Do you want to become a more effective leader? Leaders must be strong-willed, inspired and intuitive in order to influence and motivate people around them. Many successful leaders have fine tuned certain habits that help to guide their decisions while commanding authority. These 10 essential leadership habits are the cornerstones of success – whether you’re newly appointed as a manager or an aspiring entrepreneur striving for greatness.
10 Leadership Habits that Works
Whether you are just starting in a leadership role or have been in a management position for years, here are some destructive habits you need to cut out now.
1. Not Making Time For Reflection:
Making time for reflection is one of the best leadership habits you must have as it helps you analysis your actions. During the crush of a busy day, it may feel impossible to reflect on your goals—to consider how you should define your vision and how you want to communicate with others. So much of a busy leader’s day is spent putting out fires and keeping things rolling along. But it’s essential to revisit how your day went methodically.
Did you accomplish your goals for the day? How did you interact with others?
Taking a few minutes in the evening to check in with yourself, consider how the day went, and decide what changes you want to make tomorrow can help you stay on course, personally and professionally.
2. Lacking Initiative:
We all know leaders who fail to check their facts before deciding. They are careless, hasty and negligent. These are the hallmarks of a lazy manager who does the minimum needed to get by. The result is sloppy work—on the leaders’ part because they don’t put in the time to do the job correctly, and on the part of their workers, because if the boss doesn’t care, then why should they?
So if you are counting the hours until you go home, it’s time for a primary wake-up call. If you want others to put themselves out there and do good work, you must be willing to model the same.
3. Micromanaging:
If all you do is zero in on details and nitpick your team’s work, don’t be surprised when morale drops off a cliff, your people flee to find new jobs and productivity plummets. A micromanager can crush a team’s creativity and ingenuity. An overly controlling leader establishes a tone of mistrust and limits others’ ability to grow.
Instead, make sure to prioritize what matters. Good leaders know how to delegate and give those under them room to accomplish tasks uniquely. Be upfront with your team about what matters to you, your goals, and your vision. And then step back and give them space to flourish on their own.
4. Not Listening:
You may think you are making the best use of time by responding to emails while sitting in a meeting, but what you are really doing is engaging in passive-aggressive disrespect for your colleagues. When someone else is talking, it’s important to practice active listening.
Not listening to anyone means fully concentrating on what is being said. It means being engaged, paying attention, and giving Feedback, such as maintaining eye contact and nodding to show that you are following what they say.
5. Ignoring Feedback:
As a leader, you must be confident in your decisions and willing to take a stand and act on your instincts. But it would be best if you also were open-minded enough to hear the opinions of others and be receptive to their ideas. By dismissing opposing views, you may be ignoring important Feedback that will help you make good decisions in the future.
That doesn’t mean you blindly accept what others are saying; it means you are open-minded enough to try to see things from their point of view and then consider how that information might be valuable to you.
6. Not Following Through:
Leaders build rapport with those around them in much the same way as you would make a strong relationship with a friend. You have to create a foundation of trust. You have to show that you care.
And the first step is to follow through with what you say you will do. It’s that simple. People will quickly learn to discount you if you come off as unreliable.
It’s hard to respect someone who seems fickle or too busy to make good on their promises. So please think before you commit to doing something, and do your best to see it through. And if something comes up and you can’t make good on your promises, you need to own up to that, too.
7. Taking All The Credit:
Who doesn’t love basking in the glory of a job well done? Perhaps you feel it’s well deserved; after all, your team accomplished these goals. But leaders who take all the credit show a lack of appreciation for the hard work of those whose shoulders they stand on.
When you step aside and share the spotlight, people will work harder for you. And in the long run, increased productivity and improved morale will be a better reward than a few minutes in the limelight.
8. Ignoring Risks:
Effective risk management doesn’t mean you altogether avoid risk. It means you’ve thought it through and accepted the chance — but you also have a strategy if something goes wrong. Many leaders refrain from creating contingency plans because who wants to sit around and think of worst-case scenarios?
But effective risk management is hugely important leadership habits as it allows you to weather those unexpected storms. Just thinking through what might go wrong will help you anticipate problems so you can react more quickly if something goes awry.
9. Letting Self-Doubt Overwhelm You:
We all have that voice of self-doubt in our heads. The one that whispers that we aren’t as smart or as capable as we want to believe. The one that leaves us wondering if we have what it takes.
A little self-doubt is normal and can keep you from becoming arrogant or pigheaded. But it becomes a problem when you let that whisper turn into a roar and paralyze you; it becomes a problem.
A good leader knows how to walk the line between confidence and skepticism. A little apprehension may serve you well but hesitate too long, and you’ll miss great opportunities.
10. Blaming Others:
Excuses are easy to come by. Sometimes it’s hard to see our shortcomings, and we focus on the faults of those around us. We want to believe that someone else dropped the ball.
Blaming others is a treacherous trap because you are blaming others and taking on a destructive “poor me” mindset. The buck stops with you. Accept responsibility.
Doing so empowers you more than blaming others ever will. Learn from your mistakes, correct course if necessary and move on. People will respect you if you have integrity, even during difficult times.
Conclusion
After reading this blog, you may have understood the importance of having leadership habits that can help you go a long way. We hope you find this blog helpful.
