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Kamaldeep
15 April, 2024
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“It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to your enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to your friends.” Professor Dumbledore, Harry Potter, and the Philosopher’s Stone
Professor Dumbledore was 100% accurate.
It takes courage to stand up to your enemies, but when it comes to leading your friends, your colleagues, and your team, it takes lots of courage.
We often hear that leaders are born with leadership qualities, but that’s untrue. As with other soft skills, leadership skills can also be learned; you are just required to put in some extra effort. After all, you are going to lead someone.
In this blog, we will be providing proven ways and strategies for developing leadership skills. By implementing this strategy, you can be a leader.
First and foremost, to develop leadership skills, you must be clear about a great leader’s qualities. More or less, the qualities of all great leaders are the same, be it Sir Ratan Tata or Sachin Tendulkar. Their leadership styles may be different, and their roles may be different, but at the core, they all have something in common.
Here are some of the qualities of a great leader:
If you observe carefully, most great leaders have these skills and show these traits in real life.
The first step to becoming a great leader is to become a follower. Now it has become easier as compared to the past. It has become more accessible to connect with your ideal leader on their social media, read their blogs, and keep updated about them. If possible, approach them to mentor you and learn from them.
Take the positives and ignore the negatives. Incorporating their traits can surely help you become a great leader.
Do you know, what makes Sachin Tendulkar and M. S. Dhoni a great leader? It’s their communication skills.
Good leaders know how to communicate with his/her followers. Good leaders are also good listeners. Communication starts with active listening, it doesn’t mean that listening to others is enough, try to be more interactive, and ask questions.
Once you learn active listening, you can communicate with others through your words and body language. Practice communicating with your team and express your ideas and goals to them. With time, you will become more apparent and confident.
Discipline is a must-have quality. You can’t ignore discipline if you aspire to be a great leader. People often judge people by their discipline, which shows your capacity to lead and deliver results.
Initially, discipline can be hard, but you can start small. Organise your desk, Plan your day, wake up early, be on time, don’t extend your meetings, and keep deadlines for your day-to-day tasks.
These small changes make a lot of difference.
The day you stop learning, you are already off the leaderboard list. All great leaders are lifelong learners. They constantly seek new opportunities to learn. It keeps them updated with industry trends.
Start learning new things, read books, take online courses, and sign up for the webinar. It will help you evolve and adapt to industry trends, which is a must for a leader.
To be a great leader, you must go the extra mile. Be ready for the leadership roles, learn what your manager is doing, and do you have the same skillsets he or she has? If not, learn.
Take responsibility, be accountable for your work, and consistently deliver more than it requires.
Most leaders share their thoughts with their followers. It will help you strengthen your communication, ultimately helping you connect with your followers. Also, try to understand the common problems faced by your followers and empathise with them.
It doesn’t matter if you have significant followers; with the help of social media, you can express your thoughts. Especially on LinkedIn, most leaders are active there, interact with them, and share their opinions. It will also help you build your network. Ultimately, as a leader, your network is your net worth.
Related: Leading Vs. Managing: Mastering The Art Of Influence And Direction
To become a great leader, you must put in some extra effort. It’s not like you will do the same work as others and dream of becoming a leader someday. Starting today, practice leadership. Take on the roles that require leadership and implement different leadership styles. Eventually, you will find your style.
So, if you want to be an exceptional leader, act like one.
