How Can I Be a Leader and Not a Boss?

Being the boss certainly does have its perks, but not all bosses are true leaders. Though both roles sound the same, there are clear differences between a boss and a leader. Leaders do more than simply assign tasks to employees. They are at the forefront of each and every project. They lead their teams to success, empowering and inspiring along the way.

Business leadership coaching can certainly help you hone your own leadership skills. For now, try following these easy tips to grow into the team leader you want to be.

A Leader Takes the Company Mission to Heart

A boss might be familiar with their company’s mission statement. Rarely does a boss ever think to instill these values into their own management style.

There is something about the company mission that strikes a chord with a true leader. The company mission is integral to how it is run. Therefore, a true leader will value that mission and use it to further guide the company to success.

A Leader is Passionate about What They Do

There is nothing quite like passion for what you do; it can inspire others to feel the same. A leader is excited about the opportunities their job presents. Meanwhile, a boss will simply take projects as they come.

Meeting deadlines can sound rather tedious. Meeting goals can feel refreshing. Encourage your employees to meet their work-related goals on their terms. This can make them feel they are a valued member of their workforce.

This is not to say that you should not have a hand in directing those goals in any way. Rather, a leader guides a fellow employee to accomplish the goals they themselves set out to do.

With passion comes productivity. Apathy will only breed more apathy among your employees.

A Leader Knows Their Team

A bad boss will merely delegate tasks with little regard to an employee’s actual strengths or weaknesses. This can cause an unbalanced work flow that could have otherwise been circumvented. If the boss took the time to get to know their employees, the overall workflow would become much more efficient and synergized.

A true leader delegates authority. Knowing how to maximize the strengths of each team member effectively should result in significant performance improvement over time. For example, someone on the team who struggles with physical content marketing might thrive managing the company’s mobile apps and social media pages instead.

Knowing your employees will also make you more confident in their skill sets. A leader will then know which employees to assemble to make the best team possible for any given project.

A Leader Listens

Enforcing your vision and your vision alone on a project can be harmful to your team. A team leader willingly takes in unique perspectives and solutions from team members. A leader understands that open conversation between team members facilitates a positive work environment for all. They care about the wellbeing of those under their wing as much as the project they are all collaborating on.

Conversely, this also means a leader welcomes human error. Mistakes are a given on any project. Rather than penalizing a team member for them, a leader will provide encouraging feedback on how to improve in the future.

Employees are not cogs in a machine. They are people with their own lives outside of work. Treating their mistakes as something to learn from rather than something to scold can work wonders for morale. Employees will come to trust that you are an honest and fair individual they can turn to as a mentor.

They will also trust that you can take constructive criticism for your own mistakes. It is important that mistakes are treated as a learning opportunity, not something to be shunned.

A Leader Lets Their Employees Do Their Jobs

Bosses tend to micromanage every little detail on a project. A leader will give their employees room to breathe. In fact, doing so means you are confident in the workforce you have put together.

Leets Consortium knows that business is a collaboration, not a dictatorship. A true leader builds open communication skills alongside their fellow employees and clients. Employees appreciate it when they can do their jobs in a way that suits their work style, instead of whatever method their boss sees fit.

They will be more comfortable coming to you for work-related advice and less afraid of messing up. Letting employees figure out what works best for them allows them to be at their most efficient and self-reliant.

Essentially, training and mentoring your employees in this way is a form of leadership development in itself. True leaders know that junior-level employees do not wish to stay so for life. Instead, they guide their employees to become leaders themselves one day.

Could you use some help developing your employees into inspiring leaders? Let’s Chat!

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