TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP

Can leadership be taught through a leadership skills training? Isn’t it a quality that comes from within?

Well, that’s absolutely true. It is a quality that comes naturally to some people and one that many seem to be just born with! But it is also a skill that can be developed over time.  For example, consider the case of people who have newly become leaders in an organisation. Most of them have risen to this level because they were technically very sound and do not have any prior experience in this field nor the natural flare. Yet they flourish. How? By learning the skill. And that’s exactly what leadership skills training is for.

Talking about what effective leadership is, I remember the movie 300. It’s one of my favourite movies. Here I want to make a reference to the prequel, that’s the second part of the movie. The one where king Leonidas is defending the hot gates with his army of 300. That movie really shows what an effective leadership is!

The tips that I’m going to share with you today for effective leadership are with reference to the same movie. They are very powerful and will be able to help you too. So here goes…

1. An effective leader makes his team feel secure when he or she is with them. And that’s when the team completely trusts the leader and looks up to him or her. It’s just like in the movie how the army felt secure with their king. And they trusted him to the extent that they were ready to die for him.
2. Knowing the team and their soft skill set. As a leader you must know the strengths and the improvement areas of your team members. It is only then can you delegate tasks appropriately and trust the team to complete them. Which I must say is a very important aspect of leadership skills training. Leonidas knew the best of 300 that were perfect for defending the hot gates. He also knew who should go back to Sparta during the crucial time.
3. Clarity of goal. An effective leader is always clear of the team goal. It is his vision that makes the team achieve higher goals. For the team to work towards and achieve that goal, the leader’s vision has to be clear. Just like Leonidas was extremely clear of the goal to destroy Xerxes and his forces and defend the hot gates from his forces.
4. Courage and motivation are extremely important. The leader and his team will face many challenges while achieving their goals. However, setbacks should not bring the team’s morale down. And this is the leader’s responsibility. The leader should have the courage to face the challenges and motivate the team to face them too. That one line that kept the Spartans going was, their king saying “Spartans never retreat. Spartans never surrender”. That was all the 300 needed to stand behind their king and ride to glory.

Yes, I know what you’re thinking. Movies are larger than life and may be a little beyond reality. I agree. But the motivation and learning we get from them are truly inspirational. And if you look at them closely, you’ll realise that they give some of the tips that are spoken of in a leadership skills training. So, we should make it a point to learn whatever we can from them and try to implement the learning in our day to day lives. That’s what keeps our lives interesting. Isn’t it?