Leadership tip #2: Self-awareness
A good leader isn’t a person who knows it all, but a person who is aware of their strong sides as well as their drawbacks. You need to be conscious of your skills and the parts of you that need improving. When you assess your strengths as a leader, you can make best out of them, while working on improving your weak areas or hiring people who can do it better than you.
Self-awareness also means admitting when you have made a mistake and take full responsibility for it.
Leadership tip #3: Innovation
There aren’t many leaders that encourage innovations in their company. As a leader, you must create an environment where new ideas are freely shared and received with enthusiasm. Innovation leads to originality, which helps the business greatly.
The strategy is to learn and motivate every employee to think outside the box and to take an unorthodox approach to problems and challenges. If you create an open and diverse culture in your company, you will have better chances of somebody having a great innovative business idea.
Leadership tip #4: Emotional intelligence
To be a really effective leader, your EI has to be high. To put it in simpler words, you should be aware of the fact that people’s emotions can control their behavior and nudge them in a certain direction. Also, you need to know how to deal with these emotions and manage them (whether they are yours or your employee’s), especially when the situation is intense and stressful.
Leadership tip #5: Readiness to learn and expand horizons
The learning process never stops. Every leader should be aware of that. If you ever think you have learned enough, that’s the moment you will find yourself trampled over by those who know more and who are ready to learn more. Always improve yourself.
Learning refers to all aspects of life. First, it is a necessity in today’s world to overcome the challenges of dealing with digital and social media – it’s not the future anymore, it is our reality. Next, you are expected to be able to make foreign partnerships and to nurture intercultural relations. This cannot be done without the excellent knowledge of English, so if you feel like there’s room for improvement, you better find effective English courses that concentrate on your needs – this is the language that opens every door today. Of course, teaching yourself about the importance of sustainability is another chance to educate yourself on what is important today, as well as to help your business for the long haul.
Leadership tip #6: Clear communications skills
Communication skills have a wide meaning – it refers to good communication with people face to face, but also effective communication over the phone, email or social media.
Whether you communicate with just one person or a large group, you also need to have your active listening skills developed. Good communication also implies being able to understand the other person’s point of view – this is the way to avoid conflicts and misunderstandings.
In short, being a modern leader means always be open-minded to opportunities and people, as well as to changes, as they are inevitable. As long as you are sure of yourself and ready to learn and evolve, you are on the right track.
Another trait I believe is important is the ability to gain the trust and confidence of internal and external stakeholders.
Without people buying into your ability to execute against a goal or vision you will likely be “dead in the water” as a leader.