What are the first things that come to mind when you think of leadership? Is it responsibility, strength, or decision-making?
The interesting thing about successful leadership is that it can embody any number of positive traits because different teams and different people respond better to different tactics and emotions. Let’s look at two contrasting team members.
First, say one of your team members works intensely on projects and creating solutions, but is less interested in interpersonal relationships in the workplace. Now imagine another team member who prefers focusing on the social aspects of a task. These team members are motivated by opposing desires. This means your leadership strategy will need to be multi-faceted to get each individual to reach their full potential and to work cohesively on a team. Because at the end of the day, leadership’s one goal is to create results through people.
A Good Leader Knows How To Respond To and Encourage a Team Member’s Strengths
When building a team, a poor leader would look at the two individuals above and think one personality was better than the other. A good leader, on the other hand, would see both individuals for their talents. A good leader knows that both are just as important to a well-balanced team. This leader would place the more task-focused individual in charge of project management while putting the more social individual in charge of customer or client outreach. Good leadership is knowing both have an important place on the team, and where they will excel and thrive.
The key to building a team is knowing the strengths of your team members. You can’t expect someone to flourish in a role if they aren’t passionate about it. If we use the same example from above, a socially-inclined individual may not be adept at assigning tasks or being entirely behind the scenes, whereas a more introverted person may be completely comfortable not having to interact with clients or customers.
How can you know your team’s strengths and weaknesses? Talk to them! A key to successful leadership is being able to communicate with your team to find out exactly where they can thrive. Ready to take your leadership skills to the next level? Inspire Culture First is here to help you take the next steps.
