Leading a team is one of those areas that look easy in theory. In practice it can be a real challenge. So what strategies should you adopt to be a successful team leader?
Create A Compelling Vision
As a leader you need followers. To get people to follow you need to be able to paint a very clear picture of what the future will be like and why they should be part of creating this great future. Unless you do this you will never engage hearts and minds
Know Yourself
As an individual you will have specific areas of strength. These could be skills, experience, knowledge or personal attributes. At the same time you probably have weaker areas. Having these insights will not just give you knowledge; it will help inform where you invest your time and help you determine the composition of your team.
Get To Know Your Team
I am always amazed at how much effort we put into finding out about the strengths and weaknesses of new hires but don't invest a fraction of that time getting to know our existing team members. Knowing your team helps allocate roles and responsibilities appropriately. It also helps with motivation as you can allocate work which fires them up.
Set Clear Goals
Vague goals result in one thing: sub optimal or at worst no results. Make your goals as specific as possible. Focus on making them action orientated and set time limits. If you need to, break them down into smaller stepping stone goals.
Work On Building Trust
Trust or lack of it can make or break a team. Often it is simple things that help build trust, like delivering on promises or treating everyone equally.
Hold People To Account
One of the most frustrating things on a team is when the leader continuously lets people off the hook. Of course there will be times when there are genuine reasons why people don't deliver. At the same time there may be people who consistently over promise and under deliver because they know there is no follow through.
Use Your Ears And Mouth In The Correct Proportion
In other words make sure that you and every other team member learn to listen to each other. Listening is an area that in my experience people struggle with. Remember that you have two ears and one mouth.
The Bottom Line: Success as a leader does not come with a guarantee but some simple things can make a big difference to your success as a leader of a team.
