The Essential & Expected Habits Of A Leader

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Leadership is something that is as personal and lonesome as it is something in which everyone can value. Not only do you have to hold yourself to a high standard, but those above you whom you are leading for, such as the owner of a business you run, and those below you, such as your staff, all have an opinion on how well you are doing. This opinion and perspective may or may not be the truth, but it grows for a reason.

Two blue and one red paper boats

Photo by Miguel Á. Padriñán from Pexels

This means that it’s important to not only make the right choices but to also live up to the essential and expected habits of a leader. In the military, a fundamental method is expected – platoon officers lead from the front. You may decide to take this ideal and bring that into your own leadership style, giving more and more reason for those who evaluate your progress to remain impressed. However, worrying about what other people think of your leadership style can often impede valuable progress, so we would only advise you to consider results in a wide array of variables, rather than hanging on perceptions.

Let us consider what these habits might look like:

Preparedness

An old saying from the Roman Gladiatorial times is ‘the more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in battle.’ Now, luckily none of us have to fight an actual lion in the meeting room, but sometimes the metaphor might be apt, even if you’re the boss. Perhaps you’re meeting with a potential investor waiting to potentially invest millions into your firm, or you need to discipline staff with careful inquiry and pressing evidence. This is where preparation is an absolute, but it’s also essential to get in that good habit anyway. It could be you learn how to edit PDF files in order to condense information down or craft immediate document insight. It could be that you read up on your proposals and learn them word for word. Or, that you take a sharp eye for statistics and planning to ensure you know where your firm is at all time. Preparedness. It can save lives.

Taking Responsibility

Throwing those you’re in charge of under the bus, metaphorically of course, can be a relatively bad habit. If your boss is disciplining you for poor results from your team, blaming certain individuals is seen as bad form. Much better you lead from the front, take responsibility, and learn the difference between an employee being bad and your flaws as a leader.

Read Around The Subject

Not only do you need to lead from the front, but you need to be more knowledgeable, able to conduct the roles of any below you, and understand how to best direct a path should that person fail you. Reading around the subject can surely help you with this, provided you understand how to translate this wisdom to those who may not be as advanced just yet.

With these tips, you’ll embody the essence of a leader.

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