Leadership is one position that we all crave in life. It is a privilege for one to be granted the authority to exercise control over others. There are different types of leaders, depending on their behavior and personalities. Some might be dictatorial and will have total control over their subjects. Such leaders do not want to hear their subjects’ opinions, and whatever they will say is final. Is this the right way to go? The answer is a no. some leaders will ensure public participation as they will involve their subjects in all the operations. As a leader, the best thing to do is to lead by example. It would be best if you exercised your leadership in the right way that many of the people will wish to emulate you. This article presents you with leadership strategies that will allow you to lead by example.
Leadership Strategies
- Engage your subjects in decision making.
Decision making is an activity that requires the participation of many people to be successful. When a decision that is to affect many people is arrived at by one person, it isn’t very objective. As a leader, when you want to decide, you should engage your subjects since the decision is part of their daily operations. When you want to set up a project, for example, you need to discuss with your residents the project’s viability, and if they all agree with it, you can go on and implement it. The subjects should be aware of the ongoing operations and how they will benefit from them. When you engage your subjects in decision-making processes, they will have a lot to learn from you. Sometimes you should have an open forum with your subjects where they are free to raise their views and opinions about your leadership. You should ensure that the majority are in support of anything you wish to decide.
- Pay attention to your subjects.
The opinion of everyone matters. Despite the power that you will have as a leader, you should pay attention to your subjects. Some of the leaders have a superiority complex and ignore their subjects’ views because they might be from a lower social class. When you pay attention to what your subjects have to say, you are more likely to win their trust. They will always wish to interact with you and learn more about you. The leaders who are full of pride and despise words from their subjects end up being sidelined and will have failed in their leadership. When you disagree with your subjects’ opinions, you should tell them what makes you disagree with the opinion and arrive at the best option harmoniously. They should understand why their opinion does not work and not perceive that you are despising their opinion because of their positions. While presenting your views, you should also be open to correction since your subjects might be having stronger arguments than yours for a given opinion. Paying attention to your subjects is a way of ensuring that everyone within your area of jurisdiction.
- Resolve conflicts as they occur.
Conflicts are part and parcel of society, and as a leader, you will occasionally stumble at conflicts. When your subjects conflict, you should ensure that you resolve them as soon as possible. Failure to resolve conflicts promptly might bring up enmity between your subjects, and this will affect their performance at work. Sometimes the conflicts might be between you and your subjects, and it will be very hard for the smooth running of the area of operation. The subjects will not be free to tell you of anything that they wish you to know to pertain to your leadership, and operations become difficult. When the conflict involves a larger group, you should create time to sit together and comprehensively discuss the matter affecting them. You should ensure that the conflict resolution options are friendly and will apply to the people involved. Some conflict resolution strategies, such as court attention, might not be the best since you can start embracing dialogue. Prompt resolution of conflicts builds your reputation as a leader, and your subjects will always rely on you in case of other conflicts. They will always be willing to emulate your leadership strategies.
- Be part of the work.
Leaders are usually in charge of exercising control over their subjects. Most of them are supposed to command their subjects on how they should work, so many people crave a leadership opportunity. As a leader wishing to lead by example, you must get your hands dirty. When you are part of accomplishing tasks by other team members, you will motivate them to work harder. As you participate in your team’s operations, you will always influence your subjects, and they will always want to be like you. Despite the nature of the work, you should be willing to join your team. Some leaders might be in a high position but sometimes deliver tasks meant for the unskilled personnel and therefore get into the limelight of their administration areas and become role models to many people. When the team finds that you are willing to work with them despite your position, they will always value you and wish to be like you.
- Keep yourself fit.
Fitness and wellness are optional, but you should always ensure that you are healthy and fit as a leader. Leadership is so demanding and requires your presence at all times, and you can achieve this by keeping fit. It would help if you also had the energy to deliver the tasks that might be part of your position’s responsibilities, and therefore, you should be healthy. As a leader, you should not practice dietary habits that might affect your health as it will inconvenience your administration operation. Keeping fit also increases endurance and mental stamina, which are attributes of a good leader. As you keep fit, your subjects will also be motivated to keep fit and remain energetic. Wellness and fitness reduce the likelihood of falling sick. Sickness while on duty disrupts normal operations since you will have to spend much time with the doctor. You will also underperform when it comes to duty in case you have health issues. Keeping fit and healthy is a dream of everyone, and as a leader, you should be in the lead in this. When everyone in the team keeps fit, it will be easier to set targets to achieve more because of the confidence that comes with it.
- Make your subjects feel special.
As a leader, you should always make your subjects feel special. Your subjects are why you have a leadership position, and they should feel great to be associated with you. It would be best if you motivated them each time you are together to realize their worth in their areas of operation. The motivation of subjects happens in many ways. Sometimes only a compliment for good work done can make them feel special. They will even be willing to work harder and achieve more because of the energies that they will acquire. You also need to arrange for the promotion of subjects who have achieved tremendous success in your place of administration. When one sees their colleague being promoted, they will also be motivated to work harder to promote their work areas. You can also organize retreats and off days for them and make it eventful by adding several activities such as entertainment. When your subjects feel special, they will always be happy and want to follow in your footsteps. You will also be happy to have such a supportive team as a leader and will be yearning to achieve more with them. Therefore, making your subjects feel impressive as a leader is a good strategy of leading by example.
- Set standards for excellence.
Leadership is not the final destination in your success journey, and you should always set standards for excellence. When you have no standards for excellence as a leader, then you are stagnating in the place where you are. You must set goals periodically as a leader and ensure that you achieve them within some time frame. You should also have a strategy to monitor and evaluate the goals you have to ensure that you develop more strategies when you fail to achieve the goals within some time frame. Lack of excellence standards in leadership is like when footballers are playing without the goal targets to check on their scores. These players might play hard, but they cannot quantify what they achieved in the game at the end of the day. The standards of excellence should first be specific to you as a leader. They should also be measurable for you to know whether you have achieved them or not. Your goals should also be achievable. You have to set these standards of excellence based on your capability and not on what is impossible. The standards should finally be realistic and timely. When you have standards of excellence, you will always be on the run to achieve them, and your subjects will always emulate you.
- Never take your subjects for granted.
Your leadership position solely depends on your subjects’ decisions, and you shall never take them for granted. Despite occupying a higher position than them, it does not give you the chance to look down on them. You should value all of them and help each one achieve their desires for duty and gain prosperity. Some leaders end up mistreating their subjects, and it never ends well. These leaders end up experiencing mental problems as their actions toward these subjects keep haunting them. When you take your subjects for granted, some of them develop a permanent negative impression of you and will always strive to avoid any activity associated with you. Some will even advise other people not to follow in your footsteps as you depict a bad character in society. When your subjects make negative comments about you, it will be a total failure in your leadership. When they bring up any matter, you should readily execute it despite the matter’s nature and the person’s social position raising the matter. Once they feel that you value them, then they will always want to emulate you. To lead by example, you should therefore avoid taking your subjects for granted.
- Attend leadership pieces of training and workshops.
Learning is a continuous process and is essential in leadership. As a leader, you should learn how to improve your leadership skills by attending workshops and training on leadership. These workshops allow you to learn what you did not know, network with other leaders, and share ideas. These workshops become an opportunity for your growth as a leader, and you will positively impact your subjects. As you continue learning, your subjects will also be willing to learn more from you. Networking in these workshops is also an opportunity for professional growth. When leaders come together, they sometimes decide to form different commissions that will be useful to them as they administer their jurisdiction areas. You will make your subjects known and expose them to many opportunities through exchange programs with leaders from other places. By attending leadership workshops and training, you will be leading by example and facilitating your development and prosperity of your subjects.
- Celebrate success and failure.
Success is what we always wish to achieve, but at times, we end up failing. As a leader, success and failure are part of the journey, and you should treat them as equally important for your progress. Success means that you are doing well and have achieved whatever targets you gad and therefore, you should celebrate. You should also never disregard failure. When you fail, you should also celebrate because it is a sign that you gave a try. Failure gives you a chance to adjust your strategy and try again. When you celebrate both success and failure as a leader, you will always achieve progress as you will keep trying. Some leaders are disappointed by failure and will want to give up on the projects progressing in their areas of jurisdiction. When we recognize success and failure and celebrate them, we will have more energy to achieve more and focus on failures to avoid similar incidences. A leader who celebrates success and failure will be a role model for their subjects.
- Be creative and innovative.
Creativity and innovation are the determinants of a successful transformation in leadership. Creativity in leadership is the act of coming up with the best course of action in any situation. Innovation in leadership is the act of coming up with new ideas of leading. Creativity and innovation are also aspects of leading by example. Creativity and innovation are closely related since creativity leads to innovation. When implementing any organization strategy, good leadership is the key to success in rolling out the project. As a leader, you should be creative and innovative to ensure that the project brings many benefits to your organization. Visionary leaders always devise ways of handling any issue tactically without affecting the stakeholders of the organization. Innovation in leadership gives leaders a good platform when responding to changes in an organization. Creativity and innovation in leadership reduce the problem of restructuring and downsizing. Whenever an issue arises, a weak leader might rush into a decision to fire the people involved without looking keenly into the situation. Frequent restructuring of the organization leads to a lack of trust by subjects in their leaders. A creative and innovative leader will always look deep into the issue and find ways of solving it amicably. When all problems are solved, then members of an organization can exist in unity with one another. Creativity and innovation are vital for leadership. As a leader, you should always embrace creativity and innovation to become a role model for your subjects.
- Be a leader of a good moral character.
The way you behave as a leader impacts how your subjects will perceive you. As a leader, engaging in immoral activities brings out a bad picture of you, and you should always strive to avoid this. Before deciding on doing anything, you need to think critically and see if it is a good thing for you and your people. Sometimes you might think all is fun until some people start following what you are doing, and the vice will manifest in your area of jurisdiction. When there is a wave of drug abuse in a given place, and people later realize that a leader is behind it, they might never wish to be associated with them. When you engage in such activities, you will not be leading by example but taking your subjects in the wrong direction. When you embrace a good moral character, then most people will want to emulate it.
- Set your priorities right.
A leader is a benchmark to many people, and the way you set your priorities matters a lot. To lead by example, you must set your preferences right always. You should always ensure that you start with the ones that matter most. When you have misplaced priorities as a leader, your subjects will lose trust and not depend on you to deliver. The way you set your preferences represents how you are generally planning for your people. When people find that you cannot prepare well for them, it is hard for them to trust your leadership. When you are confronted with several projects to set up in your administration area, for example, you need to check on the viability of all these projects. You need to start with the project that will be beneficial and finish with those that will be less beneficial to your subjects.
- Be informed about what is happening.
To lead by example, as a leader, you should also be updated by channels on whatever is happening worldwide. Leaders do not only serve their subjects but also represent them in other spheres of administration. As a leader, you should always know what is happening since the world keeps changing rapidly. You should be aware of the opportunities around your area of jurisdiction that your subjects can pursue. When you know of the current trends, especially in the markets for produce, then you can lead others in investments. How does it feel being a leader, and you are not aware of anything outside your area of administration? What will you even say when you are in conversation with other leaders? It is a bad situation to be a leader. You should always read more and get facts on foreign exchange, global developments, education opportunities, climate change, and other important happenings. Still, be exposed to all communication channels and be curious to know all the progress around you.
- Always ensure a clean environment.
Apart from how you run operations as a leader, your immediate surrounding is also essential. The outside gives people some hint on how the inside looks. When visitors come to your place, the first impression is what they find in the new environment. As a leader, you should always ensure that you keep your environment clean. When visitors see the environment in your area of administration clean, the visitors will be convinced by the nature that you are organized as a leader and want to benchmark what you are doing. By ensuring a clean environment as a leader, you will be leading by example.
Conclusion
Since leadership requires commitment and involvement, you should ensure that you are smart in it. You should lead by example and leave a legacy that many people will wish to achieve in the future. How does it feel when you are the benchmark for leadership in your area of jurisdiction? Of course, it feels great. When you want to lead by example, rely on the above strategies, and you will deliver the best to your subjects as a leader. There are many other ways of leading by example, but the above will ensure that you are at the top of the game. It would be best to practice these strategies, whether on duty or not, to ensure that you make sense to your subjects.
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