Being a leader is hard work that requires skill on several fronts. Not only do you need to interact positively with your team members, you should communicate honestly, demonstrate self-awareness, have an established vision for the future, act with confidence, and work to build up your team. While it may seem like these are all separate skills, they all come together in one very important place: your mindset.
Your state of mind directly impacts how you view yourself, your team, and the ways you work toward solving problems and making the most of your team. Concrete changes to your mindset takes practice, but they can give you the strong foundation you need to fully build your leadership skills.
1. Thinking of Your Team as Connected to You, Rather Than Separated
When you’re the person calling the shots, it can be easy to think of yourself as different from your team members. However, that’s not the case at all. You’re just as much a part of the team as they are, and you should think of yourself as their colleague. Workers appreciate this approach and will be more likely to think of you with respect.
The key to this mindset change is to start recognizing how you and your team are working to achieve the same goals. As a leader, your team’s needs are much more important than your own. By integrating yourself with them, it’s much easier to work together to accomplish great things. Plus leadership development can increase bottom line productivity on your team.
2. Communicate a Clear Vision
You likely have no problem remembering what you’re aiming for when it comes to your goals and vision. However, your team can’t read your mind; members will need regular reminders to keep everyone on the same page. This applies to large goals and minor updates to the office.
As a leader, you will need to remember to regularly let your team know about changes and new events related to your vision. To best get this information across to your audience, you may need to change your approach to communication, meeting your team’s preferred methods. Talk with your team to see how you can better get your ideas across.
3. Take Time to Recognize Success
Some days it can be hard to find anything positive about what happened. Even so, recognizing success when it happens and setting priorities for the upcoming day help you better see accomplishments. This state of mind can make it easier to keep moving through difficult spells of work.
You will also want to acknowledge your team’s successes and show you appreciate their work – even when the going gets rough. This boosts morale and helps everyone feel like a valued member of a team.
Adjusting your mindset can take time and practice. However, it’s worth it for the benefits that come to the rest of your leadership skills. Take a look at our Leadership Solutions and see if one might be a good fit to help you achieve your leadership goals.
