Tara Fennessy gives us six components of good leadership.

A strong leader is the pillar of any team as they drive group members towards the same goal, offering inspiration and motivation to those that need it. To become a strong leader, you need a clear vision and direction/strategy with an influence upon your group and business stakeholders.

Without a leader, a team would simply be a group without framework. Here’s a six-step guide to help harvest a strong leader.

A clear direction and the will to achieve it

Having a leader with a strong mind that can influence others is a beneficial attribute when leading a team as a strong thought process means for good decision-making and idea generation in a time pressured situation.

Great thinkers come in many variations, while those who like time to mull over decisions are useful in many situations; it takes decisive decisions to lead. Good leaders navigate successfully between what they think, feel and know when making their best decisions.

If your group members are happy individually then they will be more engaged and hard-working in the workplace. 

Understanding your team

To be able to understand the personality traits of everyone in the group to know how to make the more effective team. By understanding how each individual works, you are more capable of coordinating an efficient team.

This includes the emotional side of leadership, by considering what affects your team members and how to ensure everyone is achieving their personal goals. If your group members are happy individually then they will be more engaged and hard-working in the workplace.

Look inside any office and there are clear differences between employees, their motivations and desires. Professional goals all play their part in to how they respond to different types of leaders; it’s your role to gain an understanding into each individual.

Cognitive flexibility

Becoming a strong leader doesn’t come without its challenges. It’s having the mental agility to get over those hurdles that improves your skillset as a leader. Flexing your role as a leader sometimes means adapting your skills and asking better questions to your team members when a challenging situation arises.

Collaborating as a team to find a solution proves you have the cognitive flexibility to mould into an active team member as well as authoritative figure.

Connections

Forming strong connections built on trust with team members is a key part of becoming a leader as letting members of the team know how they affect each other can help prevent any negativity in the workplace.

Team members should be made aware of their strengths and have ample times to use them during team work. With an open flow of communication running between you and your team, you should gain knowledge on how to keep your team happy and working hard.

The importance of story-telling skills

Story-telling skills are what makes you an inspiring leader. If you know your message then expressing it to your team should inspire them to follow your vision and work towards to the same goal. Your team understanding what is important to you and why can be inspiring.

Inspiration is an important part of being an effective leader; it’s what turns a group of people into a team. Your messaging and story-telling skills should amplify your message and show your team members how important your vision is.

Results and vision

Having goals and objectives is part of any business but being the leader, people need to be excited about your vision and celebrate the steps along the way. Results and achievements towards your vision can be a reflection of your work as a leader.

Anchoring the commitments and objectives of the team throughout your leadership development can be helpful. This is also a good way to help keep track of progress, momentum and consistency in the team.

Whether you’re new to the position or simply feel lacking in the necessary skills, becoming a strong leader can seem like a hard task. Implementing these six steps can help you develop as an authoritative figure in the workplace, offering structure and leadership to those looking at you for guidance and the right skill set for advancement to those looking from above.

Strong leaders are constantly growing and no-one begins life in possession of the skills required, constantly working to better yourself and getting feedback and coaching leads to success, help yourself by utilising these steps into your working life.

About the author

Tara Fennessy is managing director of Leadership Skills Training Ltd