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Health & Fitness

10 Tips to Increase Your Leadership Effectiveness

leadership, leadership ability, leadership skills, professional development, team building

Leadership is influence.  It’s simple, effective, and precise.  Maxwell says, “True leadership cannot be awarded, appointed, or assigned.  It comes only from influence, and that can’t be mandated.  It must be earned.  The only thing a title can buy is a little time – either to increase your level of influence with others or to erase it.”

So how would you evaluate your level of influence?  If your team were asked to score your leadership ability what would it reveal?  Leaders should always look for ways to increase their effectiveness which will always improve their overall outcome and increase influence. We have developed 10 tips to increase your leadership influence and ultimately your effectiveness.

1. Ask for feedback.

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Finding out what others think of your leadership skills can really help you develop and grow as a leader. Sometimes leaders can be so wrapped up in providing feedback, which they do not seek feedback from those who work for them. Feedback should be 360- from all levels of interaction. Your team is the best source of feedback, because they are on the receiving end of your “skills” on a daily basis.  Encourage honesty, but bear in mind if your team believes you are going to use it against them, or become defensive about what they say, that it may only be anonymous feedback that holds the truth. If you have created a trusting and open environment, this should not be a problem.

2. Manage power plays.

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If people are questioning why certain things are done, or the logic of decisions, never pull rank in response. Your team should feel empowered, if only by you taking the time to explain the rationale for any decisions that have been made. Your team must be on your side. This will not happen by you telling them that the decision is the right one because you are the boss. Your team may not agree, but they should know why a situation is how it is.

3. Trust the power of the team.

Your team should be allowed to take actions and make decisions. Trust is a vital component of leadership skills. If you can’t trust people to do their jobs, then you have the wrong people, or you’re not managing them properly. Let them do what they are there to do without peering over their shoulders every fifteen minutes, asking what they are doing with their time.

4. Listen, Listen, Listen.

Truly listening to your team is one of the greatest leadership skills. Good listeners come across as genuinely interested, empathetic, and concerned to find out what’s going on. All great leaders have great communication skills. Unhappy team members can only exist where their problems have not been aired. Create an environment where problems can be discussed so that solutions can be found.

 5. Leaders develop leaders.

You don’t have to be an expert on everything.  Allow others to shine, grow, and lead. Leaders often achieve their positions by being proficient in a certain area, and thus will have an opinion on how to fix problems. They believe it’s better to tell someone what to do, or even to do it themselves, than give their team the opportunity to develop their own solutions, and therefore exercise their creativity.

6. Positivity breeds positivity.

Negativity breeds negativity. How you communicate has a profound effect on your team, as a whole and individually.  The leader is responsible for delivering the good, the bad and the ugly. However, it is always the leaders’ role to deliver feedback (criticisms), in a constructive, respectful manner and delivered without emotional attachment.

7. Your success is a team effort.

The true success of a leader can be measured by the success of the people who work for them. You cannot be a successful leader of a failing team, just as you cannot be a successful general of a defeated army. Your focus should always be on building your team’s skills and removing obstacles in their way.

8. Be integral.

Don’t be arrogant or narcissistic. Nothing is more annoying for team members than leaders who make their decisions based on how good it will make them appear to their superiors. A key leadership skill is integrity. Integrity is about doing the right thing all the time and giving credit where credit is due.

9. Create enjoyable experiences.

People work better when they are enjoying themselves. The work itself may be dull, but the environment does not have to be. Stifling fun also means stifling creativity. Team members love it when the leader joins in and has fun. This does not have to create a flippant atmosphere; on the contrary, this is a tenet of team-building.

10. Be authentic.

Without revealing you innermost secrets, it is possible for leaders to show a more human side. If mutual respect exists, this should not be seen as vulnerability, rather a sign that you are a sentient human being, just as your team members are. Only when your team gets to know the real you will the true foundations of good leadership be properly established – trust and respect.

We would love to assist you with your growth needs. Ask about the Maxwell 360 Assessment which includes 2 coaching sessions, our corporate programs or Human Services Leadership University. Let's connect, follow us @drtaunyaalowe; like us https://www.facebook.com/TheImpactExperience or connect with us on www.linkedin.com/in/drtalowe

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Taunya A. Lowe, Ph.D. is the CEO of a human services and leadership development consulting firm located in Lawrenceville, GA. Dr. Lowe is a speaker, trainer, strategist, success coach, professor, entrepreneur; and the Siegel Institute for Ethics, Leadership and Character 2013 Phenomenal Woman. Trained by John Maxwell and his team, she is a skilled change agent with a focus on developing people and organizations. She enjoys combining her photography and writing to motivate, inspire and lead people and organizations toward transformation. To contact Dr. Lowe, visit www.drtaunyalowe.com email drtaunyalowe@theresurgentgroup.com or call her office (855) 873-4445.

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