8 Ways To Be A Better Leader
Leadership is something we can all be better at. Because leadership has nothing to do with rank or authority and everything to do with how you interact with the people around you.
Through a lot of research, soul-searching, and conscious attempts to become a better leader, I’ve compiled a list of 8 tangible things you can do to kick ass and be the leader everyone wants to be around.
1. Wait until others finish talking before adding my opinion
This one is a hard one (and a constant work in progress). But holding yourself back is definitely worth it. Not only does this show people you value what they are saying, force you to learn self control, and make you a more polite person, but it gives you the benefit of hearing what everyone has to say before adding your two cents.
Find more motivation with Simon Sinek:
2. Admit when I am wrong
People are proud. And many of us tend towards defensiveness. We have to work on both of these traits in order to improve in this area. I believe in being unapologetic when you are right…but also humble when you are wrong. It does happen…occasionally. And when it does, try to admit it readily and do your best to correct it.
Find more motivation with Bill George:
3. Protect those I work/exist with
Society, community, business, and relationships all work best when people feel safe. My goal is to actively work towards supporting and protecting the people around me. And I don’t mean this paternalistically. I mean by showing people that you really care that they find success and/or happiness. I want the people around me to know that I am rooting for them with my thoughts and my actions. Wouldn’t we all like to know those around us feel this way?
Find more motivation with Simon Sinek:
4. Don’t give up
I don’t believe there is some achievable status of “success”. I think attaining success is all about the process of working towards goals of success. That being said, I know that the process doesn’t always look like success all the time. You can feel like you are shouting into the wind for a long time before someone hears you. The point is to not give up.
Find more motivation with Rosabeth Moss Kanter:
5. Find fulfillment through serving others
This idea comes from both the Bible and leadership greats like Simon Sinek. The best way to “self-help” is to help others. How does this make you a better leader? By serving others, you will feel so much better about yourself, but the people around you will also pick up on your example and treat you better in return. It’s a win-win.
Find motivation with Simon Sinek:
6. Always provide value
Whether this is advice for creating content or for your interactions with those around you, you cannot fail if you always provide value. Thinking about work or relationships, try to make sure that every comment, request, critique, or idea is giving value to someone. Otherwise, you should keep it to yourself because it’s not helping anyone and might even be hurting people.
Find motivation with Gary Vee:
7. Give without expectation of a return
Do good things knowing that people might not give you a return of equal value. That’s the difference between being a businessperson and exchanging services and being a good person and trying to do the best for people. And when you give without the expectation of a return, people will tune into how genuine you are and will be more loyal to you.
Find motivation with Gary Vee:
8. Don’t make it all about you
It’s human nature to turn things around to be about us. Whether it was one-upping someone’s story with your own, or telling them how you’re doing without ever asking how they are doing, it’s easy to become the center of attention. When you pay attention to this, you realize that you aren’t talking to people to learn about them, but just to talk about yourself. By mindfully resisting this, you can tell that people feel a lot more engaged in the conversation and both enjoy a lot more.
Side note: I’m going to be straight up about this. This is an almost identical post to an article I posted just on my personal account, before thinking of posting it as part of the publication. Apologies if you’ve read the other version and were annoyed to find this again. Here’s the original article link: https://medium.com/@katieandersson/5-ways-to-kick-ass-and-be-a-better-leader-in-2018-2ed57636a802
