Post COVID-19, the demand for effective leadership will grow because people need help to navigate this new terrain. Pressure and crisis reveal the need for someone (or, a group) to step up to help others find strength and direction. As an entrepreneur, the demand for you to lead will increase in this season.
If that is true, are you ready to lead? Do you see yourself as a leader? If you don’t feel adequate, what simple skills can help sharpen your leadership edge? One such skill is the knowledge of people. Effective leadership takes the time to know the people that they lead on three levels and this knowledge gives them an edge. To lead well, you ought to know these about the people you lead.
Know People’s Dreams: Beyond qualifications, effective leaders take the time to know people’s dreams, hopes and aspirations. Good leaders open conversations that explore what those that they lead are thinking to know if they are in line with the organization’s vision and goals. Gone are the days when leaders only focused on people’s curriculum vitae (CV) or passing expressions of intent to understand how to lead them well. People’s dreams hold keys to unlocking leadership influence.
When you understand people’s dreams, you gain access to their thought processes. You get to understand their self-perception and beliefs. This knowledge would help you align the corporate vision with their personal dreams and this births commitment in people. Generally, people are more invested in organizations that will help them achieve their dreams. In this case, it’s a win-win.
Know People’s Growth Level: Your leadership influence grows when you can gauge how much people have grown mentally and emotionally because people are on different wavelengths. Here you ask the people that you lead questions like: what do you think? Understanding how they think and respond to different scenarios would help you know mindsets that need shifting. Also, it helps you to assign leadership roles to people who have the capacity to pull it off. Knowing people’s growth levels requires that you observe and have conversations.
Know People’s Competence: It is important to know people’s capacity for work. It helps to know their work ethics and skill level because in some cases, the curriculum vitae (CV) is shiny, but the competency doesn’t measure up. Knowledge of people’s competency helps you to effectively assign tasks to the right people. Also, it helps you build a credible reward system that is based on merit.
Email: [email protected]
