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How to develop the attitude of a leader

When it comes to effective leadership, attitude is one of the most important components for success.

Heads of business require the right attitude to understand and exercise leadership, and this will impact on both the culture and environment of their business and can have both a positive and, of course, negative impact on the moral of those they work with.

Their influence tends to establish clear patterns within an organisation. Patterns in communication, workflow and general attitude towards work to cite a few examples.

This blog looks into what being a leader means and how leveraging attitude effectively can fuel growth and on-going success within the business.

Small gestures, greater significance

Being a leader isn’t all about giving the big speech at an important meeting, it is a subtle exercise practiced in sometimes trivial, everyday work scenarios.

People tend to think you just need to be persuasive, popular, or charismatic, but demonstrating you have these skills isn’t the same as being a leader. The role also requires smaller gestures, which can have a significant impact.

It could be as simple as giving a few words of encouragement during the day to keep up motivation, or offering to make everyone a cup of tea during the day to maintain morale. We will have all hopefully, at some point, worked with managers, directors and, well, leaders, who are prepared to chip in and work alongside rather than above employees during challenging periods.

Leading by example

Being a leader is about having empathy for your team and practicing what you preach. If you want your employees to be punctual, you should be the first one in the office. If you expect your team to communicate effectively, then you must communicate effectively with them.

Those who know how to lead don’t force others to achieve their goals. They inspire and motivate. It’s best summed up by Lao Tzu: “A leader is best when people barely know he exists. When his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.”

Leaders are successful because those who follow them actually want to follow. People are inspired by seeing their leadership figure willing to do what they are asking others to also do. Authority without credibility can come across as arrogance. To have credibility a leader must gain the employees’ trust. Trust comes from demonstrating a good sense of judgement and decision-making. If there’s a good level of trust between a leader and their team, they can lead together.

Motivation and initiative

Leading is taking employees’ opinions into account. A leader isn’t a one-man band, they represents the whole of the department or organisation, and that’s why leaders and their team must be on the same page, focusing on the same target. Good leaders encourage initiative and grant responsibility.

By allowing employees to take initiative and responsibility, leaders also give them control over their time and how to best use their resources. In the process of helping a group strive toward a common goal, good leaders actually let their employees become bosses of themselves.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by durhamlane .