5 Steps To Successful Leadership

Good leadership is an essential element of a successful organisation, and managing leaders effectively can result in a more efficient, profitable, and valuable business.

Determine on Preferred Leadership Style

One thing that makes a leader effective is how well they fit with company culture, and how well their leadership style meshes with the requirements of their job. Leadership isn't conducive to a one-size-fits all approach, and the specific requirements of a leader depends a great deal on the organisation for which they work, and the level at which they work within it.

Identify Potential Company Leaders and Shortfalls

Your organisation may currently have all the leaders it needs, but it's always important to identify up-and-coming employees who may be suitable for leadership training in the future. It's similarly crucial to consider how your leadership needs may change as the organization evolves and grows, and be open to the idea of creating new leadership roles as needed.

Create Leadership Planning Goals

Companies that help their employees plan their careers—and offer opportunities for advancement—are rewarded with higher levels of employee retention and engagement. For people with leadership potential, it's doubly useful, because it allows the organisation and the employee to work together to ensure that they develop the competencies they will need as leaders.

Develop Leadership Skills Requirements

Along the same lines, it's also important to develop a roadmap for potential leaders to follow, to help them gain the requisite skills and experience. Both formal and non-traditional learning activities should be part of such a roadmap, including activities such as job shadowing, mentoring, coaching, rotational assignments, and project leadership.

Implement Leader Retention Programmes

One key element of leadership development that's often overlooked is that of retention. There's always the risk of losing top leaders to other organisations, so it's crucial to develop strategies that encourage leaders to stay with a company and continue performing at a high level. And these days, it's not enough to simply offer a high salary and additional financial rewards; people also value flexibility in the hours they work, the ability to work out of the office, and other perks that help them maintain a desirable work-life balance.

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How to Become a Successful Sales Representative

The nature of sales is such that personal qualities like attitude and personality are hugely important determinants of success, and all the sales rep training in the world can't make up the lack. But for reps who just need a nudge or two in the right direction, it can be useful to understand just what those essential qualities are.

Develop a Keen Sense of Empathy

Empathy is the quality of identifying with people and understanding what they're feeling; it's an enormously useful trait for salespeople because it enables them to understand a customer's motivations and concerns, and tailor their sales pitch accordingly. A rep with a strong sense of empathy finds it easy to establish trust and help others feel at ease, and is good at reading body language and other non-verbal cues.

Stay Focused, Stay Optimistic

People who are focused are driven from within; they don't require external motivation to want to succeed. They're self-motivated, self-starters, and they're willing to do what it takes to achieve their goals.

A related trait is optimism: the ability to persist and stay focused in the face of failure. It's a crucial trait, because in sales, failure is inevitable—so it's not a lack of failure that's important, it's the ability to stay focused and confident when failure happens.

Accept Responsibility

People who are prepared to accept responsibility for their own actions don't shift the blame onto others when problems arise. Instead, they accept whatever responsibility is theirs, they work to find out what went wrong, and they make the effort to make improvements where they're needed.

Feed the Desire for Success

Sales training can help new reps understand how to succeed, but it can't make them want to succeed. That desire to succeed just for the sake of being successful is something that can't be taught. Someone who genuinely enjoys competing and being the best they can, who enjoys the profession for the opportunities it provides in terms of winning, and who gains personal gratification from a successful sale, has the makings of a great rep.

It's important, however, that the desire for success is tempered by those other essential qualities—like empathy and a willingness to accept personal responsibility—to ensure that success doesn't come at another's expense, whether its a customer or a colleague.

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