Highly Effective Ways to Lead Others

When teams have an effective leader, they are more productive, with higher job satisfaction, and lower turnover. There are many ways to be an effective leader. Different situations require different skills.

Use these highly effective ways to lead others:

1. Focus on the company’s goal. All employees are working for the same company and same company-wide goals. Be sure you understand the goals and how they fit with your area and employees.
2. Follow through on your promises. When you say you are going to do something, make sure you follow through and deliver.
3. Avoid micromanaging. Micromanaging is the least effective way to lead others and is a waste of your time as a leader. Empower your team, make sure they have the resources and skills to deliver and get out of their way. Micro-mangers lead to unhappy employees and possible loss of critical team members.
4. Respect the opinions of others. Allow them to share their ideas.
5. Active listening. When you are actively listening, you aren’t thinking about something else, distracted, or forming your answer before the person has even finished. You are paying attention to what the person is saying and taking in the information they are sharing.
6. Stay determined. Once you make a decision, stick with it.
7. Make sure your team has clear direction and responsibility. When a team knows what the objective is, the outcome, and their responsibilities they can do what you are asking of them and deliver.
8. Empower your team. They are the experts that you depend on to deliver. Make sure they know you appreciate what they are doing, the importance of it, and you have their back.
9. Admit mistakes. We all make mistakes, that is how we learn. Own up and figure out the learnings.

10. Avoid intimidating others. Fear can prevent positive interactions.
11. Keep an open-door policy. Let your team members know that you’re willing to listen to them at any time.
12. Keep everything transparent. Your team needs information to do their jobs. If you keep it from them, they can’t.
13. Stay flexible. There is always change happening and being flexible helps you adapt better to that change..
14. Stay confident. Leaders who display confidence have more team members that feel confident as well.
15. Be willing to become a mentor. Identify those team members that are looking for a mentor and reach out to support them with their career.

Leading is about empowering your team to do great things for you and the company. Find the solution that works in that moment and lead.