Whether it be successful Entrepreneurs, Business Owners or even athletes, successful people have practices that guide their success. These practices help them hone their skills and drive their results further. If I were to ask you who was the most effective leader you know, would it take you a while to come up with an answer? Now, try and think of what traits they possessed that you feel drove them to be effective leaders.
Leadership is not about personality, or a title. Leadership is about behavior and an observable set of skills and abilities. It is in setting out to discover what they actually do that we tend to find common practices and abilities.
I am a huge fan of Brendon Burchard, a #1 New York Times bestselling author. I have 3 of his books and am a subscriber to his podcast. He released a video titled, “What Great Leaders Actually Do” and talks about the 6 practices of leadership. Remember at the start of this post I spoke about practices that lead to success? In Brendon’s video, the 6 practices he discusses, if made as part of your strategies, will make you an effective leader.
Here are the 6 Proven Practices of the Highly Effective Leaders
Envision
Ensure you have a clear vision of where you want to go.
Enlist
Now that your vision is clear, enlist others into the vision. Don’t make it about your dreams, but make their dreams part of the vision. People support what they create and great leaders ask people what they think. Then, they create the plan with the support of their team.
Embody
It is not enough to be able to Inspire with words. Effective leaders stand for something and embody the message they are conveying. They have integrity and ensure that what they say reflects how they behave.
Empower
No one can achieve consistent success on their own. Show your team that you trust them by giving them the decision making authority. Ensure that they have the tools and necessary training to achieve great results.
“When Nike says, just do it, that’s a message of empowerment. Why aren’t the rest of us speaking to young people in a voice of inspiration?” – Naomi Klein
Evaluate
A mistake too many leaders make is not taking the time to evaluate their team. Brendon talks about a question we need to ask ourselves constantly, “Are we being Excellent?” Is each member of your team being excellent? In order to be able to answer that question you need to make time to evaluate each member. Do they have the skills and resources necessary to accomplish their task? Are their needs being met in order to remain fully engaged.
Encourage
Recognition is a key driver of employee engagement. We all want to be recognized for our efforts and want to believe that what we do is important. That it makes a difference. If you want to be a great leader, be a Champion of your people.
[tweetthis]“Research indicates that employees have three prime needs: Interesting work, recognition for doing a good job, and being let in on things that are going on in the company.” – Zig Ziglar[/tweetthis]
Choose one of the 6 proven practices of effective leaders and make it your focus for the week. Lead with intention and watch the level of your employee engagement rise.