How to Be a Leader Without the Title

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Note: For those readers with a title, I encourage you to share this article with future leaders.

No one is born a leader. It comes from practice, practice and more practice … until it becomes a natural part of who you are. Developing the right mindset, habits and skills now makes it easier to lead after you’ve received your promotion and title. However, waiting to develop the skills after you become a leader with the title will have you faltering to catch up, if you ever can.

The fastest and easiest way to step up and develop your leadership skills now is to hire a coach to guide you along the way.

8 Important Skills to Develop Now!

1.Listening. This cannot be said often enough! Listen and learn, then listen and learn some more. Fine-tuning this skill will help you hear what others are missing.

2.Decision-Making. Take time to get both sides of an issue–the facts and others’ opinions—before making decisions. Do not rely on tiny fragments of information or base your decisions on your feelings or other biases about the topic or people. Your goal is to develop win-win-win outcomes with those involved.

3.Resilience. Your ability to rally quickly after mistakes and learn from them helps you develop greater confidence. Remember, the key to developing resiliency is to work through the disappointment, embarrassment and other feelings you and your team may experience. Denying these feelings and their impact will come back to haunt you later.

4.Rallying Others. Even without the title, you can learn how to influence others by your actions and attitudes. It starts with supporting the company’s mission, your boss and your team members.

5.Initiatives and Resourcefulness. The mark of a good future leader is stepping up and making things happen, regardless of the budget, or your job title. Become a catalyst for exploring new ideas, creating solutions and understanding financial impacts by working with and through others.

6.Ethics. Be aware of your company’s policies and follow them. If they are not working, rather than ignoring them, recommend changes by communicating with your boss, co-workers and others. Honor your promises, contracts and other agreements, whether they are done verbally or in writing.

7.Developing the Team. To grow into being a savvy future leader, be supportive of others’ efforts. Get involved in the hiring, coaching, managing and training processes!

8.Building on Strengths. We all have inherent business strengths and weaknesses. It helps to clarify them by using qualified assessments and 360-degree feedback tools. The best way to build effective strategic and tactical skills is allowing your coach to be your guide when working on specific challenges.

By developing these skills, you will learn a lot about yourself and what it takes to become a great leader, with or without the title!

©Jeannette Seibly, 2018

Need a speaker or facilitator to successfully address company issues? As a future leader, are you ready to develop the key skills now? Contact Jeannette Seibly. She will provide confidential, laser-focused coaching that works! 

Jeannette Seibly has been called a catalyst. She is celebrating 25 years as a business coach, advisor and consultant who guides her clients to achieve unprecedented results. Remember, everyone can be a leader, with or without the title. First, you must step up! Check out her website, or contact Jeannette for a preliminary confidential conversation.

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