Whether you own a business or you’re in management within a business, you could consider yourself a workplace leader. It falls into your responsibilities to manage and inspire your teams, create a positive working environment and ensure that everyone feels comfortable in their roles. But not everybody is born a leader and we all have room to improve on our leadership skills. Hopefully, some of the suggestions below should help with this!
Be Understanding
Perhaps the most important quality of a good workplace leader is understanding. Being compassionate and seeing things from others’ perspectives can help you in everything from creating strong team bonds to resolving disputes and difficulties. Remember that work isn’t where people’s days begin and end. Your team may have all sorts of personal matters going on outside of the workplace that could impact performance and behavior. You may not need to know exactly what these matters are, but do try to be lenient and understanding, showing support at all times.
Take Care of Yourself
We often encourage employees or colleagues to take care of themselves, putting their health and wellbeing first at all times. It’s important that you lead by example on this matter and set a precedent for others to follow. Many people will feel reluctant to ask for time off or flexible working hours to attend healthcare appointments or meet other commitments and responsibilities that greatly impact their lives. If you lead by example and make sure to take time to care for yourself, your team is more likely to feel comfortable doing the same. You can even make recommendations in small talks, such as discussing 50+ plans and the importance of routine checkups (obviously without going into too much personal detail) with your team.
Take Awareness Training Courses
We are all products of our upbringing and everyone in the world will have been exposed to different cultures, norms, and other societal conditions by the time we reach the workplace. It’s important that you are aware of norms and cultures outside of your own to ensure that you respect everyone and understand different customs, attitudes, and belief systems. There are plenty of awareness training courses out there that you can learn from.
Be Accountable
We all make mistakes sometimes and it’s important to hold your hands up to these when you do. Acknowledging your own faults will make your team more comfortable around you and can prevent rivalries or other forms of workplace conflict. It’s just as important for you to be accountable for your actions as it is for your team to take on the same responsibility.
Being a good leader takes practice and we are all bound to make mistakes from time to time. At the end of the day, we are only human too. But hopefully, some of the information and suggestions outlined above should get you off to a good start, helping you to be the best workplace leader you can possibly be!