7 Simple Tips That Will Turn You Into a Powerful Leader

You don't have to be in a position of authority to be a leader. Conversely, just because you have authority doesn't mean that people will follow you. You must be a leader to get others to follow you.

There are many books on leadership. They can have lots of great examples and in-depth explanations, but sometimes you just need something simple to help you focus on the essentials. This article intends to do just that. These are the habits that will help you and your team achieve great things if you focus on them.

1. Goals
   Make it simple and easy for your team to understand the mission and to understand their part in achieving it.
   
   • Concise Goals. Keep them simple and easy to understand.
     
   • Focus your team on as few goals as possible.
   • Communicate the team's goals often and through various means (team meetings, individual meetings, emails, posters, slogans). And then do it some more.
     
   • Track progress on goals.
   • Involve team players in tracking the goals so that they own the results.
     
   
   
2. Motivating People
   What you reward gets done. It's that simple.
   
   • Incent team players to do the tasks that are most critical for reaching the team's goals. Make sure the rewards are meaningful to people. Understand each player and what they want from their job and in life. That's how you'll know how to reward them.
   • Praise, Thank, and Recognize big and small contributions by individuals. Do this often and then do it some more.
   • Set High Expectations. People will live UP to or DOWN to the expectations you set. Set them high and you're saying, "I believe in your ability to do great things!"
   • Empower people by delegating responsibility.
     
   • Celebrate team accomplishments often.
   • Encourage Fun. Make the work place a fun place to be. Yes, work needs to get done but short fun breaks can make all the difference in the culture of your team.
   • Pride. Foster a sense of pride in your team. As a team you could establish a mascot, create a team chant, and have a meeting that is focused solely on each individual's strengths and the team's overall strengths.
     
3. Walk Your Talk
   You need to practice what you preach. This is how you establish trust and credibility.
   
   • Model the Way by participating in the team's tasks as much as your position allows.
   • Be Honest. Deliver on your promises. Actions speak louder than words.
     
   • Challenge Yourself. Do your best (and then some) just like you ask your team to do their best.
   • Speak Up. Just like your team members sometimes need to let you know what they've done in order for you to be able to recognize and praise them. They, in turn, need to know what you've been working on and what you've accomplished. So find ways to communicate this, modeling this key behavior.
     
   • Stay Sharp. You need to be competent for others to follow you. If you're not improving, you're falling behind. Always be learning and keep on top of the latest skills, technology, and knowledge in your field.
     
4. Inspire through a combination of
   
   • Unwavering Positive Future Vision
     
   • Commitment to Improve things along the way that will make that positive vision a reality.
   • Ability to Bootstrap as necessary when resources are tight.
     
5. Process Power
   Good process is like having a high performance machine. Sloppy process makes things fall apart. So be sure to establish these key habits with your team.
   
   • Establish Routines. Do this for the team and also work with each individual to come up with their own high productivity routines. These are routines that dictate what work is done when.
     
   • Establish Processes for all the tasks that are done repeatedly. It takes time to set up at first, but after that it will pay off in saved time and less errors. Processes describe how work is done and might involve systems for doing the work.
     
   • Task Assignment. As much as possible, assign tasks according to the strengths of each teammate.
     
6. Change
   Embrace change by seeking it out. This will tread a path for your teammates to follow.
   
   • Change Routines Quarterly. Look for better ways to achieve the team's goals.
   • Take Risks. Don't be afraid of failure. No one ever reaches great heights without a few failures.
   • Learn. Learn as a team from failures. "How can we improve it the next time?"
     
   • Encourage team members to take smart risks too by making it safe to fail. Focus on learning from past experiences and building upon them to find better solutions.
     
7. Advocacy
   Support your team and they'll support you.
   
   • Promote your team members. Make sure others outside your team know about the individual team members' successes. You want your team members to excel and even graduate away from your team possibly. Don't worry. If your team is great there will be plenty of others who will want to join! This natural turnover of team members is like the renewal of cells in your body. It is necessary and healthy.
     
   • Promote your team. It's your job to market the great accomplishments of your team in order to get the rewards, recognition, and resources that your team deserves.
   • Fight for the most important resources and changes that will benefit your team and the organization overall. Remember to pick your battles wisely.

What else do you think is essential for a good leader? Got a good story? Please share in the comments. We'd love to hear from you!

Written on 11/7/2007 by K. Stone, the author of of Life Learning Today, a blog about daily life improvements. Republished on 5/14/2011.

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Six Easy Networking Tips for Introverts

I’ll confess up-front; I’m an introvert. I spend a lot of time on my own – and I find it tiring to be around lots of other people.

Being an introvert actually works out pretty well for me. I’m a writer, so a big part of my day involves sitting at my computer, working alone. When I do work with other people as a writing coach, it’s usually one-on-one (I can cope with one other person!)

Of course, I can’t spend the whole of my life alone or with just close friends and family.

In both my professional and personal life, I get out there and meet people from time to time. And I’ve learned a few tricks along the way. If you’re an introvert – if you feel shy and awkward in a room full of strangers – then here’s how to make it easier for yourself:

#1: Get to Know People Beforehand
One of the many things I love about the internet is that it makes it incredibly easy for me, an introvert, to strike up a connection with total strangers. When I’ve been to networking events, I’ve found it incredibly helpful to have some established friends there already.

How do you find people who’ll be at the event? Try:

• Forums or similar on the event’s website
  
• Twitter – search for the name of the event
  
• Blog posts – is anyone you know going?
  
• Facebook – the event itself may have a page
  
• LinkedIn – will any of your contacts (or their contacts) be attending?

Obviously, this one’s easier if you operate in a pretty geeky world (I hang out with a lot of bloggers and writers...) but more and more people are getting online, in all sorts of professions.

If you’re going to a very large event, like a multi-day conference, you may want to make specific plans to meet up. You could even arrive a bit early so you can get a meal with a friend or a small group of friends before the event itself starts.

#2: Go Prepared
If you’re attending a new event, you might have all sorts of worries about how to get there, what it will be like, who’ll be there, and so on.

I’m always less anxious when I feel well-prepared, and I expect the same will apply to you. That means:

• Find out the dress code in advance. There might not be one – ask friends/colleagues who’ve attended before. Err on the side of over-dressing ... though if you’re in a suit and everyone else is wearing jeans, you may feel a bit awkward.


• Take a pen and small notebook. As a writer, I carry these with me anyway – but they’re useful to have on hand in all sorts of situations.


• Take business cards. You might have stock ones from work, but if you create your own cards, try to make them interesting. I use Moo.com to create cards with several different designs – that way, my new contacts can pick whichever one they like best. It’s a great talking point and much more interesting than thrusting a boring black-and-white card at someone.


• Carry breath mints, a comb, makeup, deodorant etc. Be prepared to make last-minute touch-ups to your appearance before you go into the event. You’ll know better than me what you’re likely to need!


• Take a map (or know the exact address). Allow a bit of extra time to get there, too, if you’re going somewhere new for the first time.

#3: Start a Conversation Straight Away
Have you ever been standing around awkwardly, trying to get up the courage to go and speak to someone? The longer you wait, the harder it is! When I was a student, I made a point of speaking in the first ten minutes of any class – that way, I found I was much more confident about contributing as the class went on.

The same applies to networking. As soon as you arrive, find someone to chat to. It’s often easy to strike up a conversation in the registration queue, for instance. Questions like “Have you been to this before?” can be a great way to get someone else chatting.

#4: Look for Someone Else Who Seems Shy
It can be very hard to break into a big group of people – especially when they all seem confident. Look for anyone on their own – perhaps standing in a corner, or loitering uncomfortably on the outskirts of a group. They probably feel just as shy as you do, and they’ll almost certainly be grateful if you go and engage them in conversation.

You don’t need to say anything scintillating to start chatting: a comment about some aspect of the event (the food, drinks, weather, decor) can be an easy way in, or you could simply ask “What do you do?” or “What brings you here?”

#5: Don’t Talk Too Fast
Many of us talk fast when we’re nervous. You might have to make a conscious effort to slow down – especially if you have a strong accent. (You may not think your accent is strong, but consider the people you’re networking with: I’m from the UK, and I occasionally have to repeat myself when I’m at events in the US.)

If you find yourself talking too much:

• Ask open-ended questions – encourage the other person or people to talk too
  
• Avoid interrupting people or finishing their sentences for them
• Get a glass of water to sip while talking (go easy if you’ve got an alcoholic drink...)
  

#6: Don’t Over-Analyze Afterwards
Have you ever come back from an event and cringed, thinking “I should never have said that” or “He must have thought I’m an idiot”?

Lots of introverts do this. We have a tendency to over-think and over-analyze things. I’ve seen blog posts and tweets by other introverts who were fantastic to chat to ... but who’re worried that they somehow screwed things up.

Even if you say something a bit daft or make some mistake, chances are, no-one even noticed. Don’t beat yourself up about it. The important thing is that you went to the event, and you had a go at networking – next time, it’ll be easier.

What do you find most challenging about networking – or what tips do you have on making it easier? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Written on 6/5/2011 by Ali Luke. Ali writes a blog, Aliventures, about leading a productive and purposeful life (get the RSS feed here). As well as blogging, she writes fiction, and is studying for an MA in Creative Writing.

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Learning To Say No: 6 Simple Tips To Do It

A few months ago, I received a business pitch. It was from an acquaintance I was on good terms with, and the pitch was based on something we verbally discussed and agreed on in the past. However, sometime had passed since our last conversation, and things had changed.

I was no longer keen on the opportunity, but didn't quite know how to put it across to him. I didn't want to jeopardize our relationship and any potential future working opportunities because of this.

So I procrastinated in replying to the mail. I put it into a "reply later" folder and got on to other stuff. Every few days when I check my folder, it'd be there, and I'd think "Ah I'll reply this later". I wondered if he would be angry knowing that I had changed my stance. At times I contemplated not replying at all, but I thought it wouldn't be appropriate, especially since we knew each other and we had a common friend too.

Finally one day, I decided to get on with it and reply to the mail. I typed out the mail, and crafted it a few words at a time. In it, I apologized for my delayed reply, and at the same time truthfully explained my situation and that I had no plans to take up the opportunity anymore. After reading it through, I clicked "Send" and hoped for the best.

Within 10 minutes of sending the mail, I got a reply, much to my surprise. It was early in the morning (8ish) and I didn't think that he would be in the office. The reply was very amiable. He said there was no worries at all, and he wished me a great year ahead in the meantime. Just like that. And it was done.

Have you ever had to say no before and feel conflicted about doing so? Many times we make a big deal out of saying "no", afraid that we will be committing a hideous crime by saying. In our minds, we are scared that the other people will be angry, that we will be loathed on, that we'll be deemed as making things difficult for others.

The thing is, many of these thoughts are self-created, and not real. Saying no really is a prerogative, and shouldn't be as difficult as we make it out to be. It's about learning how to do so. Here are 6 simple tips how you can learn to say no:

1. Realize it's okay to say no
   No matter who you are speaking to and what the situation is, you have the right to say no. The only reason why you feel you don't have that right is because you choose to relinquish it to others. Rather than think that we can't say no, it's about learning how to say it and put it across in a manner that the other party can understand and accept.
   
   Even if it's your boss or someone of higher seniority that you're dealing with, and you don't feel that you can say no, realize that it's your choice to say yes because you're unwilling to deal with the consequences of saying no. Ultimately everything in life boils down to us and the choices we make.


2. Know your priorities
   What are your biggest goals this year? Would you prefer to spend time on these goals or on this new commitment? Knowing your goals reinforces your reasons for saying no. For example since a while back, I decided to stop taking pro-bono speaking/workshop requests, because each commitment takes up considerable time and effort and it just isn't worth the effort to do them for free anymore. I've also decided to say no to local engagements, as these require me to be situated in Singapore, and my plans for the year ahead involve traveling overseas. Knowing my vision and plans has made it much easier to say no.


3. Write everything down first
   If you're not sure how to start, dump out everything on your mind first in the email, without intending to send it out right away. It can be gibberish. It can be thoughts of frustration. Treat it as writing a draft reply. The process of doing this helps sort out your thoughts. After you finish dumping out your thoughts, you'll find it much easier to craft your actual reply from there. This works for me every time.


4. Keep it simple
   There's no need to over-explain yourself. Simply say no, and give the key reason why. Some people may run into the mistake of writing a lengthy explanation letter/email, and it's unnecessary. Not only does it bog down the other party with details, it also weakens your position. In my rejection mails, I usually keep them to 3 paragraphs - first paragraph as a greeting, and the second paragraph with my rejection and short explanation why. In the last paragraph, I provide a couple of alternative options he/she can seek out (see tip #5).


5. Provide an alternative
   This is not necessary, but if you feel bad about saying no, you can provide an alternative option to cushion out the effect. For example, if the person wants to work on a project with you but you cannot commit to it, you can recommend a few leads to him/her who can do equally good job as you. That way, the person won't be left hanging and he/she can seek out these options instead. Usually in my rejections, I'll provide a couple of quick leads/options out of courtesy.


6. Just say no
   Sometimes I wonder about how to say no, and in the end I just go with a straightforward "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I can't take it up" answer. Surprisingly, the other parties take to it very readily like the example above, making me realize that a lot of conflicts I have with saying no are more my own illusions than anything else! As long as you're earnest, candid and respectful of the other party in the reply, there shouldn't be any reason why there would be an issue.

How about you?Is there a request you're planning to say no to? How can you apply the tips above to send your message across? Share in the comments area below!

Written on 6/10/2011 by Celestine Chua. Celestine writes at The Personal Excellence Blog, where she shares her best advice on how to achieve personal excellence and live your best life. Get her RSS feed directly and add her on Twitter @celestinechua. If you like this article, you will enjoy one of her top articles: 101 Things To Do Before You Die.

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