It is well-known and already experienced by many people and organizations in the world that a good leader leads with an efficient and effective way towards making a project successful.
A Good Leader always sets an example for others and carries the team as a coherent unit and is always eager to learn and improve the process. A project may have highly skilled resources but without a competent leader the chances of failure or obstacles increase proportionally. Good Leaders always possess good listening skills as it clearly differentiates them from others.
A Leader’s role is very important and critical for an organization in making it successful in terms of revenue as well as employee satisfaction. A Leader can be anyone, like owner of the company, a supervisor, a project manager, a project lead, a director, a vice president, etc. They can have various positions, sharing the same goal to make project and organization successful.
There are various qualities a leader should have and follow the best practices. We have defined few skills and best practices which are given below –
- Listener: Good Leaders always spend quality of time to listen to others’ thoughts on issues and technical/non-technical explanations. They should develop this skill if they don’t already have, as it differentiates them from others. Good Leaders listen to everyone and consider/analyze everyone’s thoughts and take decision based on that.
- Communication: Communication is a key skill and helps to develop other skills. Also, it helps to understand project and resources in an effective way. Whenever we talk about communication that does not means good speaking skill, it is all about your way of talking and discussing the topic with people based on their skill set and behavior. For example, there are 10 developers in your team and everyone has different levels of skill set and attitude. So a Good Leader would always discuss with them as per their convenience so s/he can understand their thoughts and issues. Good Leaders always take some time and discus about others’ personal issues, if required so s/he can help to resolve them if it is possible for them.
- Decision Maker: A Good Leader should always have good decision-making skills so s/he can take decisions at right time. The decision should not be biased and should not be based on his/her personal interest as it creates conflict within a team. If a team faces conflict then you would not expect best result from them so it is a responsibility of the Leader to resolve those conflicts and make the team comfortable and work together with their full energy. Leader should take realistic approach when analyzing any deliverable with the management and explain them all the obstacles and team efforts. They should not take any decision in hurry because it impact entire team and team has to work day night to enable the outcome of the decision.
- Observer: Good leader always has good observation skills. This skill makes them understand entire team and their strength. Leader should always know the strength and weakness of his/her team. Leader should talk to team and person in a timely way and get update about their concerns, skill update, project & personal issues.
- Motivational: Good Leader always motivates others and helps others to do new and exciting things in their everyday life. Leader should conduct one to one meeting with people very often and give feedback of their work and motivate them to do something extra in work or apart from their work like do some certification or start learning new technologies etc. Leader should never lose a chance to appraise others so they can understand how much important they are for the team and give their 100% toward the completion of the assignment.
- Positive Thinker: Good leader always think positively and looks positive about their work and organization. Sometime, team or person are worried about management policies and getting nervous due to new/updated management policies then it is leader’s responsibility to talk to personal and make them comfortable. Leader should exhibit his/her positive attitude at that time so others remain calm and concentrate on their work. Leaders should take caution when talking about management and management policies with others as it is very critical topic and harm their reputation in front or management or team.
- Mentor: A good leader always develops new leaders and gives them all kind of skills so they can lead their career in effective & efficient way. Also, they can manage team and give useful information to management or client in the absence of Lead. Sharing knowledge within a team is also an important thing and it helps all team members to do project’s work without any obstacles. Knowledge sharing sessions should be arranged as it would help team to understand others’ functional area or process within a team. Also, it will help to reallocate resources from one area to other when required without any delay or prior training.
Many inspiring Quotes are written for Leadership, please find few of them below –
Leadership is not about a title or a designation. It’s about impact, influence and inspiration. Impact involves getting results, influence is about spreading the passion you have for your work, and you have to inspire team-mates and customers.
Robin S. Sharma
Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and in actions.
Harold S. Geneen
Ultimately, leadership is not about glorious crowning acts. It’s about keeping your team focused on a goal and motivated to do their best to achieve it, especially when the stakes are high and the consequences really matter. It is about laying the groundwork for others’ success, and then standing back and letting them shine.
Chris Hadfield