To become a leader, you don't necessarily have to be appointed as an officer or CEO. A leader is someone others take as a role model. A title can temporarily make you a leader, but a true leader inspires lasting loyalty through the steps below!
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Think Like a Leader
Step 1. Be confident
This step has nothing to do with knowing what you are doing - as long as you are confident, few people will ask questions. People assume things: when you behave confidently, they think you act. Therefore, when you demonstrate confidence, others believe they know you know what you are doing. This earns you trust, responsibility and respect.
Safety can be demonstrated in any situation. Imagine saying, "I don't know the answer" looking down, fiddling with your thumbs and waving your legs. Now imagine saying "I don't know the answer" with your head straight, your shoulders back and looking the other person in the eye. Not knowing something is fine - just flaunt it sure you don't know! A lack of knowledge has nothing to do with safety (or the ability to drive)
Step 2. Be firm but gentle
Since you are driving, you are the one who has to set the rules and limits. It is up to you to establish a system and a logic for the situation. To do this, you need to stand firm in your beliefs and hold your position. However, being dictatorial you could instigate a revolution. Be logical and understanding when asserting your role.
Here is an example of inconsistent leadership: an airline's forks disappear and no one knows why. After an investigation, it turns out that the dishwashers threw them away because they had trouble cleaning them properly and were scared of the punishment they would face if they put dirty forks. If you are too directive, the team will throw your forks away. Better management would have avoided this problem. So be understanding and keep all the cutlery
Step 3. Become an expert
Saying "I don't know" as a leader is fine. Saying "I don't know" over and over to every question you are asked is not. When you don't know something, find the answer. Become an expert on what it takes to be a professional on this. Eventually, you will have all the answers. You don't need to have them all now, but you will need each of them eventually.
Having a certain level of knowledge will help you feel confident and better suited to leadership. Even if you can do without it, it's a matter of time before someone else with more knowledge and charisma comes along and steals the title from under your feet. So whatever it is, whoever you are trying to drive, get to study! You will benefit from it in the long term
Step 4. Be decisive
Stand in the middle of a group of friends, discussing what to do that night. Everyone hesitates, complains, opposes everyone else's ideas until one person finally comes out and says, "Guys, we're doing this." That person climbs to the top, sees which direction the situation has to move, and takes control. He is a leader.
That said, you need to know your place. There will be times when you will have to make decisions on your own and times when you will have to give the team time to build consensus. Respect your followers - what could happen if you veto their views?
Step 5. Worry about your followers
Just because they're not leaders doesn't mean they're idiots. They will be able to tell if you are compassionate and genuinely concerned for them. And, if you're not, they'll drop you off your pedestal. Remember who feeds you! Without them, you will have no one to lead and you will no longer be a leader.
Worrying about them is not like complying with their wishes. You are driving (hopefully) because you know what's best for the team; they may not know. Just because someone disagrees with you doesn't mean you have to give them what they want. Allow them to disagree with you, listen to their arguments, and let them know why you think what you do is correct. Let them know that you care, but that you are acting in the way you think is best suited to the situation
Step 6. You must believe that anyone can become a leader
To tell the truth, everyone tries to be guided. Think of life as a dark path - the more leaders there are, the more people are in front of you holding the industrial power torch. Which one would you rather have? Not only do people want leaders, but they are also looking for them. For this reason, anyone can do it. You just have to fill in the void.
Think about going to a new restaurant (restaurant is life). A waiter greets you with a smile and describes the flavors of three of their best dishes, guarantees your satisfaction and tells you that he will personally improvise something else for you if you don't like it. Somewhere in your head, you are letting out a sigh of the thought "Oh … yes! This is going to be a relaxing evening - I'm in good hands." This is what everyone wants 'in life' (and in most restaurants too)
Part 2 of 3: Behaving Like a Leader
Step 1. Keep your promises
Do you know that politicians are seen as those who do not keep their promises? Good. Do you also know that people hate politicians? Well, now you understand. If you don't keep your promises, you will lose respect. Net. You can fit the dress, you can have all the charisma of this world and also all the knowledge, but, if you keep what you promised, people will get you in the palm of their hand.
Part of keeping promises is knowing what's feasible and what's not. The only other obstacle is being honest. Practice this with your children, with your colleagues and on any occasion. Developing a strong moral code gets rid of those who question your ability to lead and hold power
Step 2. Dress appropriately for your role
If you walk around the office in a suit and tie, constantly glancing at your watch, people will think you are waiting for some idiot who is late for a business meeting. Walk around the office in a t-shirt and baseball cap and people will start wondering where their pizza is. If you want to be a leader, you have to stick to your role.
There is a need to make a distinction between dressing to impress and dressing to influence. You don't necessarily have to dress to impress - it may not be appropriate for the context you're in (if you're delivering pizzas, for example, you don't want to wear a suit). You simply want to influence people's perceptions of you. What image do you want to give? You can largely control what others perceive of you and your attitude through what you wear (sad, but true)
Step 3. Treat your team well
Okay, you know how to take care of your work group, but you also need to take action. If you preach to your team to be cohesive, to act like they're having fun, and to be friendly to your customers, but you change their attitude and yell at them every five minutes as soon as they crack a smile, you're not consistent with your message. Embody a good and caring example and they will follow you.
The old adage "Do as I tell you, not as I do" is ridiculous. It might work if you were a kid, but it doesn't work on an adult team. They may not let you know explicitly, but they will be miserable, eventually they will go away and that will spill over into your result. There may not be immediate repercussions, but, eventually, any hypocrisy on your part will backfire
Step 4. Show your commitment to improve your team
For your organization to grow, everyone needs to improve. This has nothing to do with being great - it's your team you need to make great. Ideally, once the goal is reached, the team will exclaim "We did it!", It will not be you who say "I did it!". It is about the whole group, not just one person.
To grow your team, you need to pay attention to them. Forcing the numbers and letting them figure out the roles won't do them justice. Get to know them individually and work hard to make them the most enterprising members of your group (Which role do they fit best? What resources could they use?). Help them learn, grow, and take the reins when you need support
Step 5. Ask questions
As a boss, you are something of an untouchable. People may not turn to you because you are the big man of the organization. They don't want to open their mouths and cause an uproar. Know that you are dealing with a constant level of perceived intimidation that you need to break down. How can you do it? First by asking questions!
Don't wait for answers from your team - they may never offer it to you. After all, you are the one who dictates how things should go; they may think their opinion doesn't matter. Ask them how 'you' are doing, how 'they' are doing and how they believe they can improve the whole process. Just because they're not driving doesn't mean they're lacking in big ideas
Step 6. Drive only when necessary
A natural leader does not walk into a room and proclaims "Here I am." It's not about grabbing a situation by the horns and shaping it according to your vision: no, nothing like that. It is about seeing that something must be done by adapting to the occasion.
In most situations, no leader will be called as such. It's just a position someone is naturally drawn to. People won't grant you the privilege outright, but they can prevent you from having it. Avoid looking like an enterprising and dominant person and wait for the right moment. You will understand it
Step 7. Start to 'see' as well as do more
As you've probably noticed, being a leader is more of an innate quality than a series of actions. To carry a situation forward, it is necessary to 'see' it grow, 'see' how it can be favored and 'see' the downhill path. Let your team take care of how to do it. Only you must have a 'vision'.
This is similar to "the one who cries the loudest is heard.". Just because that person screams certainly doesn't mean they're right. To be a good leader you don't have to go 200 kilometers per hour leaving a trail of rubble behind you. In fact, you shouldn't do this. Time should be spent interpreting, shaping and offering solutions
Part 3 of 3: Putting It All Together
Step 1. Troubleshoot
The first step to becoming a leader is to shop around and find a way to make the world a better place. Observe your surroundings and listen to people. How can you help? What could the organization do?
- Find out what your talents are, bring them out and use them to make a difference. Think of problems from a broad point of view - they are not always easy to define.
- Look for what are the needs, the conflicts, the gaps that need to be filled, the inefficiencies. The solutions will not always be creative and original; sometimes something simple is enough.
Step 2. Think about the context
When you solve different problems, you may find that they have characteristics in common and wonder if they are all symptoms of a bigger and deeper problem. Thoreau once said, "Thousands of them are fighting the ramifications of evil, but only one attacking its roots.". Take a step back and try to find the root. The difficulty in dealing with deep problems is that these are not things that someone can solve on their own; they require group effort, which allows you to emerge as a leader.
If you work closely with a team, use it to your advantage. What roles do they 'feel' suitable for? How is their time used? What ideas do they have that still need to be implemented? In many cases, growth is a matter of reorganizing and refining - not necessarily a problem
Step 3. Take the Initiative If you have an idea of what the deeper problems are, you are likely to be able to predict which ones might come up next
If you can't prevent them, you can at least prepare to face them. This is the key difference between a leader and a manager. A good manager can respond effectively to a variety of situations; a good leader takes concrete action to prevent and resolve certain situations before they even occur.
Don't be afraid to assign roles to your team! Your collaborators can feel comforted by having a role. If you see a potential problem, build a task force for this purpose. After all, that's what your team exists for
Step 4. Make decisions and take responsibility for the consequences
To exert influence and handle big problems, you will need some decision-making power, and those decisions will have an impact on those who recognize that power in you. It is more of a responsibility than an honor. Not only will you need to be able to make choices, but you will also need to be willing to take responsibility for them. If things go wrong, people will think it's your fault (whether it really is or not).
- Think of yourself as the captain of a ship; the fate of a ship is primarily in your hands and it is your job to point everyone in the right direction.
- Be wise when making decisions; hope for the best and prepare for the worst.
- If you are not ready to be accountable for your decisions - if you find yourself hesitating and doubting yourself - it may be a good idea to take a step back. An insecure leader often turns into a tyrant.
Step 5. Share what you see
As a leader, you can see what the biggest problems are, but you can also see how much better things would be if those obstacles could be removed. To get others to help you change things, you need to share this optimistic view with them. Be a source of inspiration. Motivate them. Guide them. Show them how their actions bring everyone closer to that dream.
John Gardner said that "More importantly, a leader is able to conceive and elaborate goals that deprive people of their usual concerns and unite them in pursuing the right ends, which justify the efforts made." Make sure you are like that
Step 6. Remember that it's not all about you
The greatest leader sees his role as a means to achieve a goal, and himself as a tool to achieve a greater purpose; all glory, prestige, or wealth is a side effect rather than a motivation. After all, the effort of a single individual is not enough!
- If you want to make a dream come true, the best way to do it is not by exercising your power over others. That power won't last long. For lasting results, share your dream, let people adopt it as theirs, and let it spread.
- Think of yourself as the one who initiated a chain reaction - once it has started, you can back off and it will continue without you making any effort.
- Another quote, this time from Lao Tzu: "A leader is better when people barely know he exists; when his work is done, his goal achieved, people will say: we did it."
Advice
- "If your actions push others to dream more, learn more and become better, then you are a leader."
- Help others achieve their goals.
- The charism is certainly helpful, but not essential. In the history of mankind there have been many leaders who were certainly not the most charismatic, friendly and charming people in the world. What is important, however, is that people trusted them, and were inspired by their dream. What you will need is good communication skills (regardless of whether you express it through writing, dialogue or other artistic forms), so that you can effectively articulate your ideas.
- Help your team achieve their goals.
- Always practice what you preach. There is no better way to lose your credibility as a leader than to be a hypocrite.
Warnings
- As a leader, you will be in the spotlight, which implies that you will lose a lot of your privacy.
- It may also become difficult for you to establish deep relationships of any kind with the people who belong to your group. You must always take into account the risk of being seen as someone who practices favoritism or preferential treatment.
