As a leader, I was taught that self-awareness is important and that only leaders can recognise their own strengths and weaknesses. Self-awareness is important and that only leaders can learn something from their mistakes and failures. Today, I will explore 10 of the greatest leadership lessons I’ve learned in my life.
Leaders must be honest. Great leaders must be honest with themselves and others. Honesty is important if we are to achieve the goals we set for ourselves and for our teams. This is how great leaders learn from their failures and mistakes and become better leaders. If we are to make a lasting impression on our customers and employees we must be fully transparent and honest with our activities, choices, and decisions. If you lie, and if you get caught even once, the trust factor will never be the same again. Without trust, it is incredibly hard to build a team, find costumers and grow in life.
Great leaders must be sensitive to the feelings of the people around them, including their employees and subordinates. If we are to know what people need and what they want, we must be able to understand them. By being sensitive we not only respect them as humans but as a professional association we can help to build strong relationships that will benefit us as a professional organisation and as individuals moving forward.We will gain their respect if we are considerate towards the feelings and emotions of our employees.
Communication is vital. Leaders must learn to communicate through verbal and non-verbal means. Through communication we can inform, engage, guide and lead. In order to be successful in any position in management or in any organization, we must be skilled at talk, write and read effectively.
Leaders must learn to set the tone for the company. Leadership is learning to set the vision, the goal and the ultimate achievement. Great leaders not only set the vision, but they also achieve it. Leaders take charge and they make decisions based on the facts and the requirements. The decisions of great leaders are often controversial, but they are based on solid foundations and facts.
Effective leaders understand that motivation and communication are two important factors for success. As they begin to develop their skills, they realize that being a good listener and speaker is one of the most important characteristics that they need. Good leaders listen to others and speak to them in a manner that is supportive and empathetic. In order to be effective, leaders must feel that they can affect the outcome of any situation through their words and actions.
So, here are the top ten greatest leadership lessons I’ve learned in my life:
- Encourage Growth in Others.
- Foster Team Work. Don’t be a lone wolf.
- Be brutally honest if you want to stay in the game for a long run.
- Get People to Follow You. Be charming.
- Learn to develop a vision and set the tone.
- Take Care of your employees and subordinates. They’re your first line of defence.
- Ethical practice and civic-mindedness is everything. Be considerate to everyone.
- Don’t brush aside people with contrasting opinions. You don’t need Yes Men. You don’t efficient people.
- Leadership is a relationship, a long-lasting one. It is not a fling. Remember that.
- Managers and leaders are different. Leaders are independent! Leaders have people follow them while managers have people who work for them.
Now You Know
