Content

• Steps
• Part 1 of 5: Developing Leadership Skills
• Part 2 of 5: Demonstrating Leadership in the Workplace
• Part 3 of 5: Team Management
• Part 4 of 5: Motivating Workers
• Part 5 of 5: Conflict Resolution

In the professional field, effective leadership skills are important. An experienced leader is a strong link, motivator, and problem-solver. Team building, motivating employees, assessing customer needs, and resolving conflicts are just some of the functions of a good leader. At the same time, the study of these skills can occur throughout life.

Steps

Part 1 of 5: Developing Leadership Skills

1. 1 Take a leadership course. Leadership courses provide intensive development of skills such as project management, collaborative problem solving, and critical thinking. These skills are indispensable in any workplace and can contribute to your early career growth in the company. Some courses are online certification, while others involve in-person attendance at a local institution.
2. 2 Don't be afraid to ask for help and ask questions. If you are faced with new challenges, ask a more experienced colleague about where to start your project. If you have an unexpected problem, refer to the guide for help in solving it.
   • Rely on the experience of others to complete tasks efficiently and efficiently. The next time these problems arise, you will be ready to deal with them yourself.
   • People will appreciate you for asking questions, show respect for their opinions, and offer more help.
3. 3 Develop communication skills. Not everyone is born with oratory, however, there are ways to overcome the fear of speaking and the potential problems associated with speaking in front of an audience.
   • Become a member of the Toastmasters Russia club. Toastmasters is an international educational organization that helps people learn to comfortably perform in front of an audience. In some cases, companies at the corporate level welcome employee membership to this club. But you can also join the branch of the club closest to you on your own.
   • Learn to speak without parasitic words. Words and sounds such as "uh ...", "mmm ..." and "here" are only a small fraction of those useless words that penetrate into our everyday speech. Such words can distract the attention of the audience from the main idea that you are trying to convey to them, and can even present you as an unprepared or inadequate speaker.
   SPECIALIST'S ADVICE

   

   Archana Ramamoorthy, MS

   
   
   Workday CTO Archana Ramamurthy is Workday CTO (North America). High-profile product specialist, advocate for security, advocate for greater integration on a level playing field in the technology industry. She received her BA from SRM University and her MA from Duke University. Has been working in the field of product management for over eight years.

   Archana Ramamoorthy, MS
   Workday CTO

   Develop communication skills outside the work environment in volunteering. Archana Ramamurthy, Director of Product Management at Workday, says volunteering helps her develop many of her key communication skills. She says, “Through volunteering, you learn to work with people you probably never worked with. At the same time, you need to be able to concisely explain everything to those who do not have the same education or tools that you have. It really helps to develop communication skills. "

   
   

Part 2 of 5: Demonstrating Leadership in the Workplace

1. 1 Practice a positive mental attitude. A positive attitude allows you to take full advantage of the opportunities that arise in front of you. It is also amazingly helpful in building social bonds in the workplace. Below you will find helpful tips for maintaining a positive attitude.
   • Remember that you are capable of doing your job and have the skills to do it. You would not be hired if you did not have the qualities that are necessary for this job.
   • Say yes to difficult challenges and new experiences. Taking on difficult challenges and resolving them successfully builds your confidence and can have a positive impact on your colleagues and leaders.
   • Remember that you are in control of your own thoughts and feelings. Negativity is present in all people, but everyone is free to choose whether to feed it in themselves. When negative feelings creep in on you, actively remember everything for which you are grateful to life, pushing the negative into the background.
   • Spend time with positive people. It is much easier to succumb to negativity when dealing with negative personalities. Choose optimistic people who are inclined to positive thinking for communication.
   • Find reasons to smile. Positive thinking is easier when you are surrounded by objects and memorabilia that give you joy and laughter.
2. 2 Be proactive. Being proactive means taking responsibility for your own actions and the tasks assigned to you. It also involves letting go of worrying about things that you cannot control, and focusing your own efforts and time on those parts of the solution to the problem that you can change. Below are some tips on how you can become more proactive in the workplace.
   • Concentrate on solving problems. It's easy to get excited over trifles and dive into mutual accusations, but real leaders focus on the task at hand and what is needed to get it done.
   • Demonstrate a responsible approach to work. If you make a mistake, admit it. If you have an idea, share it. Don't be discouraged if people don't always agree with you. By allowing brainstorming and collaborative input, you demonstrate your own involvement and interest in solving problems, which are important qualities of a leader.
   • Be consistent and reliable. Treat all colleagues with the same degree of professionalism and respect. Come to work on time, prepared and willing to contribute to the common cause. Complete the tasks assigned to you on time or ahead of schedule.
   • Practice honest relationships.Of course, personal issues should not be transferred to the workspace, and an honest and open approach to work issues and problems is an important part of good leadership. For example, if you lack the tools or resources to complete a task at hand, refer to the manual as soon as possible, rather than postponing a discussion of what you need to get the job done and how to better organize it.
3. 3 Become an active listener. This not only demonstrates respect and consideration for what the other person is saying, but it also helps you. Below are the various options for active listener tactics.
   • Rephrase the information provided to you. This demonstrates that you are listening to the person, and gives you the opportunity to clarify those points that you are not entirely sure about.
   • Encourage the conversation with subtle "prompts": nod your head, use the phrases "yes, yes ..." or "I understand" to encourage the other person to continue developing their own ideas.
   • Express your feedback. This facilitates cooperation with the interlocutor and allows you to weigh all the information that was presented to you.
   • Ask for more information. Ask questions that will allow deeper discussion of important points.
   • Show appreciation. Let the other person know that you appreciate the time they have taken to share their thoughts with you.
   • Summarize the information. Summarizing the information received in your own words allows you to take information for personal attention and replenish your own knowledge.
4. 4 Set a good example. People who are respected and who exhibit behaviors that everyone strives to reproduce are role models. Below are some ways to position yourself as role models.
   • Show confidence. Take on new challenging challenges. Be positive. Show others that you are not afraid of new roles or projects.
   • Be unique. Don't try to be like everyone else. Take pride in who you are and in the ways in which you use your own unique talents to benefit your work.
   • Chat with everyone. Communication is not limited to simple conversations. Part of good communication is listening to what other people care about.
   • Show respect and concern. People will definitely notice if you use others to move forward. It is important to always demonstrate that you care about your own team and its group success.
   • Be humble. This does not mean that you should hide your own achievements; however, demonstrating a humble attitude makes it easier to accept the mistakes you make (which inevitably happens) and encourages others to help you.
   • Do good things outside of work. A dedication to worthy of respect is good for your ability to contribute to the business of the company as well.

Part 3 of 5: Team Management

1. 1 Concentrate on the goals of the organization. Create a general visual representation of the business or project and keep it in the foreground at all times. Prioritize the success of your organization over your personal interests in your career. Below are some steps to achieve your goals.
   • Set objectives in a way that reflects company values ​​and goals. Any company has a key manifesto that reflects its interests and goals that it strives to achieve with its activities. Before assigning tasks to subordinates, make sure that you yourself know the main goals of the company, and that employees are aware of how their own efforts relate to corporate values.
   • Explain your expectations of them to employees.Try to put verbal instructions in writing and periodically review progress with staff to ensure that you understand the tasks correctly.
   • Document your progress. This process can often be automated using databases or a special tracker; however, it is also possible to use e-mail messages with memoranda or tabular display of schedule performance.
   • Leave feedback on the work submitted by subordinates. This can be done in a variety of ways. Informally, you can give feedback through the internal corporate messenger; email is good for when you need to attach documentation for use or print. Finally, when it comes to delivering a large project, you can give feedback on the work done at the quarterly review meeting, where you will meet directly with the employee to discuss their contribution.
2. 2 Organize employee training. Training can be organized by you, other employees, or an outside consultant. Build training for the specific needs of employees, focusing it on correlating the tasks of specific employees and the organizational nature of the matter.
   • It is also a good idea to first discuss directly with employees what kind of training they would like to undergo, and based on the results of the discussion, build a specific training program.
3. 3 Facilitate meeting arrangements. Meetings and meetings are essential to the success of the team. They serve as a place for information transfer, collaboration, decision making and ranking of available tasks. Arrange meetings at regular intervals, such as every two weeks for a six-week project, or every quarter for an annual initiative, to discuss all details in a timely manner and reconfirm organizational tasks.
4. 4 Coordinate your meeting schedule. Schedule appointments and meetings based on employee availability and constraints. For example, although everyone is available on Friday afternoons, it is probably unwise for you to have a meeting at this time to discuss difficult issues.
   • If not all employees are able to attend the meeting, identify key project leaders who can include the meeting in their schedule.
   • Delegate the person in charge to keep minutes of the meeting and ensure that stakeholders who were absent from the meeting can receive and review the discussion.
5. 5 Prepare your agenda for meetings. The agenda, at a minimum, should include a list of issues to be discussed, indicate who will be responsible for them, and contain a time frame for the presentation of each issue on the agenda. When preparing the agenda, it can be circulated to all stakeholders in case additional issues need to be added to it. In addition, the agenda can be used as a checklist of issues discussed during the meeting.
6. 6 Monitor the progress of meetings. This means that you must make sure that all items on the agenda are considered and resolved, and that all views are heard. Below are guidelines on how to achieve this.
   • Establish rules for the conduct of the meeting so that you can step in when someone monopolizes the discussion on an issue. For example, set limits on expression and enforce them.
   • Open the discussion to everyone present. After the initial presentation of the information, allow everyone present to participate in the discussion.
   • After announcing the information on each next item on the agenda and discussing it, briefly summarize the decision made and move further down the list.
   • Once the entire agenda has been reviewed, reconfirm the way forward.
   • Make an appointment and collect suggestions for the upcoming agenda.
7. 7 Act decisively. Decisive leaders avoid stagnation and indecisive hesitation, thereby keeping employees busy and motivated, while maintaining a responsible approach to emerging changes and obtaining new information. The features of decisive leadership are described in more detail below.
   • Clarity of objectives ensures that all decisions made are aligned with organizational objectives and ethics.
   • Engagement allows a leader to serve as a living example, embodying an exemplary commitment to company values ​​that enables effective and rational decisions to be made.
   • Transparency does not allow for individual interests. It shows how decisions that benefit the company make everyone prosperous.
   • Cultivating the practice of honestly admitting failure helps to gain life lessons that serve as a springboard for better decision making in the future. Decisive leadership involves admitting that mistakes have been made.
   • Open and effective communication. Adherence to corporate values ​​assumes that no inconsistencies or contradictions arise when communicating with higher management or subordinate subordinates.

Part 4 of 5: Motivating Workers

1. 1 Define tasks. Leadership in the workplace often involves the ability to recognize situations where subordinates require special mentoring. This is especially important for new employees and those who have taken on a new position for themselves and are still on track.
   • Be sure to train new employees before entrusting them with independent performance of their duties. Demonstrate to the employee all the stages of work at the new place, providing him with the necessary information for the appointment.
   • Make sure that the employee handbook for the job is up to date and easily accessible to all employees, present and future.
   • Delegate coaching authority and empower new hires to replicate those of more experienced co-mentors.
2. 2 Assess the needs of employees and create opportunities for them to grow. Reach out to the professional interests of each employee by creating clear directions for development and career advancement. Motivate employees with challenging challenges. Many people are great when they have to invent new ways to overcome difficulties or take on new tasks. Encourage team members to improve efficiency by creating new systems or recommending specific production changes.
3. 3 Recognize and value the efforts of employees. When employees perform well, verbally acknowledge their accomplishments or use a bonus system. Announce your accomplishments to the rest of the team - you simultaneously provide positive reinforcement to the outstanding employee and show other team members an example to follow. Recognized events include:
   • completion of a unique project that is important for the success of the team as a whole;
   • managing a charitable event organized by the company;
   • an important event in the life of an employee (marriage, birth of a child, completion of education);
   • the employee receives a promotion or bonus.

Part 5 of 5: Conflict Resolution

1. 1 Be impartial and listen to all parties to understand the essence of the conflict. When dealing with conflicts in the workplace, focus on the facts about the situation.
   • There is no need to assess the participants in the conflict and make personal comments. Management should always be impartial in addressing conflicts between employees and avoid the influence of personal relationships that could lead to bias.
   • Initiate dialogue between the parties involved in the conflict. Conflicts often arise from misunderstandings.Become a mediator and open a dialogue between the parties to the conflict, helping them come to a constructive solution to the problem that has arisen.
   • Be firm but fair. People do not always get along with each other, and some individuals can initiate skirmishes even with a collective discussion of the problem. Establish strict rules of conduct for employees when dealing with a conflict, but do not resort to rash measures, especially if the conflict between the parties arises for the first time.
2. 2 Refer to the concerns of the parties involved in the conflict. If a conflict arises between you and the employee, discuss the problems in a one-on-one format. If a conflict arose between a group of employees and the tasks set by management, schedule a general meeting. At the same time, at a group meeting, try not to go into confrontation and not individually ask individual team representatives about issues that affect the entire group of people at once.
3. 3 Don't hesitate to resolve conflicts. Solve every problem that arises as soon as it comes into your field of vision. Otherwise, an escalation of the conflict may occur, which will negatively affect the performance of subordinates. Just do not be too hasty in making a decision before you think about a course of action.
4. 4 Use constructive criticism. Encouragement and motivation are powerful leverage tools when used correctly.
   • Remind people of what they did right while criticizing the moments in which they did not perform well.
   • Offer criticism that solves the problem. Instead of focusing on what went wrong, ask the question, "How can you go about this more productively in the future?"
   • Be specific and do not stray from the point of the discussion. It can be easy to get distracted at times, but keep the discussion focused on a positive conflict resolution that will satisfy all parties.
5. 5 Praise the parties for successfully resolving the conflict. When a conflict arises and is subsequently resolved, praise the team for their cooperation and acknowledge the contributions of the people who helped find the solution.
   • If there was a conflict between two employees, remind both of their strengths and weaknesses and communicate that you are happy with the resolution of the conflict between them.
   • If there was a conflict between a group of workers and management, in an email to the entire team, acknowledge the merits of the key representatives who made the compromise that led to the resolution of the conflict.