Leadership Series: If its lonely at the top – you’re doing it wrong.

You’ve heard the saying “its lonely at the top”. Well, whomever said that wasn’t a very great leader. The best leaders are those that work and collaborate amongst their colleagues. It should be crowded up there.

How do we serve as leaders that others actually want to follow? Here some quick, actionable tips:

1)      For godsake, stop talking. You have two ears and one mouth. Listen to your employees, your customers and both internal and external stakeholders. These people have the insight and grassroot information and feedback you need in order to be successful. In order for the company to be successful.

2)      Empathy. Its an attribute I would say is a must for any efficient and successful leader. To be able to connect with people and really engage with them building a trusting and solid relationship.

3)      Understand your leadership style. I can’t emphasize this enough. I for example, am a what’s called a democratic Leaders – I encourage collaboration and consensus. Team members are a part of decision-making process and communications flows up not down. This is very different than say an Autocratic Style where you would see the direction of the organization’s leader make decisions without soliciting agreement or input from their team. This approach is successful in military services or often times of crises or a pandemic. It’s been said that Steve Jobs had a autocratic leadership style.

4)      Encourage creativity and allow employees to make mistakes. Remember when we were kids and we were told, “it’s okay to make a mistake; that’s how we learn”, well that was one of the few things that we were told was true. So why would it change in the workplace. Many of our most progressive and best ideas have come from a slack day where we allow our staff to work on any project they want.

5)      Always be true to your word.

Most leadership attributes are learnable. When we are self-aware and practice positive daily, small habits that support skills such as keeping a growth mindset, delegation, careful listening and delivering feedback we naturally are consistently evolving.

Curious to know what leadership style you have, leave a comment below or email us at hello@smithcoconsulting.ca

Until next time, take care of yourself & each other,

Carly Smith, CEO & Principal Consultant