is no one you can speak to, as a leader? Well, you are not alone! Make better delegated decisions Who doesn't want to make better, faster decisions? Easier said than done, of course. Empowered employees make good decisions and resolve problems. As business becomes ever more complex and dynamic, managers and leaders have to make more decisions, under time pressure, and often with too little or the wrong kind of data. The impacts of Strong Leadership Your Leadership team sets the stage for a productive work environment, efficient project execution, and overall organisation success. Instilling your management team with the skillsets needed to create a confident, autonomous team is a challenge – but one which can have profound impacts on your organisation. From Teammate to Team Leader You've just been promoted to a leadership position, becoming a supervisor or leading hand. But what does this transition involve? What changes should you expect, and how can you effectively navigate the path from being a teammate to becoming a team leader? Back to human: Why HR leaders want to focus on people again Human-resource officers say a shift to employee-centric policies is long overdue. The pandemic is a big factor in their thinking, but process fatigue has been building for some time. Five Things First Time Managers Need to Know Last week I made a presentation to a group about increasing employee engagement and improving culture. At the end I opened up for questions. “A couple of us are first time managers – what advice would you give us?” Great question! Here are five things that I think first time managers would benefit from knowing. Comment (0) Comments are closed.