To lead or learn to lead?
Resources to help you ace your leadership game
As someone who leads a team of people, I am constantly grappling with the question of how to become a better leader. How can I motivate people to be their best at work and otherwise? Am I even suitable to be a leader?
That’s when I asked myself: Are leaders born or created?
According to research, the answer is both yes and no. The best estimates suggest that leadership is about two-thirds made, and one-third born. Many behavioral thoughts of psychology agree with this.
Leadership is a set of skills and capabilities that can be taught through structured observation, feedback, training, and mentoring. Leadership is very often a complex position to find yourself in, so it makes sense that we need to be taught a few things (I know I certainly did!).
“To expect that a person would be born with all of the tools needed to lead just doesn’t make sense based on what we know about the complexity of social groups and processes”, says Ronald Riggio, a professor of Leadership and Organizational Psychology at Claremont McKenna College.
In my experience, leadership is a full-time job. While I’m not leading, I’m trying ways to get better at it. Here’s what I do to up my leadership game:
Read a lot. Books, articles, white papers and everything else!
Recent research states that many top CEOs and successful people read, at the minimum, one book per week.
Sun Tzu’s book on military strategies and tactics, The Art of War, is the key go-to book of many leaders.
Treat your men as you would your own beloved sons. And they will follow you into the deepest valley — Sun Tzu, Chinese Military General
But it’s not just how much you read — it’s what you read. This Forbes article on the 10 must-read books to develop your leadership skills, was a great place to start for me.
Keep the learning curve going up
You’re never too old to learn something new, and I personally think you need to proactively work on being a lifelong learner, especially as a leader.
There are heaps of online courses targeted at developing leadership skills. I found this list from CIO.com to be a great starting point, and there’s plenty more you can find out on Hubspot.
Find yourself a mentor
The importance of a mentor in a person’s career is highlighted in the book “One Minute Entrepreneur” by Ken Blanchard and Don Huston. So if you don’t already have one, find one!
Having a mentor has been crucial for me as leader. A mentor is someone who is going to tell you what you need to be a better leader, not always just what you want to hear. For me, having a mentor is one of the best ways to learn new skills and find out about resources I might not otherwise know about.
Become part of a larger network
More often than expected, leaders find solutions and ideas from their peers. Networking groups are a great way to meet such people whose experiences can help you be become better at leading a team. Not to forget the value your experiences will have for someone else.
Wondering how to make these connections? Attending industry seminars and workshops can be a great starting point. Or try to find a relevant community on digital platforms like Flock.
Build your instincts
While many of the resources we turn to are external, we need to pay more attention to our inner voice or as most call it — the gut. It is widely believed that our conscience always tells us what to do, from what to order in a restaurant to how to deal with people. All we need to do is listen to it.
Finding it difficult to hear your gut? This article might help.
And lastly, don’t forget plain common sense
I think common sense is one of the most underrated leadership traits — and I’m not the only one.
“Your mother taught you to say please and thank you. Yet too many leaders ask the wrong people to do the wrong things in the wrong way and then reward the wrong behaviors and outcomes”, says George Bradt, leadership coach and author for Forbes.
When it comes to developing your leadership, don’t forget to focus on the little things that can make a big difference to your team. That’s just common sense.
Authored by Kushal Saini Kakkar, who believes leadership is about impact and inspiration. Also, a content marketer at Flock
