5 Effective Tips to Help You Be a Better Executive Leader

One of the biggest challenges executive leaders face is how to constantly improve themselves. While your management skills may have landed you your job, building on those abilities can help you not only become an effective leader now, but enable your climb up the corporate ladder. Consider these tips to improve your effectiveness as a leader.

Take responsibility. There is a reason the adage, “the buck stops here” has never gone out of style. As an executive, you are responsible for every decision or action made by the team you lead. Don’t blame peers or subordinates for failures.

See crisis as opportunity. Focus on the potential positive outcome of any challenge. Examine changes in market conditions or shakeups within the organization to identify potential for growth and innovation. It’s up to you to make the tough decisions that can lead your organization forward. If you focus on problems, you will spend all your time putting out fires instead of creating business opportunities.

Don’t waste employee time. Be ruthless when it comes to eliminating worthless administrative tasks, reports with no purpose or unproductive meetings. Guard the time of your employees as jealously as your own. It will increase both productivity and retention. This also applies to removing nonperforming individuals in the organization. An ill-fitting employee is better off pursuing other options than he is floundering where he can’t flourish. His departure is also far better for the company’s health and the morale of the remaining employees.

Give credit where it is due. Effective executives know they are responsible for problems that arise, so do not hesitate to give or share credit to the team for successes. Ultimately the success of your employees reflects well on your leadership, so you lose nothing by letting them have the limelight.

Play to your strengths. Don’t try to be something you’re not. If you attempt to be just one of the guys when you should be communicating more professionally, you will come across as insincere. By the same token, don’t hesitate to delegate. There are certainly many tasks in your organization that can be performed better by others so that you can focus on what you do best.

When you take the time to identify your weaknesses and take steps to turn them into strengths, you become a better leader. When you are ready to add to your team, trust the recruiting experts at BrainWorks. By partnering with our professional recruitment firm, you’ll be able hire faster and more effectively. Contact us today to learn more.