Effective leadership is one of the clearest indicators as to how successful the employees of a company will be.
There’s no dispute that companies with strong support systems have more impactful cultures. In turn, this empowers workers to give their best effort every day and commit themselves to follow a strong leader.
This all begins with having the right personnel in leadership roles. While almost anyone can technically assume the role of leader, very few people will do it well.
Below we have a few critical responsibilities that great leaders understand and execute well to create a highly successful team.
Lead By Example
One of the keystone characteristics of any excellent leader is that they lead by example. They don’t need to coerce or even tell their employees how to behave, they set the standard with their actions.
When you are in a leadership role, the employees under you will naturally look to you for guidance. If you are slacking off, showing up late, or constantly pushing off work onto others, your workers will pick up on that.
On the other hand, showing up early every day, doing extra work, and helping others with problems will show others that is the way to be.
Effective leadership requires introspection to think about your behavior and how it is impacting others.
Your actions should not necessarily be calculated, but there should be a priority placed on abstaining from any poor behavior that you don’t want your workers to emulate.
Confidence and Morale
Another important leadership skill is the ability to build confidence in their employees and boosting morale.
It’s one thing to tell your employees what the requirements of a task are, but it is another altogether to give them the mental strength they need to power through it.
This revolves around how a leader interacts and speaks with their employees. A great leader will show respect and are very specific about what they say.
They will also help them prepare for a new task, coach them through any mistakes, and encourage the employee to teach others about what they know.
These actions are incredibly simple, but they show a worker that their leader fully supports them and believes in their ability to succeed.
Positive Motivation
Similar to instilling confidence, leaders should be able to positively motivate their team into taking action.
Some leaders rule with an iron-fist and employees fear to make failures. Manipulation is counter-effective because it will make employees resent their leader and can even lead to sabotage.
An effective leader doesn’t need to be harsh because their workers will naturally want to do well because of the behavior of their leader.
There are several different ways to motivate your employees, but many leaders understand at least a few of these techniques well:
- Persuasive speech
- Offering recognition
- Incentivizing performance
- Team-building exercises
- Clear expectations and goals
- Allowing autonomy
- Understanding individual needs
The tricky part about motivation is that it requires you to get employees to do more work without offering a financial benefit. Money is one of the most effective motivators, but excellent leaders don’t need it to get their team moving.
Instead, they look at what makes each employee feel good about themselves and their work. They appeal to those needs and pose things in a way that aligns with a worker’s unique interests.
Emotional Support
One final characteristic of a balanced leader is the ability to provide emotional support.
While everyone is at work to get the job done, great leaders genuinely care about their employees as people. Their productivity is certainly important, but how they feel, think, and what they want all matter.
Leaders need to be able to take time and listen to their employees. They need to be approachable and serve as a mentor.
When there is a healthy relationship between leaders and their employees, workers will naturally do their best to show up every day and give 110% effort.
Excellent leaders understand that every employee is a real human being. Being able to appeal to their emotions and feelings while making them feel supported will make employees incredibly loyal and dedicated.
Closing Thoughts
Leadership is an incredibly difficult role that requires excellence in several different characteristics.
The best leaders set an example for their employees and don’t need to tell anyone how to behave.
They can instill confidence and motivate workers to reach greater heights. Morale is naturally higher and employees love working for the person in charge.
Leaders also need to be capable of providing emotional support and individually caring for every person that works under them.
It’s very clear to see when a team has a great leader in charge because everyone is happier, more productive, and capable of doing whatever is asked of them.
