A lot of people get into leadership positions due to their technical experience in their specific industry, not necessarily for their exceptional leadership skills. In fact, when they find themselves in leadership positions due to just rising up in their careers, they discover they could do with learning how to do better at leading others.
Here are three ways you can become a better leader, specifically how to engage better;
1. Adopt a growth mindset
It’s easy to fall into the trap of being closed-minded, of not being open to new ideas. When new people join, they are quickly told ‘this is how we do things, this is how we have always done things’, instead of asking them if they have any better ideas, seeing what they can bring to the table in terms of freshening up current procedures.
Being less authoritative and more curious allows you to be open to being more progressive and innovative. The trouble is that many businesses don;t have a collective growth mindset, they like to think they do, but when it comes to the crunch, they err on the side of caution and stick to what they know, what they think has worked before. It’s the old “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality. Trying new things can be risky and frightening, but without it you’ll never evolve as a business. Which is even more frightening in a world that is so fast changing, you either move with it, or risk becoming obsolete and irrelevant. Rather than resisting new ideas and opportunities, be open to welcoming them and experimenting with them. Don’t stick with what you have always done, even though it feels like the safer option, the path of less resistance. Instead, try new initiatives, new ideas and see how it works out. The key to this is staying curious.
2. Tap into the collective creativity
Everyone has great ideas and the best ideas shouldn’t just come from the top. Businesses today need to figure out ways to allow creativity and new ideas to flow from all levels of the organisation. It’s the people in the lower levels that often have the best insight and experience on how things can be done better. But they don’t feel empowered to share their ideas, or their ideas are not valued. Not only does this result in a less than fulfilled workforce, but it means some of the creative edge the business has is not being fully realised.
The most innovative businesses further realise that in order for people to come up with new ideas and instill a sense of creativity, they need to allow the time and space for people to simply think. We can;t be expected to come up with new ideas, to reflect on how we are currently do things, to brainstorm new and innovative ways to do things differently, if we are always busy. In the past, it was frowned upon to see someone sitting and staring out the window, and it still is. We need to change this mentality. Only when people are given enough time to think, will their creativity come to the surface.
Businesses also need to create more opportunities for people to share their ideas.
3. Create a talented team
Leaders who value the people in their team have the benefit of plugging into a better collective skill base. Find out what people want to learn, what avenues they want to pursue and support in upskilling them.
Likewise, find out what they are naturally good at and have more of their work anchored to use that skill. By adopting a people-centric work model, you are better able to exploit (n a good way) the skills and talents of the people you already have in the team. While there may be someone in accounting doing an OK job, their real aptitude may lie in coming up with creative marketing ideas.
Leaders need to find a way to figure this out, by getting to know the individuals in their team better and having a work model that allows for this kind of work, where people and teams are more interconnected and collaboration is the foundation.
Could your leadership team benefit from one of my tailored workshops? Please get in touch today. I’d love to help!