Introduction
Good leaders are made, not born. And there’s no secret recipe for leadership. But here’s a great way to start: take time to examine your own particular strengths and weaknesses, as well as what makes you tick as a person. Then look at the world around you and figure out how you can best contribute to it. If you take nothing else from this article, remember this: leadership is a journey, not a destination. So fasten your seatbelt of self-awareness and let’s get going!
Leadership is a journey, not a destination.
Leadership is not a destination, it’s a journey. It’s not something you can check off your list and be done with. You have to keep working at it, keep growing, keep changing—and that’s what makes leadership so fun!
Leadership is a journey, not a destination. This means that being an effective leader isn’t something you do once or twice and then never need to think about again. Instead of waiting for this moment in time when you’re “ready” or “qualified” or whatever we tell ourselves so that we don’t get started right away (I’ve been there), realize that there will always be more to learn—about yourself as much as anything else—and take small steps every day towards becoming better at leading others
It’s OK to be grey.
It’s OK to be a little bit of a grey area. It is okay to be a contradiction and a paradox, too. In fact, if you are not these things, then you’ve got it all wrong!
Being different is what makes us special and unique people in the world. People want to make themselves stand out from the crowd; they want to show that they’re their own person and have their own personality. If everyone was exactly the same as everyone else then life would become extremely boring very quickly!
If you are someone who has these qualities within yourself then don’t be afraid or embarrassed by them – embrace them! These qualities will help define who you are as an individual which means that other people will appreciate having someone around with such varied interests and experiences compared with those around them
Influence, don’t command.
You can’t command people to do things they don’t want to do. It’s not going to work, and it will only lead you down a path of frustration. However, you can influence people in a way that inspires them to act on their own accord.
When you use your influence as a leader, others follow your lead because they feel inspired by the way you think and act. They choose to take action out of their own free will because they believe in what you’re doing—and why it matters. This is true leadership!
Be like a duck, not a chicken.
In order to be a new generation leader, you need to be like a duck and not like a chicken. Duck, because they are flexible, adaptable, and resilient. Chicken is just the opposite of those things–it’s rigid, inflexible, and not very good at problem-solving or listening.
An effective leader has to be able to think on their feet, have good communication skills, they must be comfortable with change (change is inevitable) and they must understand those leadership qualities are developed over time through experience as well as learning from others who have been successful in their chosen field of expertise.
Don’t make the mistake of not asking for help.
Don’t make the mistake of not asking for help. Many people believe that if they ask for help, it will take away from their own individual responsibilities and make others think they are not capable of doing their jobs on their own. While this may be true in some cases if you don’t ask your team members what they need from you, how can you truly be a leader? Asking for feedback or help will show your team that you value them and trust them enough to delegate certain tasks to them instead of doing everything yourself (which is ultimately going to hold up progress). If someone says no to your request to lend a hand with something specific, chances are good that person has already got his or her plate full with other things he or she needs to be done first. Asking someone else doesn’t mean asking them directly—you can also reach out via email or Slack message!
Be the best at listening.
Listening is a skill that you can learn and improve. It’s not just about hearing, it’s about understanding. Listening is not the same as hearing or being taught something—it’s learning what people are saying, both physically and emotionally. In order to do this, you need to put your own thoughts aside and focus on what others are saying to you. This can be difficult because it requires us to be vulnerable by letting go of our perceptions and beliefs in order for us to truly hear another person’s message.
However, if we do this, we will gain valuable insight into how others think so that we may better understand their motivations behind certain decisions or actions they make throughout our professional lives (or personal lives). Being able to listen will help us connect with others in ways we never thought possible before!
Be responsible for your own career.
As a young leader, you have the opportunity to be proactive and take ownership over your career. Don’t be passive or reactive in this area. Instead, be proactive and step up when opportunities arise. If you don’t know what your next steps are going to look like, ask someone who has done it before and learn from them.
Don’t wait around for the company to tell you what they want from you or what they think that your next move should be; take an active role in defining those things for yourself by being open about what interests and excites you as well as working on transferring those ideas into practice through initiatives or projects at work that align with these interests. And remember: if a colleague is interested in mentoring or coaching another person within their organization who might benefit from their experience (in particular someone early on their journey), then go ahead – ask them! There’s no reason not to seize this opportunity when it comes along!
To be an effective leader in this day and age you need to focus on being yourself and leading authentically
To be an effective leader in this day and age you need to focus on being yourself and leading authentically. To be genuine, you must be yourself. You cannot fake it or pretend to be something other than what you are. People will see through that immediately, so don’t even try. Be true to yourself, your values, your beliefs, and how you want the world to work for everyone else as well as yourself. There’s one thing I know for certain: when someone is being authentic they are also more likely to have empathy for others because they have first-hand experience with what it feels like when someone else shows them compassion rather than sympathy based on their own circumstances alone (which isn’t necessarily bad but doesn’t always lead us all toward positive change either).
The next step would be being humble enough that maybe instead of focusing on making decisions all by yourself because no one else knows anything about running a business–even though there might not actually be anyone around who can offer better advice–you could ask others first before making any big decisions like hiring new staff members or outsourcing work overseas since neither option has ever been tried before locally so maybe we should think about doing some research here first before leaping headlong into something new and risky? Maybe instead of assuming that outsourcing jobs overseas would save money by reducing overhead costs due to out-of-pocket expenses at home (labour costs included), we could figure out how much money really goes into these types of projects beforehand? What if there was another way besides outsourcing where employees could still get paid while working remotely from home offices across continents instead? Wouldn’t that make more sense anyway if we’re going after profit margins at all costs?”
Conclusion
Becoming a new generation leader is not easy, but it’s the only way to set yourself up for success. We need to build relationships that are based on trust and respect with our teams and colleagues. And we need to be able to adapt quickly to changing circumstances in an increasingly connected world. The key takeaway here should be that we’re all leaders – whether you’ve been in your current role for 10 years or 10 minutes!