Leadership 101 – 9 Tips to Becoming a Great Leader – Part 2

Leadership 101 – 9 Tips to Becoming a Great Leader – Part 2

By Nikki Viljoen – N Viljoen Consulting (Pty) Ltd 

Last time we looked at four tips and today we will look at another five.  These are the ones that sometimes can weigh heavy on our shoulders.

1. Underperformers Are Your Responsibility

You have to understand that the buck stops with you!  If you have the wrong team in place or individuals that do not fit and who cause more chaos than anything else – it is your responsibility.

You are the one that needs to control the situation and the reality is that you have set things up the way that you want them to be.  If they are not working properly then it is up to you to make the changes.

It’s no good blaming everyone else.  Be accountable and responsible for what you have done.

2. Slow and steady wins the race

No one builds a huge big anything overnight! Not the Branson’s or the Buffets nor anyone else for that matter!

Start off slowly with small projects. Test along the way, over and over again, measuring and adjusting as you go along.  Make sure that you have the right skills to get the task done and that your team are as committed and focused as you are.

As your smaller projects are completed successfully, learn from both what you have done correctly and what you haven’t and then apply what you have learnt as you progress.

Retain what you have learnt from the mistakes that you have made and then let the negative stuff go. There’s no need to carry unwanted baggage for the rest of your life.

3. Look at a person’s character

There are many people out there who are hugely skilled and talented but who are of questionable character.

Make sure that the members of your team have the character and drive to meet the capacity requirements.

More often than not the character of the individual will be far more beneficial to you than the qualifications of another.

Choose carefully, choose wisely!

4. Ask the question

Dr. John Demartini always says “The quality of your life is governed by the quality of your questions?”

One of the most powerful questions that you can ask your team members is “what would you do” or “what do you think”?

You will often be pleasantly surprised and amazed at the innovative ideas and thoughts of others around you.

People often don’t “do” things that they feel are expected of them in the manner in which they think it should be done rather that the way they would instinctively do it if they had the choice.  So don’t be blinded by what they do, but rather explore how ‘they think’!

Oh and if you utilize their great ideas, don’t forget to give them the accolades and praise that they so richly deserve.

5. There’s a great deal of strength in being humble.  

You need only to look at the greatest leader that we’ve ever had, Nelson Mandela, to see how powerful his authentic humbleness was.

The man certainly led us all, by living his life as an example.

The reality is that none of us like a ‘know it all’.  Their arrogance is a constant source of irritation and frustration for me personally.  People who strive to better themselves through constant learning will excel and those who live their lives as humble individuals will be far more respected than those who are arrogant and who are governed by their own egos.

Humble is always way better than arrogance.

Well that was the last of the nine points that I consider to be important attributes for a leader.  There are obviously a great deal more and this clearly is merely my opinion and I have no doubt that there are others who will have attributes that they consider to be more important.

I think that as individuals we need to learn what we can and then make up our own minds as to which we find more important.

Until next time, don’t forget to have fun!

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or http.//www.viljoenconsulting.co.za