Leadership is a mindset. It's not a role, it's not something you can assign. You can't just hand someone leadership skills or tell them they're going to be a leader. Instead, it's something that everyone can develop and use no matter what their role is.
Leaders Make the Team More than the Sum of Its Parts
To be a leader, you need to think differently about what it means to lead.
The most important thing is that leaders make their teams more than the sum of their parts. They inspire and empower them, build trust, and create high-performing and happy teams. And anyone on the team can do these things!
Building Trust is Critical to Leadership
Trust is the foundation of leadership. It's built through empathy, the rigor of logic, and authenticity. Trust is necessary for collaboration and innovation to happen at scale. Trust enables a team to be more than any of them thought possible.
Trust takes time to build—it requires you to take risks in order to give others the benefit of your experience; it requires you to be transparent about yourself so that others can learn from your mistakes or successes; it requires you to ask questions when necessary instead of always being right or knowing more than anyone else.
How Can You Increase the Trust in Your Team?
To build trust in your team, you need to put away your phone and listen with empathy and without distraction. Be yourself—your authentic self. Celebrate others' authenticity by recognizing their strengths, offering encouragement when they need it, and letting them know that their effort is appreciated. Lastly, communicate clearly with your main point up front so people understand your logic before diving into endless details or tangents that don't help move things forward.
Conclusion
I hope this article has helped you understand that leadership is not a role, it's a mindset. You can adopt the mindset of a leader, but it will take time and commitment. When you are ready to lead others, first think about yourself as someone who wants to be a good leader; then think about how good leaders make decisions and how they work with people. Finally, think about how you can use these skills in your work or home life so that you become more effective at leading others.