Are You A Born Leader?
By Business Desk
Friday, May 5, 2017.
Not everybody who winds up in management is a born leader. Some, in fact, are downright terrible leaders who know nothing about how to motivate people and get the best out of them. But you might think differently about yourself. Perhaps you’re always the person who slips into the leadership role and gets things done. Maybe you’re the one who is able to rally the troops and make sure that everybody feels motivated and ready to face the day. If that’s you, then you could be a great leader and should probably start thinking now about your career in management.
Not everybody is cut out for a leadership role, but here are some signs that you are.
You Change The Way People Think About Things And Help Them Achieve Real Success
There’s a false dichotomy in business when it comes to leadership. Either you’re able to motivate your team, but you’re unable to get the job done. Or you get the job done, but you burn out your team in the process.
Unfortunately, this dichotomy is entrenched in the business world. Many managers and leaders think that the only way to get things done is to make their employees work as hard as possible, even if it eats into their weekends and family time. But there’s a third option: motivating your staff to succeed AND giving them the tools to get the job done. If you’re somebody who is fixated on outcomes, then you’re probably not a natural leader. If you’re fixated on people, then you’re probably not a natural leader either. If, however, you’re able to focus on both, then you’ve got what it takes to lead a team.
You Prefer Observation To Action
Many people think that management is all about taking action. But actually, it’s more about observing and seeing what works and what doesn’t. This is something that is taught at educational establishments, like Fresno Pacific University online. Business management is more than simply generating constant motion and making people work faster, better and harder. It’s about patience, understanding that some work takes a long time and putting in place systems that will help elevate productivity.
Management isn’t just about action. It’s not what many Fortune 500 companies would have you imagine: chest thumping by the senior team about how much productivity they’ve managed to squeeze out of their workers. And it’s not about having workers who are willing to be contactable 24/7. Instead, it’s a more holistic approach which involves not only a lot of action, but also considerable planning and contemplation. True leaders always understand the opportunity cost of their actions. Imploring workers to work harder in the short term will lead to burnout and higher turnover in the long run. And that’s seriously bad for business.
You Step Back When You’re Not Needed
Finally, it’s worth pointing out that great leaders only step up to the plate when they’re needed. The rest of the time, they allow other people to get on with what they’re doing. Opinionated managers rarely get very far in life and often hold back their workers.
