As
we gear up for a new year, now is the time to strengthen your leadership skills for 2019 and ensure
that you are effectively leading your organization toward achieving its goals.
Here are three things you can do now to prepare for the future.
1. Hire an Executive Coach
An executive coach’s goal is to help you become the best version of yourself. Executive coaches become trusted thought partners and are just as invested in you reaching your goals as you are.
Many
executive coaches serve as accountability partners for their clients by
encouraging them to work toward their professional goals and holding them
accountable for any actions that don’t help them move toward those goals.
Additionally, an executive coach can help you unlock hidden talents and realize
your potential, ensuring that you are aware of your capabilities as a leader
and are consciously working toward developing those talents.
An
executive coach serves as a non-biased resource to develop new ways to
implement the information you’ve learned. Executive coaches can also help you
build more productive relationships with your colleagues and staff and learn
how to improve your interaction with people from different cultures and
backgrounds. In addition, an executive coach can also help you identify
talent within and outside of your organization. As companies continue to make
strides toward added diversity within their organizations, it is important that
leaders are able to adapt to those changes.
One
way to do adapt to those changes in a positive way is by enhancing your
communication skills. Why? Because learning to listen to your colleagues and
staff is just as important as the instructions you give them. Executive coaches
can also help you strengthen your active listening skills and teach
you ways to respond to challenging situations for the best possible outcome.
Anything
you share with your coach is kept confidential; usually, executive coaching is conducted face to
face, on the phone or via Skype and other video communication applications.
2. Take
professional development classes
Professional development is a must for all business leaders. Business leaders who consistently seek ways to improve themselves can positively affect the internal climate of an organization.
Professional
development classes can benefit you by helping you learn new methods of
leadership and refine some of the traits you already have. Additionally,
professional development can also serve as a way for you to teach others within
your organization and field.
When
it comes to professional development, you don’t always have to be the one
taking the class. You can also be the person leading a class on leadership and
other industry related trends that you’ve mastered as a professional.
3. Engage via
social media
As
we advance further into the digital age, more business leaders are stepping out
from behind the scenes and making their presence known on social media. Taking
some time to engage with your organization’s digital audience via social media
helps establish you as an expert; it also adds a personal component to your
organization’s online interactions.
Engaging
with your organization’s customers and potential customers is a great way to
add a human element to your company’s brand identity. It helps you to appear
personable and gives customers the idea that they know you and what you value.
Engaging
with customers or clients can be as simple as commenting on trending topics on
social media. Though these topics may not necessarily relate to your company’s
brand, they may be important to your organization’s online audience. Personally
delivering news to your organization’s online followers about new products,
services, and or initiatives is another way for the public to put a face with
the brand they love. Also, if you enjoy writing, publishing a blog on industry
related topics and sharing those blog posts on social media is another way to
connect with customers.
Final
Thoughts
Ultimately,
being a leader requires continuous focus and intentionality, so be sure that
you use all the tools at your disposal to become the best leader for your
organization. Your reputation as a professional relies on your ability to
relate to those around you and gain respect from your supervisors, peers, and
direct reports.
Leadership
consists of many different traits, but one of the most important
characteristics is the ability to be led. Gathering insight from your
customers by engaging on social media, learning through professional
development, and hiring an executive coach are all ways to be influenced and
aid you in your efforts to become more effective.
As
Q4 comes to a close, assess where you were last year at this time and ensure
that you are continuing to work toward your year end-goals. Ask yourself
questions such as: Have I taken the necessary steps to be the leader I
aimed to be this year? Am I on target to meet my year end professional
and organizational goals? What part of this year was challenging for me?
What changes am I planning to make in order for it to be less challenging
in the future? Then, take that information from your assessment
and use it as a plan to close out Q4 on a positive note and bring in a strong
2019.
Let’s share experiences. Leave a comment below, send
me an email,
or find me on Twitter.
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