Leadership is a twenty-four hour a day job. Too often, we focus on big moments as our time to display our leadership skills. While, these are important, our everyday interactions as a leader are just as important, and maybe even more important.
Everyday leadership focuses on how we interact with employees and how we behave on a day to day basis. Here are some tips to help you ensure that your everyday leadership skills are congruent with your big leadership moments.
- Walk the walk. Behave the way you expect your employees to behave. For example, you can’t constantly show up late to the office while hammering others for being late. Be transparent in your actions, so that others can readily see that you practice what you preach.
- Be approachable. You can learn a lot from your employees about problems and opportunities for improvement in your business. However, to get this education, you must be someone they want to talk to. Take the time to interact with them regularly, and make it clear that they can talk to you any time.
- Stretch yourself. For your business to thrive, everyone needs to stretch themselves developmentally. Your employees will be more likely to do so if they see you do it. Take classes, work in your community and be willing to try new things in your business. This will inspire your employees to try new things for themselves, bringing rewards for both of you. As they grow and develop, they will be even more beneficial to your team.
- Be a mentor. Take the time to learn your employees’ goals, and maybe even help them to set these goals. Then, work with them to help them see how to reach these goals. Mentoring your employees to help them reach their potential pays off for everyone, and creates loyalty within your organization.
- Take risks. Risk is important in business, but sometimes it’s hard for people to know which risks are the right ones to take. When you take calculated risks in your business, and share the information about these with your employees, you help them to develop good decision making skills about risks and rewards.
Practicing everyday leadership is beneficial for your employees, and for you, as well. As you work to ensure you’re being a good leader every day, you will grow in your role, and you’ll help others to grow in theirs, as well.