I’ve read about leadership and how leaders make themselves on a few sites, but they portrayed it as something spiritual. Believe me, it has nothing to do with spirituality. When we talk about being a leader who manages people in business, it all comes down to techniques we need to learn, although it’s true that we’ll have to change some things about ourselves. Perhaps that’s the most spiritual part.
Can anyone be a leader?
No. Anyone can play football or finish a law degree. That doesn’t make you a footballer or a good lawyer, although we can improve some things to get there.
Step 1. To be a great leader, you must start believing in your own potential. Start erasing the word “impossible” from your mind, because everything is possible if you put all your energy into the process of achieving it. We all have flaws and strengths. Once you know what your flaws are, you’re closer to turning them into strengths.
Step 2. Failure and victory. These are two words you need to get familiar with, because they’ll be very present throughout your life. Failure is inevitable. What makes you a good leader isn’t how many times you fail, but how many times you get back up and keep going with energy. Failure is the best teacher for achieving the greatest victories.
Step 3. Trust. Trust can’t be bought or forced. It’s simply earned. A leader usually sits in an intermediate position: between the workers and the owner of the company, between sales and production, between management and manufacturing. You don’t have to be liked by everyone; in fact, you never will be. Just fight for the good of the company and for reaching its goals, without forgetting the value of people.
Step 4. Teamwork. As we’ve discussed in other articles, a leader is never alone and never works alone. You may be very good at your job, but you’ll never reach the company’s goals on your own. Train your team, lead your team with its strengths and weaknesses, and build on those strengths. Create a harmonious work environment and never, ever, absolutely never betray the trust of one of your people, not to your boss and not to anyone else.
Step 5. Small details. As the saying goes, small details make great people. At work, your team is your family and you should look out for them as such. Anyone who sees their workers as subordinates is an arrogant fool who has no team on their side, just workers who’d walk out the door the moment someone offered them another job.
You work with people who, just like you, have good days and not-so-good days. Their leader must understand that and ease the pressure when the team’s morale is low, while also being there when they ask for you, even if it’s for something that isn’t very important. To the other person, it may be important.
Step 6. Rewards. It’s not about which workers are nicer or more pleasant. Some workers perform better and others perform worse. If you work with salespeople, as a leader you’ll reward those who sold the most by the end of the month. That isn’t discrimination, it’s motivation, and it’s another very important thing a leader must achieve in their team. I’ve often seen companies where the incompetent were paid more than the capable, and I’ve seen big salaries paid to people with impressive résumés but no aptitude whatsoever for the job, which drove valuable people away. Needless to say, when the crisis came, those were among the first companies to be hit. They surrounded themselves with garbage and ended up on the scrap heap.
See also: Business and career: the huge difference between motion and action
Now, rather than keep advising you on what to do, you should focus on what you must never do as a leader. For that, we prepared an article on the most common mistakes leaders make. Read it to learn what to avoid: A leader’s mistakes.
Further reading on the mindset of a leader and a successful entrepreneur:
- How to be a successful entrepreneur
- Tips for running a company well
- Common mistakes Spanish business owners make
Featured image: Fcb981, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
