Success Advice

6 Key Ways to Become a Highly Respected Leader

Published

7 years ago

Feb 10, 2017

Although it is often said that leaders are born and not made, this is incorrect and should be ignored. Most people have the ability to become a leader. However few have the steely determination that is required to learn leadership.

There are many articles on how to develop and hone leadership skills, but it’s very unlikely you’ll adopt them. To become an effective leader involves a lot of hard work and practice. If you have that mindset, you are ready to learn leadership skills. It is important to prioritise leadership skills in order to maximise the return on all your hard work.

I have laid out the 6 key elements below. Master these skills and you will have laid the foundation to become a great leader:

1. Know your field

Gary Vaynerchuk, is a hugely successful entrepreneur with over 800 employees. He has often said that he is a practitioner. He uses a metaphor ‘Clouds and dirt’ to represent his dream (the clouds) and learning all the details of his craft (dirt). Everything in-between such as office politics, ego, etc are not important. Watch the video here:

Knowing the ins and outs of your company at the most basic level allows you to make informed decisions. A leader earns respect by making the right decisions. Even the most charismatic leader will eventually lose credibility if they don’t know what they are doing. Poor decisions will also impact the company’s performance. Leaders can inspire and motivate a team but without a good understanding of their company they will lead their team in the wrong direction.

“If you spend an extra hour each day of study in your chosen field you will be a national expert in that field in five years or less.” – Earl Nightingale

2. Learn how to be confident

Bertrand Russell, a British philosopher once said, ‘In the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.’ Confident individuals often gain respect without being the brightest spark. A study by David Dunning and Justin Kruger showed that the unintelligent get confident while the smart get modest. Does this sound familiar?

Although we may like to think leaders are the ones that know best, it is often not true. Once you know your field well, it’s important to learn the skill of being confident. Without it you’ll be another intelligent voice that falls on deaf ears. Like it or not, it is human nature to follow and respect confident individuals. To be a leader you need to be confident.

3. Listen to and understand your employees

It is often the perception that the boss knows what needs to be done and spends most of their time telling people how to do it. It is important to understand that the most effective leaders listen the most and only exercise their authority when it is needed. The strongest person in the room is usually the quietest.

Richard Branson once said “Great leaders are great listeners, who know their best asset is the people they work with”. When you understand and support your employees you make the transition from a manager to a leader.

4. Take full responsibility

Harold J. Smith once said “more people would learn from their mistakes if they weren’t so busy denying them”. People prefer to pass on blame than accept responsibility. Although it may get you off the hook, you will slowly lose credibility. Taking responsibility earns you respect. Everyone makes mistakes. It is how you deal with them that defines you.

In the years I have built my company, I have learnt the first step in learning from your mistakes is to take responsibility for them. Denying responsibility may be an easy option but you are missing out on the chance to improve. To be a true leader it is mandatory to improve yourself. If you are not prepared to better yourself how can you expect your team to improve? To be successful requires continuous self-improvement; true leaders know this.

5. Delegate properly

There are right ways to delegate and there are wrong ways. Firstly, you need to prioritise tasks. Typically the leader should deal with the most important tasks. The least important tasks should be delegated to employees low in the hierarchy. It sounds so simple but when you are in a position of power it’s tempting to shy away from those hard tasks that are often the most important.

Some leaders can be perfectionists such as Steve Jobs. Perfectionism may allow you to climb the ranks but it can lead to micromanagement. A leader that micromanages is fighting a losing battle. The aim of a company is to grow, that means more tasks and more responsibility.

Eventually there comes a point where micromanagement significantly reduces productivity. True leaders learn not to manage everything. Instead they focus on understanding their team so that they can delegate tasks to the most suitable employees.

“The inability to delegate is one of the biggest problems I see with managers at all levels.” – Eli Broad

6. Think of the big picture

Leaders have a vision for the company and have a strategy to achieve it. It’s common for employees to implement tasks and leave the strategy as an afterthought. Therefore a leader always needs to be thinking of the bigger picture.

Without a common vision a company can quickly lose direction. Leaders often have to make tough decisions that sacrifice short term profitability in order to achieve their long term vision.

Ultimately, leaders think on a different level to the rest of us. To become one you need to learn these six leadership skills.

What other ways do you lead in your business? Please leave your thoughts below!

Up Next

5 Ways You Can Revolutionize Your Mindset and Level-Up

Don't Miss

10 Ways to Harness Willpower to Achieve Success

Andy Margison

My name is Andy Margison I am the founder and director of ZZap Ltd. From an early age I have had a burning passion to run my own business. At the age of 9 I started my first car washing business, at 11 my own gardening business and at 14 I sold confectionary from my school locker. I have always loved entrepreneurism. I believe work ethic is the foundation to being successful. If you truly want something bad enough you can achieve it.

1 Comment

Success Advice

Mastering Self-Management for Success: Lessons From Peter F. Drucker

With careers no longer following a straight, predictable path, self-awareness and adaptability are essential for success.

Published

2 days ago

Dec 8, 2023

Benjamin Gruber

Image Credit: Midjourney

In today’s dynamic professional world, self-management has become increasingly important. With careers no longer following a straight, predictable path, self-awareness and adaptability are essential for success. (more…)

Success Advice

How to Ignite the Spark Within for Future Success

All of us come to this world with our own reserve of magic unfortunately, not everyone can unleash it

Published

6 days ago

Dec 4, 2023

M.S. Rao

Image Credit: Midjourney

What is it that makes some people great leaders while others remain followers? What magic do they have that others don’t? What special blessing gives them the power to bring significant change? (more…)

Success Advice

How Your Beliefs Can Supercharge or Sabotage Your Success

Your life is dictated by beliefs and biases that drive your thinking, behaviors, and decisions

Published

3 weeks ago

Nov 20, 2023

Jane Frankel

Your Beliefs Can Supercharge or Sabotage Your Success (1)

Image Credit: Midjourney

Pause for a moment and ponder two pandemic-era beliefs: First, closing schools will control the spread of a serious virus. Second, the consequences of such school closures—particularly social interruption and the prevention of immunity—are worse than becoming sick with the virus. (more…)

Success Advice

How to Break the Cycles of Mediocrity and Manifest Your Greatness

There is no greatness without becoming and there is no becoming with authenticity

Published

3 weeks ago

Nov 16, 2023

Jamelle Sanders

Image Credit: Midjourney

In just a few weeks, we will be wrapping up 2023. Can you believe it? This year has been absolutely incredible for me.

I have seen amazing doors opened, new relationships formed and I am seeing dreams realized in my life. While this seems like the hallmarks of a great year, this has also been the most challenging year of my life. With all of the change happening in my life, I have been forced out of my comfort zone and challenged to grow in every area of my life.

I can truly say that I have made the most of my moments this year and I have used everything as a catalyst for maximizing my greatest potential.

As a revolutionary leader, I have the pleasure of consulting and advising leaders around the world to fulfill purpose, realize their greatest potential and make an impact.

I want to share some insights with you that will help you to break cycles of mediocrity and manifest your greatness.

Everything legal must come through the matrix

I am sure that some of you are wondering why I am using the term matrix. However, what you have to understand is that I am trying to make a highly complex spiritual principle practical to understand.

Regardless of your spiritual beliefs, every life has an origin and I believe that origin is divine and begins with eternity. You are birthed from eternity and into time to fulfill a unique purpose and assignment in your lifetime and generation.

The matrix is simply the portal or vehicle that brings something out of the invisible realm and into tangible form. The problem with much of the teaching today is that it excludes the matrix. We are told to believe that success is instantaneous and overnight.

Nobody talks about how a dream progresses through stages beginning with visualization and ultimately culminating in manifestation. Without a matrix or portal then everything that you attempt to birth and build will be illegal.

The matrix not only makes you legal but it gives you the authority and power to function as the greatest expression of who you were created to be.

Every matrix has an incubation process

While many people admire and respect me today, I remember a time when nobody knew who I was or the significance of my message. How did I get to where I am today? I got here through an incubation process.

In other words, everything that has been destined for your life is incubating and awaiting a set time of manifestation. The problem is that most people live their entire lives idle and never initiate the incubation process.

What do I meany by that? Most people are living reckless and very few people are living intentionally. I am amazed at the number of people I have conversations with that have no vision, goals or strategies for their lives. They show great promise and they have undeniable potential.

However, without development they will die with their dreams still in them.

Everything that has been destined for your life must be incubated and converted to become realities born to time.

“Visualize this thing that you want, see it, feel it, believe in it. Make your mental blueprint and begin to build.” – Robert Collier

You must give expression to that which is not yet born to time

When you think about a matrix or a prophetic incubation process, you have to understand that potential is often unrealized and untapped. In other words, your potential is in raw form and your potential cannot serve you as long as it is untapped.

The thing that makes me valuable is that I have the ability to convert potential into power. I have done it in my own life and I have empowered leaders around the world to do the same. How do you convert potential into power?

First, it is important to note that you have to perceive potential. If you cannot perceive your potential then you can never cultivate your potential. In addition, you must take the time to cultivate your potential. We often get excited about our capabilities; however, we never expand our capacity in order to realize our greatest potential.

In other words, the strength of your potential is only discovered through your willingness to stretch. The more we are challenged the more we are empowered to expand our capacity for greatness. Most of all, you must begin to express your potential. The expression of potential is different for every person.

For example, the expression of my potential is best demonstrated through the thoughts, ideas, products, services, books, etc.

For another person the expression of potential may look like a screenplay, artwork, sports, scientific discoveries, medical breakthroughs, etc.

Regardless of the form of expression, I know that you will live empty and unfulfilled until you make the decision to express your potential. The expression of your potential gives voice to your dreams, life to your vision, significance to your moments and activates your true power.

You must manifest your greatness

As a revolutionary thinker and leader, my work has impacted people around the world. I am grateful that my life is a source of empowerment to so many people. However, before anyone could ever benefit from my life, I had to make a non-negotiable decision to become who I was born to be.

I wish I could tell you that this journey is easy and that you will get there overnight. However, in a world that celebrates us for doing we are often criticized for being. As a result, I wasted a lot of time trying to be who other people wanted me to be instead of being who I was born to be.

There is no greatness without becoming and there is no becoming with authenticity. It is through our bravery to be vulnerable that we ultimately manifest our greatness. We do not bless the world by being a duplicate. We bless the world when we honor our difference. When you honor your difference you honor your potential.

Ultimately, your difference is how you manifest your greatness.

When you present anything but your authentic self to the world, you are playing small and you are robbing the world of your significance. Manifesting your greatness requires you to master your gifts.