Leading successfully a team is not an easy task. No one is born a leader with all the necessary knowledge and experience from the beginning. Turning into a good and successful manager takes a lot of personal time and effort. It does not only require working with yourself to strengthen your abilities and detect your weaknesses, but it also requires working with your team, getting to know them better, and connecting with them.
A leader is someone who does not want to just get the work done. Sure, this is his ultimate goal. But, he also wants for his team to be happy, productive and he will do anything he can to achieve that. He needs to act as a role model if he wants to be respected by others and inspire and motivate his team. He knows that, if he creates the appropriate circumstances within his team and stands by their side for whatever they need, the team’s goal will surely be reached. Below you will find some do’s and dont’s that a good leader should practice.
Identify your emotions
A first “do” for a good leader is to try and understand the emotions and the vibe he passes on to others when he is around them and when he is communicating with them. If you manage to identify and manage them, you will be in place to create behavior patterns for particular situations and you will know the impact these patterns will have on others. On the other hand, someone who understands and is capable of controlling his emotions usually has great self-knowledge. This means that they are really good at understanding what they do well and what needs improvement. So, once you have detected these, you can leverage your skills and keep on strengthening your weaknesses.
Optimism will keep you going
If you want to be a good leader, being an optimist is vital. If you see things more black than white, then your mood will follow the same direction and the result will not be the desirable one for you and your team. An optimist will not be scared of any obstacle he will face. Instead, he will try to seek out the solution. This attitude will also help you in achieving greater things for your team and, in general, contributing to the greater good.
Don’t put the blame on others
There will be times when the result won’t pay off all the hard work you did as a team. These times need to make you think, first of all, what were the mistakes you did and not what your team members did wrong. Your team probably followed your instructions and advice, so the result, this way or another, is a reflection of your decisions.
Don’t make light of others’ feelings
As mentioned above, a good leader needs to know better and connect with his team. To do so, he needs to talk with them and listen to what they have to say. There are a lot of times that employees have a different perspective than you and can see things that you cannot. They can contribute to solving problems, making processes easier and faster and, generally speaking, their opinion is really useful. Empathy is a strong asset for a leader and, if you leverage it correctly, your team will be more powerful than ever.
Being a good leader means being good in balancing a lot of things, such as being there for your team and their needs, but also trying to achieve all the goals set for your company. Have faith in yourself, try hard and all the hard work will pay off.
