21 Easy Steps to Becoming a Better Leader

Everyone wants to be better in life. Becoming a good person who can set a role model and lead others to greatness is still a dream for millions. Everyone can sit in an office and delegate tasks, but successful leadership requires more. Great leaders come from a variety of backgrounds. They rarely take a set pattern to leadership. If you are one of those who are unsure how to pursue your dream of becoming a great leader, then you have come to the right place. Fortunately for you, we have compiled a list of 21 simple and creative steps to help you achieve your goal in no time.

Successful leaders significantly influence the team members they manage and the organization as a whole. People who work for great leaders are happier, more effective, and more attached to their organization, which positively impacts your company’s bottom line.

The best way to become a more successful young leader is to dismiss it as a goal and instead concentrate on your learning journey. Before we tell you how to become a successful leader, let us explain what a successful leader has or does that other not-so-successful leaders lack.

What is a Successful Leader?

According to the latest Gallup poll, leaders are responsible for about 70% of the variation in employee engagement levels. Real leaders can inspire, coach, and discipline employees in ways that increase earnings, effectiveness, and team cohesion. But how do you define a successful leader, and what characteristics does he possess that other leaders do not?

A successful leader is a person who is passionate about a cause bigger than themselves. Someone with a dream and a purpose that will benefit society, or at least some aspects of it. These visionary leaders inspire innovation by encouraging their staff to perform to the best of their abilities. This is often accomplished by creating a common goal to unite a team, encouraging collaboration, and identifying each individual’s unique qualities.

Good leaders exhibit boldness, enthusiasm, self-belief, dedication, and motivation in addition to providing path, inspiration, and guidance. They develop their employees’ strengths and talents and form teams dedicated to achieving common goals.

21 Easy Steps to Becoming a Successful Leader

Here are our 21 easy steps to becoming a successful leader. These steps might change your life.

1. Set an Example for your Team

To become an excellent leader, encourage your team to function and perform a certain way. Your team has something to model when you hold yourself to a specific benchmark and conduct yourself accordingly.

For example, having a positive attitude when confronted with a difficult situation can help increase morale and lower anxiety because that’s how you managed similar issues in the past.¹

Leading by example also allows you to establish guidelines for dealing with specific challenges and embracing the change. Finally, it can help you propel your team to greatness.

2. Collaborate with your Team

Some leaders are innately collaborative, whereas others make many choices on their own. When encountering a significant challenge, collaboration is necessary. It is illogical to expect one person to have all the answers.²

Collaborate with your teams to understand what is going on. They will have thoughts that should be heard and respected and think of things you did not.

Pay close attention, especially to unpopular ideas or ideas you disagree with. Multiple points of view will assist you in developing Plan A and a series of emergency plans that will enable flexibility and a way to deal with the next wave of the unexpected.

3. Improve your Conversation Intelligence

The art of achieving a solid understanding of what a client wants is “conversation intelligence.” It also includes what a salesman says during a conversation.

This strategy utilizes listening for the speaker’s intentions behind the phrases and understanding the conversation itself.

Finally, it involves taking actions such as providing feedback, inspiring others to improve their skills, and assisting the team in identifying missed opportunities to improve future performance.³

4. Improve your self-awareness and situational awareness.

Self-awareness is the ability to know your abilities, restrictions, emotions, beliefs, and motivations. Leaders who are skilled at monitoring and managing their feelings are better able to understand the feelings of others and motivate them.⁴

Furthermore, a leader’s ability to anticipate and provide solutions to potential problems is extremely valuable. This ability also allows you to spot chances that others miss, which will undoubtedly earn you recognition.

It is challenging to cultivate when leading diverse employees, but with practice, you can become more in tune with your teams and projects.

5. Always be Honest and Straightforward with your Employees

Earlier, trust and honesty were indicators of an organization’s success; now, as standards deteriorate, being honest in business is more valuable than ever.

A successful leader is honest and expects their employees to be honest too. Employees are far more likely to be sincere if they believe their leader is honest with them.

An honest leader will inspire their staff to trust them to do the right thing when they give them information or ask them to do something. This is a critical component of excellent company culture and organizational success.⁵

6. Try to Follow your Passion

It’s difficult enough to be a good leader, but how can you inspire and motivate teams around you if you’re not passionate about the area you’re trying to lead?

Concentrate on following your life’s passion, with the first step being to figure out what that is. If you are unsure, take steps to determine it by gaining new experiences in various areas.⁶

Perhaps it’s a particular industry, technology area, or a desire to travel the world. Also, keep in mind that your passion may change over time.

7. Be Proactive

Leaders must be brave and have efficient leadership abilities to drive outcomes and motivate staff. However, boldness should not be associated with aggression but with self-assurance.

Bold leaders can get their bosses’ attention while also professionally enforcing policies and guidelines with subordinates. Although criticism and competitive pressure are intense, leaders should not be afraid to voice their opinions, make errors, and apologize when they are wrong.⁷

Leaders who are courageous enough to push the boundaries while remaining respectful enough to listen to advice will thrive in any position.

8. Maintain Integrity while Interacting with your employees

Integrity leaders use principles to guide their decisions, actions, and interactions with others. People treat them with respect for being genuine, principled, moral, and reliable in their beliefs about what is right and wrong.

They have a powerful sense of character, fulfill their promises, and communicate with others publicly, truthfully, and directly.

Displaying integrity in your daily actions will earn you the loyalty, trust, and respect of your employees.⁸

9. Always be available to your team

It would be best if you made yourself available to your team. For example, if someone on your team encounters a problem and needs to bring it to your attention, you must be readily available to assist them in resolving the problem.

Sometimes, you may have to abandon what you’re working on to attend to their requirements. Remember that you wouldn’t be able to lead without your team.

Your availability allows you to demonstrate your communication and interpersonal skills. These skills ultimately play a vital role in making you a good leader.⁹

10. Recognize Your Limits

You should understand your limits so you do not burn out as a leader. The term “limits” refers to both practical and disciplinary boundaries.

You must be an enthusiastic and diligent leader who leads by example, but you must also understand your body’s physical limits and realize when to rest and take a break.

Furthermore, professional boundaries should govern how you interact with your teammates. Being a compassionate and friendly team leader is great, but you should also know when to be strict with your teammates and what limits and boundaries you cannot allow them to cross.¹⁰

11. Always Practice Discipline

Discipline is needed to carry out the goal. To be a strong leader, you must be self-disciplined and ensure that others on your team are as well.¹¹

Even if you have a vision or a good awareness, it will be useless unless you have discipline. Discipline is necessary for effective execution.

Consider the scenario where you and your group wanted to propose a business plan to bring in investors. You had many ideas for the business strategy, but no discipline was in place to guarantee that the presentation was exercised. You could not properly communicate your purpose to the investors when it came time to present the proposal. As a result, the investors declined your proposal.

12. Be an Emphatic Leader

One of the most important leadership qualities is empathy. Unfortunately, many leaders had been promoted to positions based on previous performance or industry qualifications but received little or no leadership training.

As a result, the manager may become authoritarian, with unclear expectations and little empathy for their employees. Usually, the outcome is low production and morale.

Being emphatic with your team does not imply becoming best friends with them. It involves sharing our basic human experience, breaking down defensive walls, and demonstrating that you are a real person. It makes you appear more approachable and assists you in gaining respect.¹²

13. Accept Responsibility for Your Mistakes

Failure is an essential step toward success. Not every choice you make will result in a favorable result. It is critical that you, as a leader, recognize and accept this early on.¹³

The key to progressing from a good to a great leader is learning to recognize that failure can often lead to greater accomplishments when embraced rather than avoided.

In a failure situation, accepting responsibility for the problem and being open about what went wrong is critical. An untrue portrayal of the issue affects everyone on your team, and your coworkers will appreciate your straightforwardness.

14. Reward your Employees for their Achievements

There are numerous advantages to recognizing and rewarding employee achievement at work. Employees who see their actions appreciated are more likely to repeat them. When others see this, it boosts productivity and morale.

Compliments, a gift, or even a bonus or raise are all examples of rewards. Good leaders know that positive reinforcement is an excellent method for assisting employees in growing and maintaining positive behaviors. They work to establish fair reward systems for the organization and keep an eye out for any opportunity to reward their employees.¹⁴

Leadership traits that focus on assisting employees in thriving are critical to developing, boosting motivation, and creating a positive culture.

15. Be Bold Enough to Make Difficult Choices

Being decisive means having the ability to make quick and tough decisions to achieve a goal.

Good leaders do not wait too long when it comes time to act or make important decisions. They avoid postponing decisions or allowing their personal preferences to influence them. They examine things carefully, conduct thorough research, consider all options, decide, and then stick to them.

They have the power to create a shared vision among colleagues and to remain loyal to that vision even in the face of hardship.¹⁵

16. Promote a Positive Attitude

Leaders who want to change their employees’ thinking must maintain a positive attitude. When leaders become depressed and worn out, their subordinates or followers will likely do the same. The charisma of the leader is what drives the team.

Good Leaders try to remain optimistic even when things appear to be spinning out of control. Having a positive attitude does not imply that everything is perfect. It does not appear to suggest that you ignore the obvious and go about your business as usual.¹⁶

These are the times when maintaining a positive attitude is most important. Leaders must work hard to restore trust in their teams.

17. Hire for values rather than experience.

Regarding new hires, resumes fail to tell you everything you need to know. Don’t be so taken with a list of accomplishments that you overlook a bad cultural fit.

Your company’s values should be an essential part of your interview process. If you and your interviewee agree on philosophical points, there’s a good chance they’ll get along despite a shorter resume.¹⁷

18. Learn how to deal with Conflicts

Leaders must be able to manage difficult people and settle disputes. If a worker fails to perform to the best of their capabilities and conveys a negative attitude to work, leaders must come forward and speak with that worker in private.

Leaders must be forthright and honest. This takes a lot of guts. It is difficult to figure out a problem or fire someone, so listen to the employee’s side of the story before coming to a conclusion and acting.¹⁸

19. Acknowledge Positive and Constructive Feedback

It is essential to receive both positive and constructive feedback. Make a point of recognizing and thanking your reports for a job well done. This is an excellent way to keep your team members active and motivated and maintain high team spirit.

Furthermore, you should provide constructive feedback in an honest but polite manner. After all, we don’t know what we don’t know, and this advice is critical for ensuring that your reports are heading in the right direction.¹⁹

On the other hand, good leaders should want to improve themselves, too. One of the most operative ways to improve your leadership style is to solicit feedback regularly from your reports, peers, and managers.

20. Provide long-lasting and efficient solutions

When dealing with certain issues, it is critical to consider the long-term consequences and develop well-thought-out solutions. Even if you want to find a quick and easy solution, a long-term solution can help you avoid similar problems in the future.²⁰

Long-term solutions also keep troubles from becoming bigger problems. Concentrate on the problem and keep the long-term consequences if the situation mishandles.

21. Encourage and Ensure Growth of your Employees

As a leader, you must provide opportunities for your team members to progress in their careers. Encourage your team to work toward their objectives through training or regular advice.

Invest in their success by assisting them in developing existing skills or developing new ones.

For example, you can help them improve their problem-solving abilities by assigning them a difficult project and providing guidance. This can also aid in their personal development in terms of emotions.²¹

CONCLUSION

Leadership does not belong to those at the top of the organizational hierarchy, nor does it only relate to those who possess what we would popularly consider leadership abilities. Fortunately, leadership is a skill anyone can learn, regardless of where they are in an organizational structure.

Good leadership abilities are important for career advancement. Consider your actions to become more influential if you want to improve your leadership skills. As an individual, you must keep these hints in mind as you assess your personal development.

That’s all there is to it, folks! You now have useful tips that will help you become a great leader and keep you there.