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Success Advice

The Young Man’s Guide to Leadership: 10 Essential Skills for Success

Nobody wants to follow a leader who lacks self-confidence. Followers want leaders who are competent.

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leadership qualities
Image Credit: Midjourney

Do you want to become a successful leader in the digital age?

If your answer is yes, then you need to focus on self-improvement. Nobody wants to follow a leader who lacks self-confidence. Followers want leaders who are competent.

Leadership is a skill and here are the top 10 leadership tips I learned from business leaders:

1. Have a different vision for the future.

Great leaders are often misunderstood.

Outsiders think they’re crazy. But they love to find great talent. For example, Jeff Bezos’ vision when he created Amazon was an online bookstore. It was a crazy vision in 1995, but it turned out he was correct.

Today, Gen Z prefers to read e-books rather than physical books.

Your vision comes from knowing who you want to help.

2. Respect your team.

If you don’t respect your team, they will quit your company.

Here’s how to prevent them from quitting:

  • Pay professionals based on their value.
  • Ask quality questions to find out their problems and needs.
  • Give them motivation because it will help them make progress.

Great relationships come from spending time with the right friends.

3. Create new ways of thinking.

The best leaders are thought leaders.

They are not afraid of being different. For example, Peter Drucker coined the term “knowledge worker.” Knowledge workers earn with their mind and expertise. Doctors get paid a lot of money because they know how to cure illnesses.

Don’t spend time with losers if you want to achieve your dream.

4. Listen to the problems of your followers.

If you know how to listen, people will find you as an expert.

The best keynote speakers understand the problems of their audience. They are not afraid of criticism. As a beginner, you should realize that critics are part of life. You cannot please everyone so you should focus on being yourself.

Here are the benefits of listening to your target clients:

  • You will find out their problems.
  • You will understand what motivates them to buy new products.
  • You will discover their dreams.

You should listen first if you want to give an accurate answer.

5. Make hard decisions first to save time.

Rich people value their time over money.

They would rather make a wrong decision at first and they will correct it later. You need to decide now if you want to make progress. After deciding what you want in life, focus on making a plan on how to achieve your goals.

People don’t want to follow an incompetent leader.

6. Be a great role model to your team.

Great leaders lead by example.

For example, Jesus taught his disciples the value of being humble. Remember: your followers are watching you. They want to know if they choose a great leader.

Leadership is an act of service.

Here are the questions you should ask yourself if you want to improve your leadership skills:

  • Who do I seek to serve?
  • What are my strengths?
  • Why should my team follow me?

If you set a great example, success will follow you.

7. Focus on gathering constructive criticism from customers.

Constructive criticism is different from hate.

Haters love to say what’s wrong about your product without providing any value. But critics will give you valuable feedback. For example, let’s pretend that you’re an entrepreneur. The best customers will give you valuable and detailed steps on how to improve your product.

Spend your time with people who value what you do.

8. Commit yourself to lifelong learning.

Success comes from working hard and knowing your goals.

If you want to learn new skills, you need to read more books. Your value comes from knowing how to solve painful problems. For example, entrepreneurs earn millions because they know how to create more jobs.

Learning only stops when you’re dead.

9. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes.

My mentor once told me: Start before you’re ready.

If you avoid mistakes, you won’t know what doesn’t work. But you should know what works and what doesn’t work if you want to become a master. There is no shortcut to success. Overnight success is ten years of hard work.

Here are some examples:

  • Mr. Beast uploaded his first YouTube video when he was 12 years old.
  • John Grisham was a lawyer for more than 10 years before he started writing novels in his 40’s.
  • Warren Buffett bought his first stock when he was 11 years old.

You should embrace pain if you want to grow.

10. Change for yourself, not other people.

It’s impossible to change other people.

You may ask why? It’s because you cannot control them. You can only control yourself. So, focus on identifying your own weakness and make a plan on how to turn it into strengths.

New leaders want change because it gives them a new opportunity.

These opportunities can help them create a new vision, find new team members, and create a new culture. True change happens when you practice a new behavior.

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Success Advice

Why One-Size-Fits-All Leadership Will Always Fail (and What Works Instead)

The surprising truth about leadership styles that can make or break your team’s success.

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Why one-size-fits-all leadership doesn’t work
Image Credit: Midjourney

Leadership has always been as much about people as it is about performance. Ken Blanchard, in his influential book, “The One Minute Manager”, put it simply: different strokes for different folks. (more…)

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Success Advice

What Every New CEO Must Do in Their First 100 Days (or Risk Failure)

Your first 100 days as CEO could define your entire legacy, here’s how to make every move count

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leadership tips for new CEO
Image Credit: Midjourney

When Tim Cook took over from Steve Jobs at Apple, the world watched with bated breath. Jobs wasn’t just a CEO; he was a visionary, an icon, and a legend of innovative leadership. (more…)

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Entrepreneurs

The Leadership Shift Every Company Needs in 2025

Struggling to keep your team engaged? Here’s how leaders can turn frustrated employees into loyal advocates.

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Bridging the gap between employees and employers
Image Credit: Midjourney

In workplaces around the world, there’s a growing gap between employers and employees and between superiors and their teams. It’s a common refrain: “People don’t leave companies, they leave bad bosses.”

While there are, of course, cases where management could do better, this isn’t just a “bad boss” problem. The relationship between leaders and employees is complex. Instead of assigning blame, we should explore practical solutions to build stronger, healthier workplaces where everyone thrives.

Why This Gap Exists

Every workplace needs someone to guide, supervise, and provide feedback. That’s essential for productivity and performance. But because there are usually far more employees than managers, dissatisfaction, fair or not, spreads quickly.

What if, instead of focusing on blame, we focused on building trust, empathy, and communication? This is where modern leadership and human-centered management can make a difference.

Tools and Techniques to Bridge the Gap

Here are proven strategies leaders and employees can use to foster stronger relationships and create a workplace where people actually want to stay.

1. Practice Mutual Empathy

Both managers and employees need to recognize they are ultimately on the same team. Leaders have to balance people and performance, and often face intense pressure to hit targets. Employees who understand this reality are more likely to cooperate and problem-solve collaboratively.

2. Maintain Professional Boundaries

Superiors should separate personal issues from professional decision-making. Consistency, fairness, and integrity build trust, and trust is the foundation of a motivated team.

3. Follow the Golden Rule

Treat people how you would like to be treated. This simple principle encourages compassion and respect, two qualities every effective leader must demonstrate.

4. Avoid Micromanagement

Micromanaging stifles creativity and damages morale. Great leaders see themselves as partners, not just bosses, and treat their teams as collaborators working toward a shared goal.

5. Empower Employees to Grow

Empowerment means giving employees responsibility that matches their capacity, and then trusting them to deliver. Encourage them to take calculated risks, learn from mistakes, and problem-solve independently. If something goes wrong, turn it into a learning opportunity, not a reprimand.

6. Communicate in All Directions

Communication shouldn’t just be top-down. Invite feedback, create open channels for suggestions, and genuinely listen to what your people have to say. Healthy upward communication closes gaps before they become conflicts.

7. Overcome Insecurities

Many leaders secretly fear being outshone by younger, more tech-savvy employees. Instead of resisting, embrace the chance to learn from them. Humility earns respect and helps the team innovate faster.

8. Invest in Coaching and Mentorship

True leaders grow other leaders. Provide mentorship, career guidance, and stretch opportunities so employees can develop new skills. Leadership is learned through experience, but guided experience is even more powerful.

9. Eliminate Favoritism

Avoid cliques and office politics. Decisions should be based on facts and fairness, not gossip. Objective, transparent decision-making builds credibility.

10. Recognize Efforts Promptly

Recognition often matters more than rewards. Publicly appreciate employees’ contributions and do so consistently and fairly. A timely “thank you” can be more motivating than a quarterly bonus.

11. Conduct Thoughtful Exit Interviews

When employees leave, treat it as an opportunity to learn. Keep interviews confidential and use the insights to improve management practices and culture.

12. Provide Leadership Development

Train managers to lead, not just supervise. Leadership development programs help shift mindsets from “command and control” to “coach and empower.” This transformation has a direct impact on morale and retention.

13. Adopt Soft Leadership Principles

Today’s workforce, largely millennials and Gen Z, value collaboration over hierarchy. Soft leadership focuses on partnership, mutual respect, and shared purpose, rather than rigid top-down control.

The Bigger Picture: HR’s Role

Mercer’s global research highlights five key priorities for organizations:

  • Build diverse talent pipelines

  • Embrace flexible work models

  • Design compelling career paths

  • Simplify HR processes

  • Redefine the value HR brings

The challenge? Employers and employees often view these priorities differently. Bridging that perception gap is just as important as bridging the relational gap between leaders and staff.

Treat Employees Like Associates, Not Just Staff

When you treat employees like partners, they bring their best selves to work. HR leaders must develop strategies to keep talent engaged, empowered, and prepared for the future.

Organizational success starts with people, always. Build the relationship with your team first, and the results will follow.

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Entrepreneurs

What Makes an Entrepreneurial Leader? Traits of the World’s Best Innovators

Inside the mindset of entrepreneurial leaders who transform risk, passion, and vision into world-changing results.

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entrepreneurial leadership skills and traits
Image Credit: Midjourney

When you think of Richard Branson (Virgin Group), Bill Gates (Microsoft), Steve Jobs (Apple), Rupert Murdoch (News Corporation), and Ted Turner (CNN), one thing becomes clear: they are not just entrepreneurs, they are entrepreneurial leaders. (more…)

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