3 Leadership Tips To Help You Go Further Faster

Know Who is on Your Team. Know more than just their names. Know their skill set, their personality, what they're good at, and what they're not good at. Understand how they are wired and what they are passionate about. Why? Because chances are, they are different than you. And that's a good thing. A team made up of everyone just like you would be boring. And besides, it's not strategic. It is strategic, however, to understand the individuals on your team and to then position them for maximum effectiveness. This means if you are developing a new initiative, assign your strategic thinkers to the task. If you are executing a large event, put your detail-oriented team members on the job. And if you are not good atsomething, someone on your team probably is, so leverage them.

Be Yourself. You're human just like everyone else, so act like it. Don't try to have it all together or pretend like you never make a mistake. That's unrealistic and will prevent those on your team from being fully themselves. Be honest. Admit when you are having a hard day. Talk about ideas you have that might not work. Because if you don't do any of these things, you will unintentionally put pressure on your team members to feel like they need to be perfect. Why is this dangerous? Because it will prevent your team from trying new things or taking risks. And if no one is willing to take a risk, you will never be able to move forward. And if no one is willing to share a bad idea, it will take that much longer to come up with a good idea.

Learn to be Comfortable in the Uncomfortable. When people are willing to be honest, disagreement will naturally happen. But our natural instinct is to minimize the tension we feel in moments of disagreement because it's uncomfortable. But it doesn't have to be. In fact, tension can be a good thing. For starters, it may mean that your team has developed enough trust that they are willing to speak against an idea on the table. It also means that you don't need to worry whether an idea is good or not when everyone agrees. You know that your team members will speak their minds if there is a better way. When you learn to become comfortable with what naturally feels uncomfortable, you are able to neutralize your emotions, which allows you to think logically and avoid emotional reactions.