Being a leader is difficult – that is, if your heart feels the weight of the responsibility. Some people just want to be called leaders but may not have a true understanding of everything the position requires.
The Leadership Responsibility
One of the most important responsibilities of being a leader is to empower others so they can be as productive as they possibly can be. This is commonly manifested in companies wherein the employees’ good performance is equivalent to the amount of work they accomplish. Leaders are assigned to a group of employees to ensure that every member is yielding results that meet the mark established by the organization.
An equally important responsibility is to be the inspiration for your teammates. This is an even tougher one to uphold because this is the acknowledgment that the people you’re working with do not only look to you for instructions; your teammates also look to you for strength.
It’s not just your skills that they rely on; they place their trust in your personality and habits to keep them on the right path to success. As such, it’s crucial to keep yourself in check and make sure that you’re cultivating leadership habits that extend to all aspects of your life.
Leadership Habits that Create a High-Performing Team
If you’re still learning the ropes of leadership but you wish to be optimally effective at boosting your team’s productivity, then you need to develop the following habits.
1. Consistent demonstration of passion
Passion is one of the pillars of success. It shows that you don’t settle for anything less than the best. You’re tenacious — you don’t stop working because you’re tired, you stop when you’re done.
When you have passion, you are committed to the fulfillment of the end result. If your team sees this commitment, you’ll influence their work attitude, behavior and output.
2. Humility
Yes, this is a habit. It’s the constant reminder to yourself that you are not better than everybody just because you hold an important position.
It’s not beneath you to ask for help when there are things that you don’t understand. Likewise, you’re open to learning more about leadership (say, through leadership training) so that you too can become even more effective and productive.
3. Encouragement
Remind your team of what they’re good at, especially when situations are less than ideal. There’s nothing like a demonstration of belief and support to rescue anyone from wallowing in doubt and self-pity, which are the enemies of productivity.
Always give credit wherever credit is due, and be a little more generous with boosting a teammate’s spirits when they find themselves stumped.
4. Punctuality
This is one of the most important habits of leaders. Being on time or early for everything shows how much you value time — not just your own, but also the time of other people working with you. Placing great value on time will allow you to use it wisely to your advantage.
As the team leader, you’ll be able to instill the value of being on time to your teammates so that they can accomplish everything they need to. At the same time, you can prevent any feelings of resentment toward each other because you all possess the same habit.
People doing what they need to be doing, when they need to be doing them, is the pinnacle of productivity.
5. Approachability
Problems are resolved faster and more effectively if your team can reach out to you easily. You don’t want to be a leader that your members hide information from. You need to be in the know when it comes to everything so that the whole team can work seamlessly together and achieve your common objectives.
Leadership truly does demand much. You must make it your commitment to improve in order to develop the right habits. Sign up for executive coaching, read instructional books, and find other leaders to emulate. With the right habits, you can be a highly effective authority figure in your company — one that is influential and greatly respected.
BIO
Salma El-Shurafa is an experienced Executive Coach and founder of The Pathway Project. She is a Professional Certified Coach by the International Coaching Federation (ICF), a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach from The Coaches Training Institute (CTI) and a graduate of CTI’s Co-Active Leadership program.
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