Act Like A Boss – Tip’s For Future Leaders
You have a desire to lead and see a management role in your future. Perhaps you have just received a promotion and you now need to step up your game. Future leaders, here are some tips to implement to get yourself in the game.
1. SWOT
Learn about yourself. Do some self-reflection and clearly identify your key strengths and what areas need improvement. Knowing where your strengths lie is what will project you into a leadership role, whilst working on your weaknesses will build and expand your current skill set.
Leaders are very clear on who they are and what they wish to be in the future. Understanding yourself and where you want to go in your career is the first place to start your leadership journey.
2. Stay Social
For many, building your technical skills and putting your head down to work harder seems like the obvious thing to do, but don’t forget to keep your head up and look around. Forming relationships with colleagues is one of the main ways to get noticed. You still need the skills behind you, however will you ever be picked in your career journey as a leader if no one knows who you are and what you can do? Building rapport and being a fragment of the workplace culture is equally, if not more important. Technical skills can always be taught, soft skills can be harder to build.
3. Fail Fast
Used a lot in the start-up world, failing fast is something to be considered in your personal career journey as well. Failing is the best way to learn and failing fast shows resilience and highlights that you roll with the punches ready for the next opportunity. Failure opens your world to new ways of seeing things and allows you to develop as a leader, giving you experience and knowledge on how to tackle projects in the future.
4. Keep On Track
What is it that steers you off track? Do you know what workplace behaviours or tasks derail you from your focus and vision? Get an understanding of key workplace behaviours that may move you off course to achieving your goals. One key trait of successful leaders is the ability to remain goal-orientated and focused on their vision. Keeping your eye on the bigger picture and continually working towards that enables you to meet targets and KPI’s whilst remaining a positive role model for peers and increases your chance of success in the leadership space.
