Live it up as a leader

Preetinder Kaur

I still remember my first meeting as a leader with my team. After the preliminary briefing, I said, “Here are my expectations of you”. After finishing the meeting, I asked, if the team had any questions and doubts?  And one of them raised his hand and said, “Do you know what our expectations are from you?” It was an eye opener as till then I had always looked at a leadership role from the perspective of a leader. That question was the beginning of my journey to being an effective leader. Some of the key takeaways for a good leader are: 

Clarity

Clarity of objective and goal is essential for success. It allows the team to focus on what’s important, which increases their efficiency and helps them make progress. Teams don’t necessarily expect the leader to know the exact route, but they do expect them to be able to clearly define the destination.

Opportunity

Give every player equal opportunities to grow in a team. Leaders are accountable for the growth of the people they lead, and the best way to aid that is to give them exigent opportunities that allow them to grow.

Involvement

Teams don’t just want to be there to take out commands; they want to be able to have some input, some participation in creating the plans. That doesn’t mean that, as the leader, you should give in to your team, but listening to their suggestions does help increase their engagement and commitment.

Consistency

Consistency is a two-way street. On the one hand, people expect everyone to be treated the same (i.e., no favoritism), and on the other they expect consistent behavior, that what they did well yesterday will still be perceived as a good job today. Leaders who are inconsistent in how they treat and react to their teams create nervousness and stress, which never aids performance.

Constructive feedback

To err is Human. We all make mistakes, but criticism rarely helps to fix these. What teams want is timely, constructive feedback. If the result is not what you expect, then let them know, but do it in a way that allows them to learn and improve, so that they will know how to avoid the mistake next time.

Empathy  

If you can’t feel what other people around you are feeling, then you are no better than a robot. ‘Lifeless’ leaders are often controlling in nature and this can cause major problems. 

Leaders are in pursuit of a larger cause. They don’t live to prove,  they learn and help others to improve. So, be a great leader.