As a successful entrepreneur, Misha Peleg spent many years leading teams and mentoring others to become better leaders. He knows that not every manager is a good leader. You can spend all week bossing your team around and telling them what to do, but that would not mean that you are truly leading them forward.
So, what does one need to do to become a better leader? Misha Peleg recommends improving these seven qualities:
1. Communication skills
Leadership is not possible without communication. So, it’s important to be able to communicate with your team openly and efficiently. Make yourself available for questions and feedback – opening lines of communication and creating a sense of trust between you and your team is the first step to becoming a great leader.
Also, work on becoming better at expressing positive feedback and empathy. These qualities usually separate leaders from mere corporate bosses.
2. Get to know your team
Your staff is your asset, so it’s important that you put effort into getting to know them on both professional and personal levels. Identify their strength and weaknesses so that you can maximize their effectiveness at work. There are plenty of professional personality assessment tools that can help with that, such as DiSC for instance. Knowing your team’s personalities can help you improve your teamwork, communication, and productivity in the workplace.
3. Be positive
Leading a successful business is challenging, and sooner or later you may experience issues that can discourage or demotivate your colleagues. In such cases, Peleg recommends a time-tested exercise: try to identify three positive elements in each problem that challenges you or your team. Doing so will allow you to have a more positive outlook and enable your team to approach the problem with a can-do attitude.
4. Don’t just talk the talk – walk the walk
Good leaders don’t just inspire their team with words – they also show them the way with their actions. Working with your team side-by-side, will allow you to interact with them and demonstrate your own skills and knowledgeability. This is a much better way to earn the respect of your colleagues than simply giving them orders to follow.
5. Know what motivates you
Before you can motivate others, you should first find out what motivates you. To some, it may be career advancement, while others may be motivated by the challenges themselves. In order to be able to motivate your team, you must be passionate about what you do. So, find out what your passion is and make sure you truly believe in your cause.
6. Set realistic goals that your team can get behind
Your goals and objectives should be neither secret nor unrealistic. Being a good leader means keeping your team’s morale high. Clearly defining short- and long-term goals will help build confidence and better coordination among your staff.
7. Always work on improving your skillset
If you lead your team effectively, it means that the individual skills of each of your team members will be constantly improving. So, it’s important that you continue to improve your own skills as well. Misha Peleg’s advice is to never stop learning and continuing to educate yourself about various aspects of your business or industry. Luckily, these days, there are plenty of tools and platforms available at the touch of a button on your computer that can provide you with a wealth of information on every subject imaginable.
Being a good leader is not easy: one must be smart, inspiring, have great communication skills. But no one is born a great leader – effective leadership is always the result of years of experience, practice, and constant self-improvement.
Interested in more business leadership tips from Misha Peleg? Check out Eight Steps to Increasing Your Productivity
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