If you tell someone how great they are and constantly remind them of their strengths, you make them feel better about themselves. If you focus on people’s talents you enhance their chances to succeed. Don’t you? If you lift someone up in terms of their potential, you indirectly motivate them to perform. Agreed? This is the very foundation of leadership. If you lift your team members up, and you develop their skills to reach their full potential you take the first step to becoming a great leader.
M.D. Arnold said: “A good leader leads the people from above them. A great leader leads the people from within them.” And Ronald Reagan said: “The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.”
And how do you get others to do great things? You lift them up. You boost their confidence. You motivate them and encourage them to follow through, but most importantly people need to see that you believe in them.
If you want to be a great leader then you need to challenge the status quo without breaking people. To push the boundaries of people you think have potential doesn’t mean you have to force them. People come and go throughout both our personal and professional lives. They shape and mould us with their unique perspectives. You then choose to either learn from their wisdom or decide that this is not right for you. The leaders in your life become your mentors.
It was John Maxwell who said: “To add value to others, one must first value others.” For you to be a great leader and mentor, you need to understand that everyone is different. Each person has their own culture, values, backgrounds, experiences and circumstances. Be a leader who invests time and patience into taking employees with potential out of their comfort zones. Here your emotional intelligence is extremely vital. This set of skills will help you understand your employees better and assist you with avenues that you can introduce to motivate their thinking habits positively. Know who you are and then you will influence others.
To positively influence thinking habits will then in turn encourage better and sound decision making and also assist with good problem solving. Great leaders never stop in investing in their team or staff’s skills development. When there is a strong base line of continuous up-skilling, people feel better about themselves because they are taught how to deal with issues in a positive manner. They are also taught to accept what they cannot change and how to work on the things they can change.
This is all for nothing if you as a great leader don’t rightly manage and nurture your staff so that they can become all they can be. Leaders also need continuous development. They still need mentors for guidance. No one ever knows everything all the time. Leaders who continuously learn and develop their own skills are the great leaders in the end. They are the ones who are responsible for the up-liftment of communities, the growth and success of businesses, and successful economies etc.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said: “Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you help them become what they are capable of being.” Always remember that.
The Mindspa Institute helps people discover and develop their leadership skills and abilities.