No matter what your position is on the corporate ladder, you always have the opportunity to be a great leader. It’s ironic how you can feel most passionately about this in the beginning of your career, exercising good leadership qualities on project teams or in your department, but I will be the first one to tell you it can be easy to forget as your responsibilities increase. Here are some good rules of thumb for everyone to consider when trying be a motivational leader in the workplace:
Treat everyone like your boss. This means being gracious and respectful to everyone at all times. It is surprising how many people get this wrong, when it’s actually one of the best things you can do to be a great leader.
Say please and thank you. A little “please” and “thank you” goes an awful long way. You can never be too busy to thank someone. You may be surprised what a nice difference it will make in someone’s day and will motivate them to keep being a great team player.
Build, don’t break, morale. Everyone in a company carries a portion of responsibility for company morale. Think of how if you have a bad day, how it affects the people you work with and how it may have a negative impact on morale that day. So make it your business to think about building morale, even if it’s not in your job description. Bring donuts tomorrow or volunteer to lead a food drive for Thanksgiving. It won’t just make you feel better, but also the team in your office, as well.
Command respect. Everything I’ve mentioned above may make you think – how will anyone respect me if I’m the office softee? They won’t, unless they respect your ideas, your focus and your ability to get the job done. Lead by example and get the job done every day.
Say it to their face. It’s easy to shoot off a critical email, but not always so easy to recuperate from the aftermath. An email can be interpreted 1,000 different ways or completely misunderstood altogether. If you have something important to say-especially if it’s sharing bad news or a criticism – say it to their face. I promise that every time you have to do this, your leadership qualities will increase exponentially.
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