Are you an effective leader?

Effective leaders always begin with clearly defined goals and then prepare plans for achieving them. They have the courage to set a direction and then make changes as new information becomes available. They communicate clearly and to the point, knowing that people perform at their best when they know what is expected.

Are you an effective leader?

I believe that how you conduct your meetings, tells a lot about your current effectiveness as a leader. Here are a few thoughts I have about effective leadership that you are free to consider deeply or dismiss. Are you an effective leader, or could you and your team benefit from some adjustments? Let’s take it to the test.

When you call for a meeting, are you always prepared? Yes you say? Are everyone else as well?

Yes, because I always:

• Prepare an agenda.
• Distribute the agenda before the meeting.
• The agenda lets everyone know why their presence is important.
• Lets everyone know how they can contribute and add value to their colleagues.
• Show up, well prepared and with regulated emotions, ahead of time for the meeting.

Well in that case. Congratulations. This serves as a positive indication of effective leadership planning. Every meeting could progress smoothly, efficiently, and effectively. But for that to happen, work needs to be done ahead, so that everyone knows what to expect, WHY they need to show up and HOW to contribute in a valuable way. If the people attending the meeting does not have a clear understanding of these elements, precious time is being wasted and revenue is getting lost.

During the meeting I always pay attention to what people are saying and:

• Ideas from the team-members contribute toward achieving our goals.
• Comments and ideas build upon what others just said.
• All input demonstrate originality, creativity, and knowledge.

An effective team reflects effective leadership. If the above points are correct to your evaluation, your team members are working hard to add value because they are under the influence of a leader with true leadership capabilities and they know that the meeting is a safe ground to communicate ideas freely and creatively and they feel that their ideas matter.

If this is not the case, pay even closer attention. Evaluate the comments and behavior during a meeting. Are the participants working to support each other? Are people contributing to the safe environment that is essential for open creative thinking? Are people adding high-value contributions, or are there people in your team telling stories or jokes that distracts everyone? Chronic unproductive behavior betrays either fear, a lack of effective work skills, or misunderstood expectations. People who perform poorly in meetings may need constructive coaching from a empathic, strong leader.

Leadership involves more than being in charge of a process or a group. True leaders show that they handle responsibility and people with care, with the advancement of everyone in the organisation as their goal. A true leader is helping others perform at their best so that outstanding result can be achieved. But no one ever became an effective leader by accident. Someone who shows these characteristics has put in the work to improve their own thinking and habits. A good leader leads by example. Hence everyone under the influence of a good leader will also put in the work that is required for everyone in the organisation to thrive

And oh… If you believe that you have potential for growth and success, you could consider challenging your leadership capabilities by attending one of LMI’s highly effective programs. That’s what I am up to nowadays, with my nose in the books, putting in the work to become more productive and efficient, and handling time in a responsible way. BECAUSE, to my knowledge, we only live once.