Contrary to popular belief, no one is born leadership material. Leadership skills take a great deal of development, productivity, experience, and drive. Although colleagues and associates may compliment one another with phrases emphasizing “natural leadership,” leaders are made, not born. Achieving worthwhile goals takes strenuous effort. However, a great leader can assist in developing individuals into future leaders with enough practice and efficient systems.
Leadership is prevented from overall productivity by nearly everything in the world. Managers must be able to “tune out the noise” and focus on the essential tasks within an appropriate timeframe. Maintaining a clear plan to strategize from the beginning will significantly improve productivity across the board. Clear strategic plans enable leadership and team members to stay on track and thrive on a firm foundation.
Setting and keeping goals takes discipline, especially when it involves strict deadlines. However, such goals must be realistic, achievable, and even measurable. These types of plans can keep team members focused and enable leadership to measure whether they are falling short or achieving goals. In addition, projects and anything business-related will benefit from goal setting alongside team members and management. Even keeping a daily log on everything you spend time on throughout the day will highlight something as simple as time wasters.
Team members must be involved from the beginning of the move toward productivity. In doing so, your employees will be poised to share in decision-making duties and beyond. In addition, by looking for support and involving your team, management will be better equipped to lead by delegating responsibilities. If you think you have identified something that isn’t taking your team toward the goal, take a second look to determine whether it’s needed. However, when you include team members in decision-making exercises, keep it clear regarding the final decision-maker.
Productive leadership schedules everything throughout the day, from personal to professional tasks to those of their employees. Managers can schedule time for thinking, feedback, and more by putting time into a calendar. Great leaders understand how untrustworthy the To-Do list has become, quickly losing tasks as time passes. Scheduling everything on a calendar eliminates the stress of unfinished To-Do lists, with notifications sent directly to your phone.
If we put even half of our time on urgent matters toward what’s essential, business productivity would skyrocket. In addition, employees of all sorts get caught up in the distractions of the day, highlighting the importance of mitigating distractions. For example, keeping up with all your emails can become a big timewaster. Rather than give into the temptation of replying to emails as they trickle in, practice batch replies instead. This enables you to clear emails off your schedule, especially if they aren’t as urgent as others.
Employees benefit more from regular communication, especially those working remotely. This enables others to understand your expectations on a daily or weekly basis. Feedback is also just as important if only to confirm whether or not they have done an excellent job. You can supply regular feedback to your team by scheduling regular group and individual sessions. Plus, you will be more informed on areas needing improvement individually.
Scheduling time to think may sound ridiculous, but management material is often comprised of thinkers. These individuals have reached leadership excellence through dedication, execution, and more. They understand when it’s time to evolve and when it’s time to shut the door for some thinking sessions. So if you keep getting interrupted by management and employees, simply schedule it on your calendar, and inform others.
Once you become a manager, your journey to lifelong learning has just begun. Those in leadership positions understand the need to improve or learn new leadership skills and management skills, to name a few. Scheduling regular training sessions will keep you on top of industry trends as an investment opportunity that will pay off well into retirement. Remember, your team members depend on your ability to steer the ship. Ensure you have taken the time to plot the course accordingly.
