Leadership involves many things and they include the ability to adapt to change, strong understanding of the industry you’re in, and an attitude of humility towards those on your staff. As a leader you should always think of new lessons that could be learned so that your company is more effective at reaching new customers and gaining new employees. This might mean becoming more innovative in your recruiting efforts or changing your advertising methods. Here at Executive One we believe that leadership lessons can be taught and we are here to assist you in becoming a better leader.
Engage Your Employees
When you don’t spend time engaging your employees, they will start to feel underappreciated and some might leave the company. Become a mentor to your employees and listen to some of their suggestions for the company. If you manage a natural foods store and an employee suggests that you increase the diversity of coffee brands from various countries to accommodate the needs of customers who recently suggested them, consider the idea. Talk with your employees about what their aspirations are and create opportunities within the company for them to grow.
Promote Diversity At Company
Intolerance should not be a part of workplace culture and one leadership lesson you must know by 2016 is to make your company an inclusive environment. Establish a zero tolerance for racial, religious or gender-based discrimination and have an open-door policy that allows those who are discriminated against to alert you of their situation. Our world is becoming more multicultural so leaders must change with the times and value people of different walks of life.
Knowing How to Handle A Crisis
Crisis situations occur at times but they don’t have to ruin your company if you handle them correctly. If the crisis was caused by major mistakes that some of your employees made, you should address your employees and devise a plan for them to rectify the situations that caused the crisis. If your company has been falsely accused of fraudulent behavior, you want to defend yourself publicly and not resort to name calling or other immature behaviors during the process.
Learn to Network Effectively
It’s not just the entry-level employees that must network effectively. Executive managers will also need to network but not necessarily to find a new position. Some executive managers network because they’re interested in learning the latest industry trends so that they can be effective leaders. Start by attending trade shows related to your industry and join a professional organization for executives. Read books on executive management and get additional certification if necessary.
Focus on Productivity
As a leader you want to focus on how well the productivity levels are going with your employees. Put restrictions on the amount of time employees use the computers for personal reasons and periodically hold evaluations of each employee’s progress with certain projects you assign.
Being an effective leader takes a lot of good qualities such as hard work, assertiveness, willingness to learn from failures and the ability to hone in on current and future industry trends that will improve the company. If you’re just starting out in executive management or if you want to advance further in the field, Executive One’s services include CV /interview preparation and executive career coaching. Let us help you grow professionally.
