Leadership lessons aren’t necessarily hard to come by, and you can skip hard lessons by learning from others.
Humility allows you to incorporate the leadership lessons that others have won through blood, sweat, and tears. You wouldn’t have started reading this if some measure of humility were not already in your wheelhouse, so let’s jump right in!
1. Learn to focus.
An inexperienced leader may spend time wondering what is going on at every level of the office space.
However, this is wasted time and energy that is not necessary. Instead, focus on what is truly important and focus on yourself and your contributions.
2. Business is personal.
Every time a sale is made, or a deal falls through, it affects people and sometimes their livelihood.
Knowing this should not stop you from doing what is right for the company. The faster you get used to the idea of tough decisions, the faster you can learn what approach is right and makes for a happy work environment.
3. It’s a marathon, not a race.
As you continue to be a leader, you will start to want to make sure that you are doing better than your competitors and that you are in the limelight.
Instead of focusing on short-term gains, look toward long-term goals. This keeps the workload doable and you’ll make much smarter decisions.
4. Get a mentor.
Everyone needs a person in their corner, helping them along. There is no shame to it.
As a leader, you should have someone in your corner, your BFF, a friend, or even a fellow leader. These go-to people can help you grow and change over time. Plus, in time, you will get to be a mentor to someone else. So, grow and expand your horizons while you can.
5. People will help…if asked.
We as humans are social creatures and often help one another. This translates over into the workspace.
If there is someone you look up to or admire, reach out and ask a couple of questions. This will help you in personal and social skills, and it can help you get a new friendship out of it.
6. Leadership is not about titles.
Titles should really mean nothing to a leader. Leadership is getting out there and inspiring your employees to do their best.
Too many think about titles as a means to garner prestige and influence. A leader needs to be focused on the goal at hand, a leader who does that will get the title.
7. Swallow your pride.
In life, you will find someone who has power over you. Parents, principles, bosses, and more. For those of you who are independent and proud, it will be a challenge.
As tough as it may be, it’s good to get out of your comfort zone and learn something new. Likewise, if you are a leader in a company, you still have clients, investors, and others who also hold power over you. Instead, swallow your pride and search for a solution that benefits you.
8. Grow your network.
While in college or wherever you may be, you will get to meet all sorts of people. As you connect with dozens and dozens of people, a handful will become lifelong friends.
While that is all fine and peachy, you still don’t have a network for your business. Consequently, while you mingle with your new acquaintances, find like-minded individuals like yourself, and grow your business network.
9. Learn how to handle a blunder.
Not just any blunder — one that an employee can fix on their own — but the big ones that can have lasting consequences.
Those are the ones you need to look out for because it is how you handle it that matters in the end. Similarly, employees will observe how you handled the situation and what came of it. This can make or break your employees as leadership is also about the failures too, not just the successes.
10. Take two steps back, three steps forward.
Over time, you will experience people who make a variety of mistakes, and they bounce back.
Sometimes though, they have a harder time bouncing back whether it’s their 2nd or 3rd time or their 100th time. Keep pushing no matter what, that’s the drive to succeed. Likewise, don’t just get back to where you were…go up and beyond.
As you move toward your 30th birthday, stop long enough to ask if you’d rather learn these leadership lessons the easy way…or not. By taking these ideas to heart, you are able to skip Leadership 101 and move straight into your more advanced “classwork.”
