We all know how important the role of a leader is to get the best out of a team. Influencing members, building strong relationships and protecting their needs go a long way in creating a successful team. Having the right mindset to do things in life is what makes us better leaders. Leadership is not an act but a decision that we must decide to live with. 7 Ways to Lead goes a step further to talk about the right ways to lead your personal life, your relationships and finally your career.

You will learn:

• A leader must self-engage a positive mindset.
• Gratitude affects both the leader and those who follow.
• A leader’s measured and genuine confidence is contagious. 
• Awareness of self and others creates a healthy environment.

Prepare Yourself to Lead Every Day

The preparation for leadership should start, right when your day begins. This could be when you wash your face or brush your teeth. At the first moment when you get close to a mirror, look at yourself in the mirror and make vows to yourself. You have been making different vows, all your life to your partner, children, parents, students and colleagues, but how often have you stopped to look at yourself in the mirror and make a vow to yourself? 

Change this today. Look at yourself in the mirror, make eye contact with yourself and take a vow to live the dream you have in mind. Make a vow to accomplish things at your work, for your family and yourself, and to never fail. This small practice every day will prepare and motivate you to work harder and be your best. If you prepare well in the morning, you will certainly accomplish well in the day.

Express Gratitude for What You Get to Do 

Gratitude brings a lot of strength and positivity into our lives, and to those around us. Most times we are engaged in work with a mindset that “I have to do”  and that ultimately drains us.  Evolving your mindset from thinking that “I have to go to work,” to “I get to go to work” can bring a huge transformation in the way you work or do things. Life is beyond just doing things, it is about being grateful for getting the opportunity to do things.

Show gratitude for the people in your lives and the things you get to do every day. Start enjoying the work that you do, the time you get to spend with your loved ones, instead of just trying to do them. Many don’t get to do what you are doing and you should feel fortunate for that! 

Face the Challenges with Confidence

Life is not always going to be the best because there will be both good and bad times, fair and unfair situations. While most times things are beyond our control, our minds will always be within our control. We get to choose how we want to look at things and how to face them. 

Cultivate inner strength, determination and self-love to overcome risks and insecurities. There is no big deal in having insecurities, everyone has them but the right way to lead is to become aware of them. 

The difference lies in recognizing your positives and negatives, and understanding the person who you really are. You might feel you have many shortfalls but there are many more great things about you.  Shun the negatives and embrace confidence, positivity and courage. Excel the average life that everyone is trying to live and become confident about everything that you are doing. Be it contributing to your team, partner, parents and more. 

Take up risks with an attitude to learn from the outcomes. Risks don’t guarantee success but as a leader, you need to make decisions to keep sailing ahead. Go beyond your comfort and evolve yourself and your team, with every decision or risk you take. The outcome whether failure or success is just a lesson to learn. 

Increase Your Deposits

A leader is there to guide those who need support in getting what they need. The more interest, love, care and respect you give to others, the more deposits you will make in their lives. Your relationships with them will become stronger and chances of having difficult conversations - about disappointments, unmet desires or giving your employees hard observations will be less likely. Even if you have to make difficult conversations, having more deposits will ensure the withdrawals you make don’t damage the relationships.

The higher deposits should still not give you the liberty to make frequent withdrawals. Make withdrawals only when necessary, and in a gentle way. How you say things matter a lot, even more when you are a leader.

Learn the Language of Leadership

What happens when you move to a new country that speaks a language you don’t know? You try to learn their language. But what if you don’t? You can still live there but does that allow you to communicate better with others? 

A leader also needs to learn a language - the language of leadership. 

There are 7 languages - 

• Those inspired by the motivation and positive thoughts want Recognition and Affirmation.
• Employees who value Knowledge and Advancement want to learn from your experience and may want to become like YOU.
• People who are motivated by raises, bonuses and trips need Incentives.
• Flexibility is another language that some like to have in their work.
• Finally, Respect is one thing that everyone loves to receive.

As a leader, you need to know the above 7 Languages and identify who needs what. Having an ability to communicate with others, and giving them what they need is what makes you an effective leader. True leadership is all about helping others move forward and remain positive all along the journey.