Consider these 50 things to help you be a successful leader and ensure the organization you are leading becomes stronger.
- Know who you are and what you are passionate about – then build your brand. Don’t drift through life.
- Decide early on what you want to do with your life and career and then make sure those who can help you along the way know your plans.
- Find a good mentor or two.
- Nothing beats a strong work ethic – high energy and enthusiasm will take you a long way.
- Continue to learn new things – read from as many sources as possible; attend conferences; go back to school; spend an hour per week learning about your competition; etc. Build a learning community.
- Keep things simple – don’t have too much bureaucracy.
- Always put values before numbers.
- Live a balanced life between work, family, healthy living, and fun.
- Make thoughtful but quick decisions – instill confidence in others.
- Set measurable stretch goals but never punish yourself or others for falling short if the effort was there.
- Learn to manage your time as best you can.
- Learn how to network and then build a strong network.
- Get good ideas from as many people as possible, not just your inner circle.
- Don’t over manage people but set clear vision and goals, as well as surround yourself with people capable of turning your vision into reality – find passionate people to execute your vision.
- Focus on quality – know your strengths and weaknesses as well as those around you and how they will impact the quality of the product or service.
- Understand that change is a reality – be adaptable and flexible. Think of change as an opportunity.
- Put first things first (focus on the important things first).
- Think “win-win” (how can everyone involved benefit?).
- Build a strong team around you but also keep in mind inclusive. Find managers/leaders who can energize themselves and those around them, who are competitive and have the ability to execute.
- Listen – seek first to understand others, then to be understood.
- Don’t just be busy but be strategic.
- Develop trust – people need to trust you and you need to trust others.
- Inspire people to want to participate – build a community.
- Understand the power of diversity – be tolerant of differences and manage to those differences.
- Develop an atmosphere that encourages creativity – hold informal brainstorming sessions.
- Be honest/have integrity.
- Be caring and genuine – you need to be likable.
- Be dependable – do the right things.
- Be predictable.
- Build partnerships with everyone who can help you and/or your organization succeed. Develop “ownership” in the success of your organization.
- Have a winning attitude and develop an atmosphere where you and your team are the “glass is half-full, not half-empty.”
- Persistent – both you and your team need to persistently pursue the goals and not give up at the first challenge.
- Keep others in mind – family, friends, employees, customers, competitors, etc.
- Be loyal.
- Be a friend.
- Select the right significant other/spouse.
- Hold yourself and others accountable
- Encourage innovation.
- Fund what people do well and then ask them to do more.
- Recruit the best.
- Control egos – yours and others.
- Value and reward hard work and high performance – you build unity by celebrating successes. A leader focuses on outcomes.
- Communicate often – have an open-door policy.
- Seek feedback from as many people as you can.
- Be high tech and high touch.
- Walk your talk.
- Create a culture of respect for everyone.
- Have the courage to make tough decisions – face realty by looking at things like you were an outsider.
- Know where you are and where you want to go as an individual and organization.
- Be giving of your time and financial resources – choose to make a difference!