You know it when you see effective leadership skills in action. It's a feeling you get, even if you don't have the business terminology to describe what you saw or why it was so critical. You can sense the positive impact.
It's the goal of executives and managers to have desired leadership behaviors cascade throughout an organization.
Like passing a message from one person to the next in a game of telephone, the example set by one leader might travel through mimicking by followers or in stories and conversation.
In either case, knowledge is passed and the possibility of positive impact is enhanced.
It's great to witness demonstrations of leadership behavior in your organization.
But, there's a whole wide world of leaders out there that you may not have direct exposure to.
Putting yourself in position to read their stories, or hear accounts of their experiences, especially when their examples are diverse in industry or specialty, can expand your perspective and enhance your leadership tool kit.
Without opening yourself to these new learning opportunities, it'd be a bit like only eating at one restaurant.
You might enjoy it, and you're sure to see both good and bad examples of leadership, customer service, and product or service quality.
But, your frame of reference would be limited for lack of diversity of experience.
It's why, when I'd been a hiring manager, I sought candidates from other industries, and it's why I encourage those in talent acquisition to look outside of their industry for those who can make significant impact.
Some of my strongest, fitness industry hires came from customer-facing positions in:
We've seen this in action as teachers have moved from the classroom to roles in sales, instructional design, and other areas with educational technology companies.
The companies that have been willing to make this leap in considering applicants with backgrounds considered non-traditional for certain roles are reaping the rewards.
As is common practice here at Inevitabl, we seek to introduce you to professionals whose leadership insights you'll benefit from, and be able to begin applying, right away.
Today, we welcome several guest contributors to share with you their thoughts on the importance of demonstrating leadership, examples from their own experiences, and their advice on how to become a better leader.
Enjoy! ⤵️
Demonstrating leadership is important because it sets the tone and culture of an organization. Strong leadership builds a culture where people are bought in and feel like they are a part of something bigger. Without leadership, employees are lost and feel little connection to their job and/or their company.
I’ve had my fair share of leaders throughout my career thus far, ranging from some of the worst to some of the best. I am very grateful for my experiences, whether they were good or bad, because they’ve taught me valuable lessons.
Here are some lessons I’ve learned:
Observe others in leadership roles and take notice to how their team responds to them. You can learn a lot about leadership from observation. Take note of what you like about their leadership and try to incorporate that into your own leadership style.
It is important to remain selfless, not selfish, in a leadership role. Be a servant leader. Have a mindset of “what can I do for them” not “what can they do for me”.
Be mindful of your thoughts and actions towards your employees and make sure are you they are aligned with your company values.
Any great business leader knows how to guide and foster talent and inspire work ethic and morale.
While working in a previous Field Sales role, I was not putting the necessary effort for a few weeks and my numbers dipped. My manager knew I could do better because I proved it weeks prior. He gave me a motivational pep talk that wasn’t disparaging but encouraging and spent an afternoon role playing and then knocking on doors with me. Best sales managers are willing to work harder than their sales people.
This made me want to lead by example and be a leader others could emulate and be motivated to work for.
Demonstrate more passion about your product and process than anyone on your team, and have the work ethic to strike proven results.
It's always a pleasure to hear from friends and colleagues with years of experience in varied industries, and to have them share their insights on effective leadership skills and experiences with us.
Be sure to follow the links underneath their profile pictures to visit their LinkedIn pages and to follow along as they share insight and updates there.
This section of the site is an excellent foundation for developing leadership skills, understanding different types of leadership, and exploring leadership styles.
To continue your learning:
In health,
Boh
David Bohmiller, MBA, MS (he/him/his)
Founder, CEO and Consulting Executive
Inevitabl LLC
"Helping fitness industry leaders drive employee engagement and guiding teams through organizational change."
P.S. - Have a question about effective leadership skills? Ask it here.
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