How to be The Most Successful and Effective Leader with the Do's and Dont's

Leadership is an action, not a position. It’s what a leader does today that will make a great difference in their future.

Whether you’re coaching a basketball team, managing a start-up or moving up the ranks of a Fortune 500 company, successful habits are the key to great leadership.

Here are the 10 habits that I encourage all my clients to practice every dayuntil they become daily discipline.

Promoting your vision. Keep a clear vision of where your organization is going in front of your people on a daily basis. When you do, they’re not only more motivated but also more effective since their work stays connected to your shared strategic goals.

Managing priorities. The better you can prioritize the things you have to do, the better you can focus your efforts on the things that matter most. Without clear priorities, you’ll end up spending significant time and energy on unimportant tasks.

Delegating tasks. Leaders by nature want to do things for themselves, but learning to delegate when necessary is important. It controls your workload, develops your employees, and enables your team to achieve its goals quicker, produce better results and accomplish more than you ever could on your own.

Motivating change. If your team is working on the premise If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, you have an organization that is stagnant and stuck. A key role of strong leadership involves constantly and consistently motivating change—for individuals, for teams, and for the entire organization.

Generating urgency. When you instill a sense of urgency within yourself, you motivate yourself to deliver on results. Without it, you may find yourself procrastinating, doing halfhearted work and struggling to get tasks and projects done on time. Urgency is your best weapon against daily distractions.

Communicating clearly. Good communication is a foundational element for successful leadership. Your followers look to you for vision and direction; if they can’t understand what you’re trying to communicate, they won’t know what to do and performance will suffer.

Listening actively. Good listening is among the best skills you can cultivate. It means intentionally focusing and listening to understand, then following up with open-ended questions that start with what, how, or why. It means moving beyond your own point of view and checking your own understanding for accuracy.

Managing risk. Successful leaders are always scanning the horizon for risks as well as opportunities—or for the two in combination, as they often are. Learn the art of constantly weighing costs and benefits, probabilities and prospective outcomes.

Acting decisively. Good leadership means controlling any impulse toward impatience and reactivity on the one hand, and overthinking and delay on the other. They work to ensure that their understanding of the problem is complete, then take strong action and never look back.

Empowering others. Part of your job as a leader is to help your people develop into a team of top players. People grow when they own their decisions, hold themselves accountable for outcomes, and directly experience the consequences of their actions. Successful leaders see and bring out greatness in others.

Lead from within: When you can do these things on a daily basis, you will be not only an effective leader but likely a successful one too.

 Leaders influence people and are influenced by others. Leaders control the crowd—when there is crisis—and are willingly controlled. Leaders motivate teams. They do not coerce. They achieve results by developing a shared vision and communicating it to the team whilst influencing with passion. Leaders have self-esteem, initiative, and commitment. They are self-aware and continually learn.

Over the years I’ve worked with many and been led by few. Through their art I’ve learned to recognise key characteristics and qualities of a successful leader.

1. Leaders Create an Atmosphere of Trust

Leaders recognise that trust is earned. Therefore they walk-the-talk consistently and treat people with respect. Successful teams are confident, trusted and supported by their leader. Leaders look out for their team.

2. Leaders Build the Right Team

Strong leaders build strong teams: groups of people who work together in cooperative effort. They adapt their style to suit any given situation and create an environment where the team flourishes. They also know their strengths and weaknesses (they are self-aware) and those of their team. They play to their team’s strengths.

3. Leaders Keep their Mind On the Big Picture

A good leader doesn’t lose focus and keeps the end goal firmly in mind. They have vision and tirelessly pursue it without getting sidetracked. They are proactive and remove obstacles which get in the way of achieving the vision.

What’s more they show people where they’re heading. People connect with good leaders.

4. Leaders Monitor Performance and Give Feedback

Successful leaders know that setting clear goals and monitoring progress motivates the team and leads to better performance. Furthermore, leaders readily give feedback — since it costs nothing — to positively encourage or to tackle an area of weakness. They never belittle, criticise or degrade a colleague.

5. Leaders Maintain Open Communication

Leaders know that teams succeed when there is open and honest communication. They encourage creativity, innovation and productivity by opening up communication channels between customer and service provider. They don’t hide problems. Rather they let people know straight away; turning a problem into an opportunity for the team to shine.

For many businesspeople, the last thing you want to worry about (or do) is managing people. You want to get out there and meet customers and create awesome products and bring exciting new opportunities through your front door. But unless you've hired people to take on the task of managing your employees, then you're still on the hook.

The good news is that you can make that task a little bit easier for yourself by remembering these 7 essential leadership keys, and your organization will benefit as a direct result.

6. Delegate wisely

The key to leadership success is to learn to effectively delegate both the responsibility for completing assignments and the authority required to get things done. Many bosses feel that they need to control every little thing that their employees do. This is a recipe for disaster. When you delegate work to employees, you multiply the amount of work you can accomplish while you develop your employees' confidence, leadership and work skills.

7. Set goals

Every employee needs goals to strive for. Not only do goals give employees direction and purpose, but they ensure that your employees are working towards the overall organizational goals. Set specific and measurable goals with your employees, then regularly monitor their progress toward achieving them.

8. Communicate

Far too many bosses communicate far too little. It's often difficult for busy business owners and executives to keep their employees up-to-date on the latest organizational news. Regardless, you must make every effort to get employees the information they need to do their jobs quickly and efficiently.

9. Make time for employees

Above all, leadership is a people job. When an employee needs to talk with you--whatever the reason--make sure that you set aside the time to do so. Put your work aside for a moment, put down your smartphone, and focus on the person standing in front of you.

10. Recognize achievements

Every employee wants to do a good job. And when they do a good job, employees want recognition from their bosses. Unfortunately, few bosses do much in the way of recognizing and rewarding employees for a job well done. The good news is that there are many things bosses can do to recognize employees that cost little or no money, are easy to implement, and that take only a few minutes to accomplish.

11. Think about lasting solutions

No matter how difficult the problem, there is always a quick solution, and leaders are happiest when they are devising solutions to problems. The trouble is that, in our zeal to fix things quickly and move on to the next fire, we often overlook the lasting solution that may take longer to develop. Although it's more fun to be a firefighter, the next time you have a problem to solve in your organization, deal with the cause of the problem instead of simply treating the symptoms.

12. Don't take It all too seriously

Without a doubt, running a company is serious business. Products and services must be sold and delivered, and money must be made. Despite the gravity of these responsibilities, successful leaders make their organizations fun places to work. Instead of having employees who look for every possible reason to call in sick or to arrive to work late or go home early, organizations work hard and play hard end up with a more loyal, energized workforce.

  Powerful Traits Of Successful Leaders

Successful leaders are the power and intellect behind their organizations. They are the visionaries charged with steering their brand around pitfalls. They must know when to seize opportunities and how to rally employees to work hard toward their company’s goals.

Effective leaders transcend the title of “manager” or “boss.” They have found a way to achieve the right combination of charisma, enthusiasm and self-assurance, probably with a healthy dose of luck and timing.

It may seem like some people are just gifted with these skills, but the truth is most leadership traits can be learned and sharpened with time and practice. You can begin building your success by developing these 11 must-have traits of a powerful and successful leader.

13. Self-Managing

It’s hard to manage others effectively if you can’t manage yourself. Self-managing means being able to prioritize your goals and being responsible for accomplishing those objectives. As an effective leader, you must be able to regulate your time, attention and emotions, while remaining aware of your strengths, weaknesses and potential sources of bias.

Exceptional leaders are adept at handling stress and balancing their personal and professional lives. But you must also remember the importance of compassion and be able to respond to people and events in an appropriate way. Remember to maintain self-control and discipline in your actions, though you should avoid becoming overly reserved or inflexible.

14. Acting Strategically

A forward-thinking, open-minded approach is necessary for today’s leaders. According to a Harvard Business Publishing report, Leading Now: Critical Capabilities for a Complex World, “Leaders must always be prepared to adjust their strategies to capture emerging opportunities or tackle unexpected challenges.” Thinking strategically is an ongoing process that involves assessing your business environment. You can cultivate strategic thinking by:

• Being curious and genuinely interested in your company and wider business environment,

• Being flexible in your mindset and trying new approaches and ideas,

• Focusing on the future and thinking about your company’s operational conditions, and

• Maintaining a positive outlook.

15. Being An Effective Communicator

Powerful leaders know when to talk and when to listen. They are effective communicators and are able to clearly and succinctly explain to their employees everything from organizational goals to specific tasks. If people don’t understand or aren’t aware of your expectations, they will fall short, so the more specific you can be, the better.

You need to be able to communicate on all levels: one on one, to the department and to the entire staff, as well as via phone, email and social media. Communication is built on a steady flow of verbal and nonverbal exchanges of ideas and information, so work on being approachable and involving people from different levels.

16. Being Accountable And Responsible

Successful managers know how to use power and authority appropriatelywithout overwhelming or overpowering employees. Effective leaders hold themselves accountable and take responsibility for their own mistakes—and they expect others to do the same. They can work within established procedures, and be productive and efficient in their decisions.

They appreciate the importance of supporting and encouraging individuality while also understanding organizational structures and the need to follow rules and policies. They are able to balance different perspectives while taking appropriate action.

17. Setting Clear Goals And Persisting In Achieving Them

Here is a boiled-down version for acquiring charisma: Set clear goals and be determined and purposeful in achieving them. Back it all up with unshakable self-confidence. If you radiate enthusiasm and are truly excited about what you’re doing, people will be naturally drawn to you.

Remember that writing your goals down is key to the success of both you and your company. But accomplishing those goals takes time. If you give up, so will everyone around you. To be a successful leader, you must be willing to keep going when others are tempted to throw in the towel.

18. Having A Vision For The Future

Exceptional leaders have the ability to look into their company’s future and make clear, concrete goals that will benefit their organization. They are confident and optimistic, inspiring enthusiasm in those around them.

Being a visionary is about managing change while striking a balance between stability and growth. You must incorporate new approaches without getting distracted from the main goals.

Being a visionary means understanding that continuous change is occurring all around you, so what worked in the past may not always work now. Practice being adaptable and agile as you implement new strategies and allow your business model to evolve over time.

 19. Managing Complexity 

Leaders must be problem solvers who can make decisions under rapidly shifting circumstances. Learning to lead in a complex environment is a vital skill for any leader. Even before any definitive information is available, effective leaders must assess a situation’s complexity and choose appropriate courses of action.

According to a Harvard Business Publishing report, that means being able to scan the environment in search of subtle trends and indicators of disruptive change, and establish practices that allow your organization to respond swiftly.

20. Fostering Creativity And Innovation

Leaders must have the courage to risk experimentation and encourage creativity. Doing this will foster the innovation that will steer your organization to new destinations and around the twists and turns of a changing business landscape.

The key is to always be persistent in pursuing your goals, and open minded and flexible in how you get there. Encourage the people around you to spend at least 15 percent of their time exploring new ideas through brainstorming and prototyping.

21. Team Building And Promoting Teamwork

Successful leadership is built on the people around you. Team building is essential to leading a diverse and unique group of people with distinct personalities, motivations and skills.

Strong teams and teamwork are key to achieving many of things on this list, such as fostering innovation, effective communication and achieving your organization’s goals. If you recruit and develop the right team, you will be creating an unstoppable force that will drive your organization’s success.

22. Creating Lasting Relationships

Compelling leaders do more than just inspire others to follow them; they know how to motivate their employees to strive wholeheartedly for their company’s goals. Employees who feel valued and appreciated, who feel like what they do makes a difference, will feel invigorated to push harder to achieve success for their company.

Outstanding leaders also understand that they need to be effective at networking, not just to advance their own careers, but for the benefit of their organization. By creating a vast and varied network of people, leaders establish impactful relationships with customers, clients, partners and even competitors.

23. Learning Agility

Truly great leaders know that the strength of their leadership is built on their ability to adapt to suddenly changing circumstances and to know how and when to seize on opportunities amid a changing landscape.

Having an insatiable curiosity will fuel your desire to constantly learn and grow. Learning agility hinges on developing critical thinking skills, being accepting of uncertainty, having social and emotional intelligence and always having the desire and determination to push forward.