Below are our highlights from the monster.com article, “Small Business Tips: Six New Year Resolutions to Improve Leadership.” Taken individually, they can make a difference in your results; collectively, they can change your level of business success forever.
Involve others in goal setting and planning.
You may set the overall direction, but let your team be involved in the creation of the outcomes. Slowing down enough to involve them in this important work is a big key to greater involvement, commitment and success.
Keep goals in front of yourself and everyone one else.
As a leader, you must help people keep their goal in mind and remind them of what success looks like — which means employee motivation is key.
Communicate more and in more ways.
As a leader, you must communicate key messages frequently and you must complete the communicate loop. Doing so, especially as your team grows, requires communicating more frequently and in different modes, so your message is heard and drives action.
Talk less, talk later and listen more.
When you want the team’s input and ideas, you must ask questions and shut up! Let the group share their ideas as a means of team building. If they don’t think of a key idea or piece of information, you can share it later in the conversation with greater effect.
Focus feedback on the future.
You want people to improve. In almost every case, people want to improve and do great work. If you want to be a more effective leader to your team and help them make improvements in their skills and results, give them feedback, advice, and wise counsel about what they can do next time instead of focusing on the past.
Be a model.
Your team is watching and emulating you. If you like what you see, great! If not, look in the mirror more carefully and recognize that the source of your frustration with other’s behavior likely starts with you.
Like many New Year’s resolutions, this list may seem a bit daunting. They may require a change in mindset and most likely a change in habits. The effort involved is worth it — for you, your team and ultimately your results.