Becoming a great leader is not difficult as there are no super-secret techniques required. Many leaders forget to do the simple things that make great leaders. The following leadership tips are just the beginning. Theory is not enough here, practice is needed just like everything else in life.
1. Be humane
It is important to remember that you are managing people, each with their own unique set of struggles and experiences. To many leaders, people are viewed as a resource that needs to be managed and used efficiently.
Your team always knows who to support, whether they are your friends or just people you work with. A man-hour will never help you fix a problem.
2. Learn to manage
Many of us do not naturally know how to direct people, and I have not found any leadership courses that are truly helpful. We are fortunate to have books at our disposal.
3. Understand what you are managing
Authority can only be won by expertise. If you want to be a successful leader, you need to understand the things you’re responsible for. This is important for leaders at any level.
To lead a development team, you should know about the tools, APIs, arrays, functions and algorithmic complexity. Ideally, you should have been a developer yourself at some point in the past.
If you don’t understand what you’re managing, you won’t be able to properly judge when to do something, how risky it is, or how much it will cost.
4. Admit your own and others’ mistakes
Trying to dodge the bullet won’t fool anyone. Your authority will be lost immediately if you do this. Even if it won’t be noticeable at first.
Speaking about your mistakes in public has a very positive effect. The team will realize that making mistakes is not scary and that it is normal. If employees feel that it is okay to make mistakes without being ridiculed, they will be more courageous in their work. This will allow them to take more risks, which will give your company a competitive advantage.
5. Let the person correct their own mistake
You don’t need to show how smart you are by making one of the employees look bad. It is better to write to the person who made the mistake and tell them directly what the mistake was. Let the students discuss the solution to the problem and correct it themselves.
In other words, don’t make people feel bad in public – let them improve themselves. Making their work better in the long run will improve their productivity.
6. Protect your people
You need to be strong enough to take all the impact. You should be the only one who has a say in who is on your team. If someone has criticisms about your employees, they should come to you instead of going directly to your employees. You will then decide what, if any, action needs to be taken within your company.
7. Be honest and talk about the future
Always say it like it is. Honest communication is key if a project is no longer receiving funding and is at risk of failing. If there are plans to change something, it is important to communicate this to those who will be affected in advance. This way, individuals are not caught off guard by the change.
If the company is planning to reduce staff, speak up about it. It is better to say later that the plans did not come true than to put people’s feelings before the fact. If the company is planning on raising everyone’s wages, they need to tell us. It builds trust and increases retention. The culture in teams with transparent leadership is always better.
8. Within the team, everyone should have a fair salary
You can’t always make an employee’s salary the highest on the market. There will always be a company that pays more money and a person who earns more money. People need to see that their salary is fair in order to feel like they have enough value for your company.
To understand whether the salary is fair or not, I use this technique: Imagine one day all salaries in the company become public. Will I be embarrassed in front of someone from my team? If people’s salaries are not high enough, they need to be fixed.
9. Take all the blame
As a leader, you are responsible for the outcomes of the actions of those under your charge. If you make a mistake, you will be held responsible and then you can decide what to do about it within the team.
It is not important to those not involved who is really to blame, but those involved need to feel safe and well-cared for. Even if you wait to fire the employee that made the mistake, the team needs to feel that you did it not because of the pressure from others, but because it made logical sense and after careful consideration.
10. Trust your employees
It is important to trust your employees because they are paid specialists who were hired based on their knowledge and skills. You don’t need to check their work or tell them what to do. There is no need to arrange meetings that do not result in any decisions. If daily status meetings last for 1.5 hours, this is an indication that trust levels are low. One 10-minute Zoom call or Jira conversation is enough.
11. The team must be able to work without you
While it may feel good to be irreplaceable, it is not a recipe for success. If something happens to you, everything falls apart. Processes should be designed to allow the team to work independently and effectively. You know you’ve achieved inner peace when you haven’t been bothered by anything during your two-week vacation.
This in no way makes you a useless person. The fact that you have no points of failure indicates that you have built your processes effectively.
12. The team should not have irreplaceable people
This is not just about you, it’s about everyone. There is a temptation to give certain tasks to someone who is better at them. But this is a dangerous path. Anything can happen to people. For example, my main system administrator was hit by a car. We had the necessary tools and resources, but we didn’t have someone who was qualified to do the job. It took our smartest guys six months to understand what to do and how it needs to be done.
Therefore, try to rotate tasks. It’s beneficial to have more than one employee who knows how to complete a task, in case one employee is slower or worse at the task than the other. This also allows for trying new things.
13. Respect boundaries
Do not infringe on your employees’ personal time or space. Do not actively campaign for any team building. People will naturally want to socialize outside of work, and they won’t need your permission to do so.
Vacation is a sacred time. If you keep having to call someone who’s on vacation, you’ve done something wrong.
14. Collect feedback
It is important to ask the team what they think periodically in order to gauge what they are enjoying or not enjoying, and what they would want to change. -You have a few options for how you want to go about this. -You can do it alone, with a group, or without anyone knowing. The ideal situation would be if everyone on your team felt comfortable enough to voice their opinions, but even if some team members are shy or Reserved, they should still have a chance to be heard.
15. Keep in touch even after the employee leaves
There are opportunities for starting a new company or for a new spot to open up. If someone is no longer employed at your company, this is not a reason to stop communicating with them; in some cases, it may be the opposite. Maintain relationships with the people you know, as you may need their help again in the future.
Check in every so often to see how they’re doing and if they want to come back. If you’re disappointed with your new employer, you may feel ashamed to go back to your old one.
To be an effective manager, it is important to ensure good communication and relationships within the team. What better way to build team morale than to organize a team building event?
The activities below are meant to help improve communication and interpersonal relationships, as well as encourage creative thinking and problem-solving skills.
1. Human Knot
This game is perfect for promoting teamwork within your workplace as employees will have to work together in order to untangle the knot. You’ll need to be a good leader and work together with others to solve the game’s puzzles.
This is a great game for problem-solving and communication skills. It will take 5-10 minutes to play and you’ll need at least six people.
How to play Human Knot
Then, reach out and take the hand of another player who is not standing directly next to you. To play Human Knot, stand in a circle facing inwards and reach out to take the hand of another player who is not standing directly next to you. Players must join hands with somebody across from them, not next to them. Finally, join hands with a new partner, using your left hand this time.
The goal of the game is to untangle the knot without letting go of each other’s hands, so that the players end up standing in a perfect circle with their hands joined. Players will need to squirm and wiggle their way through each other’s hands while staying in communication in order to achieve this.
2. Blind Retriever
This game is perfect for small groups who want to have a good time and improve their communication skills. It’s a great way to get everyone laughing and having fun.
This is a great game for having fun and strengthening communication and listening skills. It should take 5-10 minutes to play, and you’ll need a random object and at least 2 blindfolds.
How to play Blind Retriever
split the players into two teams and have them stand at a start line One member from each team must put on a blindfold while somebody places a random object somewhere in the room. You need to use an object that is not abrasive and has smooth edges.
After hearing “Go!” the teams must guide their blindfolded teammates to the random object before the opposition gets there first. The player cannot pass the start line until they have given all their commands verbally. The team that gets their hands on the random object first wins.
3. Perfect Square
The company Perfect Square encourages employees to either lead or cooperate with their peers. To do this, they use verbal communication to turn a length of string into a perfect square while blindfolded.
The game is great for leadership, communication, listening skills, and problem-solving and only requires blindfolds, a long piece of rope with the ends tied together . It can be played with 4-10 players and lasts 10-20 minutes.
How to play Perfect Square
Blindfold each player and have them form a circle facing inwards. They should each be holding a piece of rope in their hands. To start the game, the players need to form a circle with the rope. Once the circle has been formed, the players can lay the rope on the ground and take a couple of steps back.
Now the game begins. The players must attempt to move the rope so the rope is touching all four corners of the square on the ground. A leader should be chosen who will then guide the other players only using vocal cues.
4. Two Truths, One Lie
If you’ve ever played the game “Two Truths and a Lie,” then you know how fun and interesting it can be to find out new things about your colleagues. This game is perfect for team building and getting to know your co-workers better. This game is a great way for your employees to improve their public speaking skills in a relaxed setting.
Great for: Building relationships, public speaking, communication Duration: 10-20 Players: 2+ You’ll need: N/A
How to play Two Truths, One Lie
Play Two Truths, One Lie by sitting together in a circle on the floor or at a desk. Then, players go around the circle, taking turns telling three interesting facts about themselves.
The catch? One of these statements is an outright lie. It is up to the listeners to try and determine which of the three statements is a lie. Do your employees know each other as well as they think they do? This game will test their limits.
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