Being a leader in the workplace brings with it a great deal of responsibility. One must truly understand the roles and responsibilities of leadership and learn how to demonstrate the qualities of a good leader. In other words, leaders must learn the importance of leading by example.
As a manager, there will undoubtedly be good days and bad days. When things are going well 5jjtit’s easy to walk around with a smile on your face and engage with employees in a positive way. However, when things are going wrong, the best leaders know that they need to maintain that same level of positivity and leadership because they are setting an important example for the rest of their team. As a manager, it’s important to remember that your team is going to follow your lead so the choices you make directly impact your colleagues. Therefore, set the tone for your employees by setting a good example in the workplace. Be a leader your team can look up to, come to with questions, and most importantly emulate. When you are in a leadership position, you have an opportunity to influence others through your actions. This is the challenge for leaders: to remember that others are watching so you want to ensure you are setting the right example. Here are just a few ways in which you can positively lead others by your example.
Be Honest
Honesty is more than just the best policy- it’s the ONLY way to build a successful team. It is critical that managers are open and honest with their employees at all times. Inaccurate information only hurts the team and never leads to success. Rather, managers need to create a culture of honesty by being forthright with employees.
Acknowledge Your Mistakes
One of the best qualities of a good leader is humility. Everyone makes mistakes-managers included. Managers who get defensive only teach their employees to do the same and sabotage their potential growth. On the other hand, a manager who takes responsibility and acknowledges their mistakes demonstrates that failure is part of the process of growing and learning.
Face Adversity
Challenges are inevitable and it’s important to show your employees that you can be strong and succeed even in the face of adversity. A crisis isn’t the time to give up, but rather the time to push through and find a way to climb over any and every obstacle that might be in your way.
Listen
It sounds simple enough but listening is the key to effective communication. If you want to create a cohesive team where everyone works together to accomplish a common goal then you need to start by being a good listener. When you listen to employees and encourage them to ask questions, you are showing them that you truly seek to understand their point of view and they will then do the same for their colleagues.
Get Involved
If you want to have a team of dedicated employees who are willing to go above and beyond for the organization, you need to be willing to do the same. This means rolling up your sleeves and actually getting involved yourself. You will never be as successful if you shout orders at your team. Instead, it takes a manager who isn’t afraid to involve themselves in the process and is willing to lead their team into battle.