9 Habits of Successful Leaders
Success can be sudden but usually, it’s a mix of blood, sweat, and tears. People who are called successful can share different life stories, but hard work is always what unites them on the way to reaching their goals.
But there’s also one thing they have in common — their habits. Our brain, like many other body parts, is well-suited for training, therefore adopting some of these patterns can play a big role in a making an Average Joe a better version of himself.
Imagine that your brain is like a pair of biceps, and below is the list of exercises and common practices that can make it a powerful unit and a successful version of itself.
1. Reading everything that you find interesting and inspiring.
Not a big surprise, right? Reading is what probably comes closest to the meaning of the word “education” and, rightfully so, as it plays a big role in improving all sorts of individual qualities. The first thing that comes to mind is reading the life paths of those who have achieved more than you did, but reading, in general, is a great habit to possess as well.
Even if you’re not reading the “hard skills” or self-improvement literature, fiction books can greatly improve your creativity — it simply broadens your vision, a vital perk for all sorts of executives who manage other people. Well, even reading the digital outlets has its positive side; it allows you to stay in touch with relevant news and the environment so that your product can meet the current trends.
2. Setting up dynamic goals and review them once in a while.
Many of us think of the movie “Scarface” after hearing the song “Push It to the Limit.” Despite his hideous nature, Tony Montana was a great example of a successful businessman — he constantly raised goals and aimed for the higher heights upon delivering them. These people also know how to celebrate their goals so each milestone becomes meaningful and gives the sense of reward to move forward.
But goal planning should be considerate: a great example is pole vaulting. Likewise, successful leaders, people from this area tend to “raise the bar” and do it little by little — by adding one or two centimeters each time. By doing so, you set yourself up for a positive mood of are constantly pushing forward to keep motivation and your mojo in life high.
3. Spend some time alone with yourself.
Sadly, the day only consists of 24 hours, and there’s too much stuff to do, but be sure there’s room for some “me” time. It can be anything — from taking a nap to doing yoga: basically, anything that could clear your head and recharge you for another day in the office.
Even a fast and fancy car cannot do well if it is running on empty, so make sure that your selflessness doesn’t harm your overall performance. Loving yourself is an important step to starting to love others and what better way to bestow this onto your lovely employees other than giving them a charged-up, energetic leader.
4. Try to build positive relationships with the people you work with.
Take a look around and see what the environment is like. If there’s toxicity across the office, then there’s surely a problem and you can’t stay avoid it. Remember that the people surrounding you tell a lot about your own personality and that mood is a contagious thing — you won’t see a smiling, positive, or energetic person surrounded by dull, uninspired people.
Therefore, be the one who brings the good mood and vibes, spreading positivity across the workplace. Leading by example not only consists of task performance, but even a simple smile during a handshake could fire up employees so they gain some extra energy. It’s also important not to be the smartest person around — there should always be someone smarter than you to consume knowledge and practices from.
5. Invested in your employees’ lives.
What used to be a wild thing long ago is now a more common practice, especially for smaller companies. When a CEO is curious about what’s happening in his/her workers’ lives, it strengthens the bonds between all parties and allows him/her to stay in touch with all the recent news and mood among the staff members.
That’s not a kind of surveillance or micromanagement: it’s more about making them feel involved in the company’s life and realizing their importance. It’s also useful just to dive into the day-to-day affairs of the venture; it helps you stay focused, invested, and reminded that it’s your beloved creation.
6. Keep the goals in front of you at all times.
It can be a clipboard, sticky notes on a monitor, or digital info that will display your goals every day. Repeating them is priceless — it’s easy to forget about what made you make certain decisions and what the point of going down the hard entrepreneur path is, but the notes will keep reminding you about these values.
It will also help you celebrate the accomplishments as people tend to forget about which steps they’ve made, primarily focusing on the negative aspects of their journey, so don’t mind looking back and realize how much has been achieved. Adjusting the goals is another practice to continue moving forward and reaching new standards — planned success feels so enjoyable and rewarding, giving you a sense of control over your life.
7. Focus on challenging tasks.
Not only is it satisfying to complete difficult tasks, but it is also a very useful thing to do. It allows for filling yourself with the confidence that no hurdle can stop you from achieving results and provides you with precious experience in doing so. There’s a good quote that says, “You can only get smarter by playing a smarter opponent,” and it surely applies to the business world — whether it’s playing against a grandmaster or closing a tough deal in a funding round: you always learn from that experience.
Try to get used to leaving a simple task for low-tier employees and putting yourself at the forefront. No good pilot can learn to master an airship by using the autopilot feature.
8. Make a habit of stress resistance.
To become successful, leaders need to take the best of two worlds — being zealous and thick-skinned at the same time. Although it sounds easy on paper, in reality keeping the balance between them doesn’t come naturally and is more about gaining experience. Every entrepreneur’s road is a bumpy one, and it takes mastery to retain both passion and composure after numerous successes and failures.
Self-awareness is an essential part of many successful leaders: their ego is hard to damage; in fact, they’ve abandoned it a long time ago. Those who are long-time competitive players know that there’s always someone better than they are, and the best way to grow is to accept this fact and start moving forward.
9. Physical activity is an important tool for staying successful.
Not trying to enforce beauty standards, but look at how fit successful people look. Whether it’s being in constant motion, having no time to feast, or making photo shoots for media outlets, the result is that moguls have healthy and energetic looks. Despite constantly being under time crunches, they’re always searching for a way to find extra time to sleep and exercise; being successful is like being talented — it usually affects every facet of life.
Not only are doing exercises good for your health, but they are also a great way to press a reset button for the brain, much like Windows OC: its performance can lag if it has not been reloaded in a long time.
Moreover, having good looks spurs another crucial entrepreneur quality — confidence, an inevitable asset for persuading investors and leading the pack (i.e., the company) toward a bright future.
