By Salma El-Shurafa
Being a leader comes with many perks. These include helping others be more productive and discover their talents, building their self-worth, and making decisions that can have a positive impact on the company and employees.
Seeing all these and knowing that you made all these happen will give you a sense of accomplishment that is incomparable as well.
The fact that leaders also get more benefits and perks is also another good reason to aim for this type of role.
But there is more to taking on a leadership role than applying for such positions. If you want to find fulfillment as a leader, you have to be sure you are ready to take on this job.
You can do this by following these steps that will help you explore and unleash your leadership potentials:
- Learn to be a team member
Great leaders have no problem yielding control to other persons when needed. As such, before you assume such a position, you have to know how to follow too.
You have to learn how to work well with others. Moreover, you should never feel threatened when someone disagrees with you or questions your ideas.
You should always keep an open mind and give merit where merit is due. Once you learn to and show that you value and respect others on your team, they will recognize your potentials to be an excellent leader.
- Take on more responsibilities
Leaders have different duties and play several roles. They will assume more depending on the project they will get.
If you want to know if you have what it takes to be a leader, take on more jobs or projects. However, this doesn’t mean taking on more than you can handle since this will give you more problems. But you have to start doing more than what is stated in your job description.
By taking on more jobs and roles, you will step out of your comfort zone, which will help you learn new things and grow. You will also know your limitations and find the best ways to improve or overcome them. This is a good start to realizing your leadership potentials as well.
Volunteering to do more work will also help you get noticed by your bosses as someone who is eager to learn and takes the initiative.
- Work on your self-discipline
To be an effective leader, you need to have discipline. You have to be capable of meeting deadlines, following rules and regulations, and being organized.
You can also develop and show your self-discipline by arriving at work and meetings on time and keeping an organized desk. Having a healthy lifestyle is also an excellent demonstration of having self-control.
When you are successful in developing discipline in your professional and personal life, you are off to a good start to becoming a leader.
- Develop a thirst for learning
The best leaders are those that never stop learning. As such, you also need to have a mindset that is open to and maximizes all types of learning experiences.
Setting a continuing professional development (CPD) plan will ensure you are constantly learning something new or refreshing your skills knowledge. The formal and informal skills you will gain will help set the stage for discovering your leadership potentials.
Additionally, start viewing your job and everything you do in your work as valuable learning experiences. By doing so, you will learn to appreciate the tasks you are performing. And this will help you draw more people, something that you have to successfully do if you want to be a leader.
- Improve your awareness and listening skills
The most successful leaders are those that can see the bigger picture and anticipate problems before they happen.
This is a skill that is useful to have when handling complex projects with tight deadlines. It will help you deal with problems successfully as they arise.
This ability will also enable you to recognize opportunities that others overlook. This will certainly earn you the respect and acknowledgment you deserve.
Great leaders also listen to others. Whether other people are giving you suggestions or sharing ideas, pay attention to and understand what they are saying. Do not dismiss them immediately, especially if you do not agree with them. If you do, you will never be able to lead effectively.
- Try inspiring and empowering others
Another important job of leaders is constantly motivating and inspiring those they work with. You need to develop this skill so that when a team member needs encouragement or guidance, you can give it.
Additionally, you have to go one step further and learn how to empower your teammates. You have to learn how to trust them and bring out their capabilities. Once you do, you can start calling yourself a leader.
When you show that you can continuously work well with your teammates and give them more, you will be someone they can trust and have no problems calling a leader.
If you aspire to be a leader, you need to develop a lot of skills and the right attitudes. Start working on them now if you want to let others know that you have what it takes to lead a team.
AUTHOR 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.