When you feel that resources are tight, stress levels are running high, your visions of success are blurring out and nothing seems to go according to your plan, you may find yourself easily giving up as a leader and watching your team sink. Take a deep breath, calm down, remind yourself of your leadership aspirations, and re-emphasize on these key qualities that make a great leader:
A true leader makes an exceptional leader, period. If you think a certain leader is great because he hid their latest loss from her team, or lied to them about why they underperformed on a certain task, you may want to reconsider. A leader’s team is a reflection of her own morals, so she needs to demonstrate an honest and ethical behavior to expect her team to follow suit. By implementing these values, an exceptional leader commits to ensure that all her teammates are on the same page of standards, and induces a professional and healthy environment to work in.
The bleak difference between a good and a great leader is her farsightedness and self-expression. Setting a clear vision of future strategies and performance, and effectively communicating it to the team provides them with a sense of direction and effectively provides employees with an understanding of their roles, responsibilities and conduct. A great leader always stays a step ahead of time and tends to forecast her team’s future success and pitfalls in order to prepare and act accordingly, while taking her team into confidence and keeping them updated with any future plans and strategic changes.
Ever been in a situation where you lost all hopes of being successful and needed someone to look up to for inspiration? A great leader does just that! Like a captain goes all out to rescue his sinking ship, a true leader stays composed through adverse situations to keep the team spirits high and boost their morale. Reminding the team members of their achievements uplifts their self-motivation and encourages them to aim higher and perform at a next level.
There may be nothing worse than being led by a pessimist. A leader has to display a positive attitude in order to steer her team into the right direction. Keep your confidence level high, and reassure everyone that hindrances are normal, and to maintain their focus on the ultimate goal. A calm and confident leader keeps her team from feeling overwhelmed under pressure. Observe a certain level of damage control, reinforce the positivity into your team, and become an exceptional leader by keeping everyone working and moving forward.
While these two qualities may rank last on the list, they are equally essential to have to be an inspirational leader. While a leader’s creative flair can make or break her team, humor makes her see the lighter side of things during a crisis and as your team takes the cue from you, it will keep their moods uplifted and expectations high. As a leader, many of your decisions may not be clear-cut and might force you to be flexible around your set course of action and step out of your comfort zone. Creativity becomes vital in such situations and enables a leader to think outside the box and weigh her choices before arriving at a final decision.
You may have the best qualifications and the most comprehensive work experience on your CV, but if you are unable to get along with your colleagues or fellow students, you may not be able to go far! How your coworkers see you heavily depends on your interpersonal communication skills, and can have a long-term impact on your career possibilities as well as your routine life. Read on to find out some effective tips to strengthen your social skills and make better connections with your team mates.
To have your opinions valued, it is important that you weigh your words and thoughts before voicing them out. Intelligence and maturity are the secret ingredients to achieving exceptional communication skills. Avoid revealing the first thought that crosses your mind, without contemplating, to avoid misunderstandings and misperceptions with your peers.
An effective verbal communication is all about clarity. Slow down and speak more considerately, avoid impulsive responses to questions, and pause for a while to digest the conversation before offering your opinions. Stay calm and focused, speak politely and just follow basic professional ethics, and all should be well!
Your thoughtfulness and sensibility can take you a long way in being taken seriously, and so can a splash of vigilant humor. You may have already noticed that the funny guy in your office, or classroom, is also quite popular. As long as you keep off inappropriate humorous remarks, or offensive jokes, you will be able to ease out communication barriers with a timid peer or a grumpy manager!
It may be a lost virtue, but active listening is vital for great interpersonal skills. In addition to being an audience to your words, your coworkers would want to be heard and understood too. Make sure you recognize others’ perspective and demonstrate a basic understanding of their viewpoints. Try repeating what the speaker has said to express your attention and feel more connected.
Effective verbal communication has to be two-sided. Be prepared to listen to your colleagues with an open mind and concentration, and avoid emerging as distracted, judgmental, and disrespectful towards their point of views. To be approachable and favored, treat other speakers with the same dignity and importance as you would like for your own words.
Non-verbal communication provides the foundation for efficient verbal communication. Maintain a confident body language, be courteous and supportive, and most importantly, don’t be a whiner! Your constant smile can become your identity at your workspace, and your considerate nature can make you the most favorite employee among your colleagues. Get into a habit of writing positive appreciation notes to your coworkers; celebrate even the pettiest of achievements; remember their birthdays and important evens; always wear a cheerful outlook, and never hold back praises and thank-you. By representing a caring and courteous demeanor, you will have the same feelings reciprocated towards you.
How effective your interpersonal skills are, basically depends on how well you manage your anger, frustration, mood swings and other emotions. Focus on self-management and maintain a calm and composed outlook at work and school. Be compassionate to a struggling coworker, avoid laughing in tense situations, and most importantly, keep a tap on your own emotions to be empathetic to others.
While it is important to always be polite and respectful, it is also essential that you demonstrate a certain level of assertiveness to get your point across and well-taken in a competitive environment. However, it is vital that you don’t come off as being rude or offensive. It is completely normal to defend your ideas with confidence, but remember to keep aggression at bay. Keep you volume and tone under control, choose appropriate words, and be tactful enough to emerge out of the situation respectably.
At times, your opinions may meet criticism and opposition, but there’s a reason why they are called opinions and not facts! Avoid taking criticism and negative feedback personally and remain flexible around your set course of action. There may be other better ideas than yours, accept them with an open mind to maintain a professional and persevering character.
In this student leadership game, your students will learn the importance of clear communication as they pair up back-to-back and attempt to re-create a drawing with only limited verbal instructions.
This activity teaches effective communications skills. It emphasizes the importance of giving clear instructions when presenting your ideas. Whether giving instructions to a teammate, presenting your student council election speech, or advertising the next school dance… the presence of clear and specific directions will ensure the success of your student leadership efforts.
Any
A Pad of paper and pencil for each pair of players
Shape drawings (Download & Print this PDF with Shapes)
Optional – Use a dry erase board for writing participant’s key point answers and “a-ha!” moments during discussion.
15-30 minutes
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“You may not simply say, ‘Draw a square!’ Or even ‘Draw the shape of SpongeBob’s body.’”
“Instead, you will give step-by-step directions.”
“For example: If this were describing the SQUARE, I’d say…”
“Draw a line horizontally across the page.”
“At the end of the line you just drew, draw a line going down the page… Etc.”
Note: Don’t complete the whole drawing or get too specific in your drawing example. Let them figure that out themselves. Discard the square.
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