Is 6 minutes a short or long time? Think about it. How much do you reckon you can learn during this space of time? We bet not much! But, according to research conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, this is how much managers working in large organizations spend on training during six months, leaving them with as little as 1 minute per month.
That’s right. Just one minute per month. For top managers assigned to encourage people and influence the performance of the team, this doesn’t seem like a lot of time, and most companies out there realize it. However, not all of them know how to integrate training into the flow of work.
To make it a tad bit easier, further in the article, we’ll take a look at 5 leadership development strategies that you can implement already today to improve your team’s performance and reach a high level of motivation. Read on to explore!
Identify Business Goals and Share Your Vision
No business can exist without a vision. Vision comes first, giving meaning to the purpose of creating a business, and then it acts as a guide that teams should follow once a business is established. To see where you stand in terms of your vision, ask yourself the following questions:
- Is your business vision clear?
- Is it measurable?
- Is it long-term?
If you answered “no” to at least one of these questions, you should revise your vision. For organizations to be successful, it’s essential that everyone in the team knows what they are doing and can measure the results of their work. Only when the goal is common and everyone understands it, can a company accomplish results.
With this in mind, put your vision statement in writing and go through it again in front of your team. Focus on the goals that have already been achieved and which need to be met in the future to reach the destination. By doing so, you’ll avoid bias, boost motivation, and stay aligned with your chosen business’s direction.
Create a Culture of Recognition in the Workplace
Behind every success is a great team. But how do you create a dream team? The secret is in the recognition. People like to hear positive feedback on their work. It is one of the things that keeps them motivated.
According to a survey, 60% out of all people confess that personal recognition is very important to them, while 96% of this group say that they are ready to do better and work more when they know managers appreciate what they’re doing.
So, if you want to work with a team of talented and hard-working people, as a leader, you should start developing your gratitude skills. It won’t take long before your team embraces this attitude, and the productivity of the team will improve overall.
Delegate Responsibility as One of Your Leadership Development Strategies
Another leadership strategy that can help encourage excellent performance is by including your team in the delegation process. This approach can actually help kill two birds with one stone.
Firstly, it will help your team grow professionally. And secondly, it will provide you with more time to think about other important organizational tasks that require the leadership’s responsibility.
Delegating can be quite difficult at first, especially if you’ve been accustomed to doing all the work on your own. However, it is worth doing. Once your team learns to take the initiative and gains new skills and knowledge, you’ll be able to complete more work in less time.
Here are a few steps to effective delegation in the workplace:
- Recognize the strengths and weaknesses of your team. This will help assign the right tasks to the right team members;
- Create a plan. It’s vital to communicate the importance of the task so that your team takes it seriously and does their best for the success of the project;
- Coach and mentor. To make sure that your team makes progress, set goals and track how they are achieved over time.
If you delegate well, you’ll increase team morale, improve productivity, and build a strong team able to meet the demands of high workloads. You will also grow the business and improve your leadership skills.
Be Genuine With Your Team
Although some people think that leadership skills are something you can only be born with, the truth is, these skills can be learned. In fact, you don’t even need to learn anything. Once you make the choice to be a leader, it will all come naturally to you.
Perhaps the main feature that sets a leader apart is that whatever they speak, they speak it from the bottom of their heart, infecting those around them with enthusiasm. When they talk about the mission and goals of the company, there’s no doubt that they know what they mean. That’s exactly what leadership is about, and it should be among your leadership development strategies.
People can tell if you really enjoy what you do by the way you act and talk about a project. Therefore, the best thing to do is be honest and genuine with your team. If they recognize you as someone they can trust, they’re more likely to follow you.
Never Stop Self-Education
Being a great leader requires commitment and dedication. It’s not enough to just lead the team. In order for the team to actually view you as a leader, it’s important to work on your self-growth and always refine through training programs so they respect you and want to follow you.
Leadership is also about mentoring. It’s the type of learning that goes both ways. By sharing your experiences and knowledge, you’ll be able to showcase your leadership skills and contribute to the growth of the company while, at the same time, shaping the next generation of leaders among your team.
Conclusion
To reiterate everything said above, being a leader is the choice that people make. However, whether you succeed in leading a team and help your company reach new heights or fail directly depends on your leadership development strategies. Luckily, it can be honed to meet the goals of your business.
If you spend just a few minutes a day implementing the practices that we’ve shared with you, you’ll become a successful leader with a great team to follow you.
