You know you’re working for a great leader when they teach and inspire you to do well. A good leader knows how to do things well, but fails to bring his/her people to do the same. A great and effective leader shares their knowledge and skills to encourage others.
Greatness, setting yourself apart from others, means embodying different habits and behaviors that effectively works. Average people drag themselves to do their work and other activities day-to-day. The great ones have something to look forward each day. You, too, can be one if you adopt what they do differently.
Instead of “I,” they use “we”
Great leaders acknowledge their team. Instead of saying “I” and “me,” they use “we” and “us.” This implies they work as a team, not as a one-person show.
While other leaders would step up to own full credit of a successful project, great leaders give credit to their coworkers—their team. And when they encounter a setback, they act as one to resolve it.
They’re calm before the storm
When encountering difficulties and challenges, average people and some leaders would tend to panic and fail to get a hold of the situation.
Great leaders, however, remain calm in such crisis. Go and freak out on the inside, just don’t let it show on the exterior. As you may have observed, as a leader, your coworkers will turn to you for solutions such crisis comes up.
Resist the urge to react especially if it means yelling and getting emotional. Step out of the area for a second and go some place quiet such as the bathroom. In there, try to calm yourself down and clear your head. Then, go and handle the situation.
They’re confident, not arrogant
The act of confidence is contagious and influential. Great leaders know how to showcase their confidence, without letting it seemingly overflow into arrogance.
They’re confident and yet they don’t let themselves lose touch with reality. If you find yourself boasting, no longer illustrating your passion and belief, this cockiness you’ve embodied strips away your credibility.
They face the facts regardless of how brutal it is
It isn’t always good news in the office or business 24/7 of the time. Bad news comes often times, unexpectedly. And great leaders don’t just sit around waiting for the news to come up, they actively seek and peruse it.
Whenever there is a project at hand, they look for possible errors or red flags and work it out before it goes out. If they somehow missed on it, they appreciate the people who points it out to them; they accept their mistakes.
They are attentive
Not only do they pay attention to all the important people in the room but they also equally pay attention to acknowledge those least important people.
Basically, these leaders don’t look at titles and positions, whether you’re just an intern or the CEO, they would look you in the eyes and ask for your feedback regarding the subject of discussion.
Who knows maybe that intern becomes successful in the future. If you treat people of all levels well, it’s almost always a guarantee you’ll be repaid later on.
They take a bullet for their people
Great leaders care for and will do anything for their team; they have their back no matter what—through ups, and especially downs.
Failures are part of life and business, they don’t switch the blame to other members of the team when such strikes nor do they avoid shame when it happens, they take responsibility and are accountable. This is how they earn other people’s trust. Especially their team’s.
Given this, great leaders welcome other people’s opinions and criticisms. In fact, they encourage their team to speak up and put their ideas and thoughts on the table. This goes to show how they work as a team.
They always have a plan
Great leaders always have their daily agenda and goals all planned out. They anticipate whatever could go wrong and challenges they might face, and they find solutions. In short: they are prepared for anything.
They anticipate obstacles and figure out possible solutions based on observing how things function and relate to one another. They’re not paranoid, to be clear. Clear and critical thinking helps them to foresee circumstances and situations, and prepare resolutions beforehand.
About the Author: Aside from providing tips and hacks in personal and career development, Chie Suarez is also a resident writer for The Fordham Company—one of Australia’s top celebrity management companies and a major celebrity speakers bureau.