Skillful leadership is essential for the success of a business and achieving set goals. Some people are born leaders, while others develop the skills and abilities to lead business efficiently. A leader in an organization have specific day-to-day duties that bound them in a pattern and addresses only the pressing concerns. Many leaders have fallen into this trap, watching their next step and not being able to see what’s down the road.
A leader helps a business to make detailed plans with a vision in mind and set smart goals to achieve them. The leader’s role is to design a strategy and execute them to make the most of it. The key is to understand how to create a winning strategy and work collectively to reach the desired goal.
This article will read about guiding principles of leadership and values that help leaders shift their focus from single steps to the bigger picture.
Assign Responsibility and Encourage Ownership
A leader has a lot to learn about core leadership values and principles from history. History remembers leaders like Napoleon and Genghis Khan for their strategic leadership as they shaped the world as we know it. It’s important to understand that none of the great leaders accomplished on their own. Both leaders had a loyal army at their back, who trusted their commander’s order and believed in their leaders’ great vision. There is a lot to learn about leadership qualities from history, although you may not be focusing on conquering nations. A leader’s role is to find the right people, assign them their responsibility and give them adequate resources and autonomy to do their job well.
While handling a new project, it is essential to make a plan first. Don’t start assigning responsibilities, duties and micromanage your team or soldiers. If there is a need for additional training or assistance for handling a particular task or entire project, make it your priority. Encourage team members to take ownership of their duties and be accountable for the task’s success or failure. Lastly, a leader needs to give commendation to the right person who did the work.
Take Strategic Risks
You can’t get a job unless you apply, you can’t get a date unless you ask, and you can’t paint a masterpiece without putting color on the canvas. In business and life, there is nothing that comes with 100 percent surety. As a strategic leader, you should not be afraid to take risks. However, there is a big difference between a “risk” and a “gamble.” Like a poker game, you evaluate all the possibilities for risk or failure and take strategic risks to mitigate losses and get the most out of the opportunities. Even though most people consider “Poker” as a gambling game, it is truly a game of skill.
A leader, just like a poker player, needs to predict the success of a plan or decision with relative accuracy, even when the odds are not in favor. For a leader, it is essential to have a clear understanding of what you stand to gain and what you stand to lose. A leader should take the risk in business in the same way. Not to go all-in on something that has a marginal chance for success or where there are only meager returns. Examine your options and make prudent decisions, but don’t be shy to bet on the winning hand.
Encourage Collaboration
The rise of AI and digital technologies has changed how businesses used to operate earlier. To adapt to this changing environment, a leader needs to create a collaborative ecosystem to speed up the evolving process. Companies that struggle to keep up with the breakneck pace risk being shut down. There is always a risk that a business will isolate itself and fail to adapt to the changes happening around us.
Organizations are further divided into departments and individuals that often fail to meet the larger goal by not realizing how they as a team or individual can contribute to achieving goals. A leader’s role is to create a collaborative culture and ensure every employee knows how they can contribute to achieving the bigger goal with resources available. Encouraging a collaborative environment in an organization makes sense of inclusion, and team diversity can cultivate innovative ideas.
However, not every department needs collaboration. For example, there is no need for the manufacturing team to collaborate with the accounts team to keep records in the car manufacturing industry. Keeping the communication channels between the different departments of the organization is a great idea, especially when one team’s efforts impact the other team.
Vision
Having a vision is a vital leadership value for a leader. To reach a destination, you need to know where you are going and how to get there. A journey without a goal is just wandering, and a leader can’t afford to wander in this highly competitive environment. To be successful, it is crucial to explain to his team what success looks like for the organization, the team, and every individual that is part of the project. Describing the vision to everyone will give them an idea about what steps need to be taken to achieve that vision. A goal needs to be reasonable and well within reach, but something makes the team stretch a little while attaining it. A leader must set a goal after analyzing the relevant information and using strategic thinking skills. Before setting a goal, a leader should set standards on achieving a goal and measure its success and failure; otherwise, the vision will be flawed.
Drive Change
We have already explained how a leader should encourage collaboration among different organization departments to adopt advanced processes faster. A business and a leader need to drive change to keep up with the new technological trends and excel in the professional world.
Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg is a famous name that adapted to the change and brought a new revolution in the business world.
A leader needs to take strategic risks and be ready when presented with a good idea or an opportunity. Change is necessary, and at some point, organizations and individuals should realize that they can’t continue doing things the same way. Eventually, for survival, a business needs to change, and it’s better to change sooner for the more significant benefit of the business.
Final words
It’s not that easy to become a leader, and implementing these principles certainly requires some hard work. If you are worried about how to develop leadership principles and values, to become a leader – work on these leadership values until the hard work pays off. Leaders become the trendsetter and steer their organizations through dangerous waters while going through changes and innovation. If this is what you aspire to become, it’s time to start implementing these leadership values and principles.
