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If you are a company founder or manager or perhaps you want to be one of those in the future, being a good leader is tough. It’s even harder to be a great leader.
We can’t all be Steve Jobs, but we can strive to be the best version of ourselves. One of the first steps in this process is recognizing what style of leadership is going to suit your personality.
As the founder of Proven, a small business job board, I recognize that I am not the high-energy, pump-everyone-up type of guy. I leave that kind of thing to my business partner. Instead, I try to lead by example, hire good people and trust that those people will do their job well. It’s not flashy, but it suits who I am.
I do recognize though, that if anything, I can be too hands-off, too trusting, and I sometimes struggle with avoiding conflict too much. These are my weaknesses and I am attempting to get better.
Having self-awareness about your weaknesses is extremely important. If you can accept that you are not perfect, have room for improvement, and a desire to do so, you are well on your way to becoming a better leader.
Armed with a desire to become a better leader, let’s dive into a few tips to help you get there.
It’s easy as a manager or founder to get so overwhelmed with work so that you don’t dedicate time to self-improvement. But being a great leader requires continuous learning.
One of the things I started doing is setting aside time every week in my calendar to read for 30 minutes. It’s blocked off like a meeting in my schedule. This way no one assumes I’m free during that time. I read about new technologies, new companies, competitors in my space, or anything else that I think might be useful.
Here are a few other ways you can expand your knowledge:
Go to a conference. Last fall I attended the INBOUND conference and came away with a ton of new ideas and learned so much, I’m still digesting it all. It’s also a great way to break up routine and get away from interruptions at the office.
Start listening to business podcasts. There are so many smart insightful podcasts available now that you can listen to for free. It’s a great way to passively learn because you can be doing other things at the same time like driving, commuting, or even answering emails.
Take an online course, course at a local college, or attend webinars.
I definitely struggle with this. I want to be able to do everything and I inherently feel that asking for help is me admitting that I am not good enough to handle it all, but this is a recipe for creating a lot of stress and being less effective as a leader.
You need to be able to trust your employees and delegate work. If you need something done a certain way, you can team up and walk people through your process. Eventually, they’ll be able to cope on their own and that’s one less thing for you to do.
Also, learn to say no.
There’s simply not enough time to do everything, you have to prioritize. If new priorities come up, that’s fine, but you may need to delegate or put certain things on hold to deal with the shifting priorities.
Great leaders are decisive.
You need to be able to take a step back, consider all the options, and make a rational decision. But once that decision has been made, you need to be confident in that direction and project that to those around you. People respect confidence, so don’t be afraid to make a bold decision if you think it’s the best move for the company.
Great marketing is about connecting with people emotionally, the same can be said about great leadership. You need to project a vision to your employees, ultimately what you want the company to be. You should communicate this clearly when you hire new employees and periodically reinforce it.
You can never lose faith in this vision. People are trusting you that you know what you are doing, so even in the tough times, you need to instill confidence and inspire those around you.
This is a big one for me. Actions speak louder than words. If you expect people to arrive early, you need to be there first. If you expect people to work long hours, you also need to be working long hours.
People will adjust their behavior based on what they learn from you, so be careful about what you are potentially teaching them.
Becoming a better leader is a process. You will have setbacks and that’s ok, that’s just human. Failure is part of growth and learning. If you fail in some aspect, recognize the failure, learn from it, make adjustments and continue to proceed with confidence.
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Sean Falconer is the Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer at Proven.com
