12 BEHAVIORS FOR EMPOWERED LEADERSHIP

What makes an excellent leader is the quality of his or her mindset. The mind is what determines the quality of life, and so therefore, the way a leader thinks is crucial to effective leadership. Since leadership is refined from a set of skills, it is important to take any opportunity we can to refine them.

So what are these skills?

According to Lolly Daskal, these are the skills you must strengthen or need to develop to be an excellent leader.

• Curiosity
• Positivity
• The Ability to Listen
• Openness
• Empathy
• Resourcefulness
• Good Relationship with Change
• Communicative
• Connection
• Confidence
• Conviction
• Solution-Oriented

Curiosity: It is necessary to be curious in order to expand not only the breadth of skills, but the depth of them as well. Every great leader is equipped with this asset designed for their growth because it sparks a will to learn. Being curious enables us to ask questions and seek answers, answers that we can then use.

Positivity: Our brains are wired to only notice the bad things in life more easily than the good things. A crucial thing to remember when it comes to being a great leader is that, just how good facts don’t necessarily cancel out the bad ones, bad ones don’t cancel out the good ones. A great leader knows this and can catalyze moments of adversity with a positive attitude.

The ability to listen: Not only do people want to be heard, but in order to be a great leader, the ability to really listen is emphasized as it is a gateway to many other skills on this list. With the ability to listen, we pay attention to things that matter: our team’s well-being and productivity.

Openness: Linked with curiosity, having an open mind to ideas, people, and opportunities, makes way to even more breadth and depth of learning. Taking an open approach harvests growth.

Empathy: Building a connection and trust with the team is fundamental for being an excellent leader. An excellent leader doesn’t terminate or shut down on someone who is struggling. If the standards -whether tangible or intangible- are not met, an excellent leader calls the person into his space, sits down with him/her and empathically asks, “Are you ok? What’s going on?  What can we do so that you can get back to your level of optimal well-being and productivity?”

Resourcefulness: An excellent leader asks what we can use as tools and look around as well as within. An excellent leader recognizes the problems at hand and recognizes what we are equipped with, making the most of what is present. An excellent leader looks at the glass half full, knowing there is a chance to make the best of what we have.

Adaptability The reality of life is that nothing is a constant, except change itself. And change is bound to be roaming somewhere among the team and environment. The printer isn’t working; a new software is installed and so people must be retrained; coworkers quit; workload is doubled or halved -whatever the situation, change is everywhere. Establishing a great relationship with change is a way of being resourceful, and the benefit is that time and effort is not spent on complaining or wishing things would stay the same. Instead, more time and efforts are dedicated to what matters in the moment.

Communicativeness: Expressing ourselves consists of being clear and transparent on the goals we have in mind, the ideas we want to share, and what our expectations of the situations are. Excellent leaders know that communication is key to get the jobs done at their optimum level since there shouldn’t be misinterpretations involved with how clear, and concise, they are from the start.

Connection: Excellent leaders establish a good connection with their team. Connecting with people requires a passion for establishing great relationships by motivating and encouraging them. Supporting them with the ability to listen and empathically working with them. We are social creatures and we thrive and survive by being social. Great leaders not only know this, but we take it upon ourselves to help others feel connected among each other and -with great caliber- to the bigger vision/cause shared.

Confidence: When it comes to having confidence, it is not just about having this feeling of excitement towards the tasks at hand. It is about having the courage to be bold and take credit for both accomplishments and mistakes, while believing in the best outcome.

Conviction: What makes excellent leaders is the inspiration created from the commitment and passion they follow to stay aligned with their values. The dedication shows a fortitude like no other, and it is not only what is essential to be a great leader, but also sought when people turn to an excellent leader.

Solution-Seeking: A leader focuses on the obstacles; an excellent leader focuses on the solutions, even when there may seem to be none. Using all the skills from above, one can train oneself to be solution-oriented rather than problem-focused. A great leader acknowledges the presence of problems, but also sees them as opportunities for many solutions birthed from real-time learning experiences.

As a leader it is important to remember that we will be more comfortable strengthening some of these key behaviors over other ones. It does not necessarily define who we are, but what values we prefer to reinforce and, in many cases of great leadership, what we believe is best suited for the situations and obstacles in front of us. These are tools that we must learn how to use for empowering excellence in our leadership.

🔴 Be Empowered, my friends.