By Rita Santamaria
Leadership: lead·er·ship (l d r-sh p) n. 1. The position or office of a leader: ascended to the leadership of the party. 2. Capacity or ability to lead others.
Manager: One who handles, controls, or directs, especially: a. one who directs a business or other enterprise. b. One who controls resources
Good leadership is an essential for career and organizational success.
To be a truly remarkable leader you must learn to apply your skills in such a way that all the planning you have done that got you in this position is applied seamlessly and without fan fare. Your skill is part what you have learned, practiced and improved on but the other half is self confidence to implement. Your success at the implementation is not about being lucky. It is about always using the skill set that you’ve learned.
On a regular basis there are certain distinct activities that a leader must do.
- She must determine and design strategies for improving the organization. These might include changes. She would orchestrate the changes.
- She must communicate effectively. Understanding the different personalities consisting of generally four types will help in understanding people.
- Customers come first. You must continually reach out and touch the customer so the customer is loyal and always on your side. Your organization must be customer focused.
- Personal values must be held high and untarnished for respect by your associates and customers.
- Encourage creativity by others around you.
- Create accountability within your team without creating competition within the team.
- The leader must learn to delegate. Delegation with the expectations of returned responses being accurate is the goal of the leader. In other words the leader must deliver clear, concise training to an individual prior to expecting that individual to perform well.
- A leader is moving forward always creating processes for ongoing goal achievements for herself and for the company.
Managers like leaders must be developed. Managers need to learn how to handle multiple tasks, deal with others effectively and manage their time. Learning how to persuade people is important since often changes are implemented by the company and the manager is often the one to deliver the news.
Communicating with clarity is a talent. Often it is necessary to ask the question, do you understand what I am explaining? When delivering your ideas the manager needs to deliver the message only after practicing the delivery, expecting a challenge from someone in the office, and having a clear view of what she is trying to achieve.
Motivating employees is a daily activity that is paramount to a successful office and lots of production. When production falters generally office spirit or the feeling of being positively motivated is missing.
A manager is a leader. When in the position of being a leader and being respected it is always good to treat others in a respectful manner. Fear management does not work well. When people produce due to getting canned if they don’t produce, there is a lower sense of esteem in the office environment. Being respectful means not embarrassing anyone publicly. All negativity is behind closed doors. Praise publically is always a great idea.
A leader has time for others. Simply asking about the other person’s family, health, and children gives the positive indication that the leader is a caring person. Be sincere. Remember others special events like birthdays, their date of hire. Verbalize their importance to the organization.
A leader volunteers for leadership positions. When there are opportunities to “dig in and work with others” it is always good to lead by example.
A leader has learned to not let insecurities come out in either words or behaviors. A leader is always in control. A leader is neither flip, sarcastic, caustic, nor abrasive. A leader makes other people want to be with them for mentoring and to feel more secure about what they are doing by simply being in the leader’s presence.
Giving credit where credit is deserved separates the egotistical leader from the leader people admire. There is very little admiration for someone who takes credit for the talent and contribution of team members.
Leader or manager: these apply to all who desire a well run company where every person feels they have a part in its success.
Rita Santamaria is the owner of Champions School of Real Estate. Tor more information www.ChampionsSchool.com
