Styles of Leadership for a Healthy Work Environment
What is a Leader?
For me, leadership is at home, at work, with friends or in the community.
Leadership doesn’t just happen overnight. You must lay the foundation for good leadership.
There are many practices I find useful when stepping into the role of a leader, but these are a few I would like to highlight through a personal and business example.
I repeat this quote religiously: “Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.”
As a leader, this is critical not only to understand but to know how to implement it into our lives. Like most of us, I have skills and talents that allow me to do an abundance of tasks really well.
Often times, leaders start to think because I “can” do the task better than you do then, I “should” do it myself.
Two Leadership Skills
First, you need to allow people around you to strengthen their skills and to become better support for you.
Second, you should be hiring people who are smarter than you. You are your team.
Leading and Managing in your Personal Life:
I would say that I organize, clean and have better time management than most of the people I know and definitely better than anyone else in my household. It would make sense that I lead these activities for those in my home.
However, this weakens everyone in my home because they now rely on me more and more and their skills become less and less. Since I am raising a teenager and a toddler, it’s critical for them to learn how to be GREAT at these skills. I do this by giving them projects to organize where they get to create the time lines, and then execute them. They learn leadership, teamwork, strategy, delegation, and complete jobs all in one.
Other leadership skills merely take practice. I have a sign in my home that says: Perfect – Practice – Repeat. I am always looking to perfect a task to see if there is a “better way” to complete it. Skills become instinctual which is not always healthy. Practice changing and perfecting small tasks in areas in your life so you can do the same for the larger tasks.
Leading and Managing in Your Business Life:
In business, I find many similarities. If you lead your team to “bring you problems” then you are creating more work for yourself and teaching them to be dependent upon you which results in break downs if you’re not there.
I have created a sign that hangs on my door that says “No problems lie here without an answer” I created this because BEFORE anyone enters my office with a problem, I want them to take the time to think it through and present it to me with a solution. An answer they would give out if they were walking in my shoes.
I don’t necessarily choose the solution, but it allows my team to have a better understanding of the situation and a way for their involvement.
This process allows me to see where they have strengths, where they need improvement, and it almost always uncovers hidden talents and skills that I would have not otherwise noticed. Most importantly, it allows me to teach and mentor my team on why their solution might not cover all the critical areas involved in the problem.
When leading others, it’s crucial to know the “how” and “why” behind the decision I make. The more I can groom other leaders under me, the more the company runs WITH or WITHOUT my presence.
Another important skill in leadership is to learn to speak other people’s languages. Most people learn and grow differently and as a leader it is your job to figure it out and not for them to figure out yours. Another favorite quote goes as, “If you’re so smart why can’t you learn to speak their language.”
I make sure I take the time to understand how each of the people in my life learn and what makes them feel safe, (you can’t grow if you don’t feel safe). With this, we set up boundaries and guidelines on how TOGETHER we will walk through learning and communicating as we grow.
For example, my son is very analytical and he likes to be presented with information and expectations until he has the time to digest or wrap his head around the task before we discuss it. Then, he wants me to show it to him and demonstrate how I want it done.
My daughter on the other hand likes to dive in and try it herself as she attempts a task while she discovers the pros and cons, then we discuss what went wrong or right.
A great leader allows enough room for different pathways that will lead to success, but enough structure to guide people to where you want them to end up in a supportive, safe and encouraging environment for growth.
Do you have any tips or strategies for being a better leader or manager? What is your favorite leadership style?
Leave a comment below!
And you’re interested on more information about how I’ve lead the teams in my life to success – in both my home, and in every business I’ve built, check out my video training program, “Leadership by Design – 10 Ways to Create Championship Teams for Success in Every Area of Your Life” here.
1 Comment
whether a CEO of a corporation, the first born in a home, or a parent, we all have responsibilities and people looking up to us. I think real leaders don’t necessarily go out flaunting their status – they don’t have to call themselves “leaders”; a real leader is recognized by the way he/she thinks, acts, speaks, empathizes and relates with others with wisdom, prowess, respect, humility, and simplicity. I believe that for one to be able to lead others, one must be able to lead self. It’s more challenging to lead self than it is to lead others. Ultimately, anyone can become a leader, if he/she so desires and prepares to learn the necessary skills required.