From renowned CEOs to entrepreneurs in the midst of building a startup, leaders at every level of business encounter hurdles, but can find success thanks to effective leadership skills. In light of the diverse set of challenges businesses are facing from unstable market conditions, many business leaders are in search of guidance on how to lead their companies going forward.
Below are three trending leadership topics that can help you rethink the way you manage yourself and your team:
The Practice of Emotional Processing
In the midst of uncertainty, it can be easy to allow negative self-talk to take over. As a leader, it’s important to adopt strategies to process feelings of doubt and learn effective behaviors for getting in touch with your emotions. Practices like mindfulness can help you break unhealthy mental patterns and respond to life around you in a more intentional way.
Mindfulness techniques can help you recognize and regulate thoughts and feelings, while in turn becoming more cognizant of the feelings of those surrounding you. This may look like identifying and navigating a team member's feelings of stress or overwhelm, or considering their ideas and solutions you might not have otherwise.
Being aware of the feelings of others in your workplace can result in a deeper understanding and connection that can inspire better teamwork and make you a more impactful leader. Through the process of learning how to effectively manage emotions, you can lead in an authentic way to create the culture your team deserves.
Increasing Your Team’s Efficiency
Increasing your business’s efficiency can help drive results, but before you can lead your team to success, it’s important to implement efficiency practices for yourself. By modeling time management skills and improving your processes, you can show your team the proper way to prioritize tasks.
Set clear expectations on how your team should be spending their time and which tasks are the most crucial to complete. When allocating tasks, be sure to tie projects back to larger business goals to highlight how each person’s work contributes to the business’s success. Reminding your team that the work they do matters can increase motivation and productivity.
Another way to optimize your team’s output is to address and accommodate how they work best. Do they perform a certain task better in the evenings or offsite? If the work allows for it, provide flexibility in not only work style, but also work environment. By setting clear expectations for yourself and your team, you can successfully align your team with departmental priorities and increase your business’s overall productivity.
Encouraging Diverse Thought
When you understand your team, especially those who think differently, you can empower, strengthen and, ultimately, improve your organization. Leaders need to ensure that their team feels comfortable engaging in open communication. Employee engagement is key to making sure your business is strong enough to thrive in the current unstable economic landscape.
Empathetic leaders don’t shy away from hard conversations, and they hold themselves and others accountable. Creating a safe space for diverse thought creates a more well-rounded and communicative team. By encouraging and engaging in open dialogue with your team, a sense of trust and connection will grow, which can lead to better business results.
Stay on top of the evolving business landscape and build relevant skills with Enterprise University — our no-cost business training program that offers courses in leadership and management and a wide range of other topics. Browse our on-demand classes to better your business knowledge to improve your career and your organization. For additional leadership insights, explore tips from our podcast, Enterprise.ing®, as guests share how they have become successful by investing in their leadership growth and development.
