We all know how important the role of a leader is to get the best out of a team. Influencing members, building strong relationships, and protecting their needs goes a long way in creating a successful team. Having the right mindset to do things in life is what makes us better leaders. Leadership is not an act, but a decision that we have to make. 7 Ways to Lead goes a step further to talk about the right ways to lead your personal life, your relationships, and finally, your career.

In this summary, you will learn:

Prepare Yourself to Lead Every Day

The preparation for leadership should start right when your day begins. This could be when you wash your face or brush your teeth. At the first moment when you get close to the mirror, look at yourself in the mirror and make vows to yourself. You have been making different vows all your life, to your partner, children, parents, students, and colleagues, but how often have you stopped to look at yourself in the mirror and make a vow to yourself?

Change this today. Look at yourself in the mirror, make eye contact with yourself, and take a vow to live the dream you have in mind. Make a vow to accomplish things at your work, for your family and yourself, and to never fail. This small practice every day will prepare and motivate you to work harder and be your best. If you prepare well in the morning, you will accomplish your goals during the day.

Express Gratitude for What You Get to Do

Gratitude brings a lot of strength and positivity into our lives and into the lives of those around us. Often, we are engaged in work with a mindset of “I have to do,” which can ultimately drain us. Evolving your mindset from thinking that “I have to go to work,” to “I get to go to work,” can bring a huge transformation in the way you work or do things. Life is beyond just doing things; it is about being grateful for getting the opportunity to do things.

Show gratitude for the people in your lives and the things you get to do every day. Start enjoying the work that you do and the time you get to spend with your loved ones.

Face the Challenges with Confidence

Life will have good and bad times, with fair and unfair situations. While there are times when things are beyond our control, our minds will always be within our control. We get to choose how we want to look at things and how to face them.

Cultivate inner strength, determination, and self-love to overcome risks and insecurities. There is no big deal in having insecurities–everyone has the–but the right way to lead is to become aware of them.

The difference lies in recognizing your positives and negatives, and understanding the person that you really are. You might feel you have many shortfalls, but there are inevitably many more great things about you. Shun the negatives and embrace confidence, positivity, and courage.

Take up risks with an attitude to learn from the outcomes. Risks don’t guarantee success, but as a leader, you need to make decisions to keep sailing ahead. Go beyond your comfort and evolve yourself and your team with every decision you make or risk you take. The outcome, whether failure or success, is a lesson to learn.

Increase Your Deposits

A leader is there to guide those who need support in getting what they need. The more interest, love, care, and respect you give to others, the more deposits you will make in their lives. Your relationships with them will become stronger, and the chances of having difficult conversations–about disappointments or unmet desires–will be less likely. Even if you have to have difficult conversations, having more deposits will ensure the withdrawals you make don’t damage your relationships.

The higher deposits should still not give you the liberty to make frequent withdrawals. Make withdrawals only when necessary, and in a gentle way. How you say things matter a lot, and even more so when you are a leader.

Learn the Language of Leadership

What happens when you move to a new country that speaks a language you don’t know? You try to learn their language. But what if you don’t? You can still live there, but does that allow you to communicate with others?

A leader also needs to learn a language – the language of leadership.

There are 7 languages:

 

As a leader, you need to know the above 7 Languages and identify who needs what. Having an ability to communicate with others, and giving them what they need is what makes you an effective leader. True leadership is all about helping others move forward and remaining positive all along the journey.