10 Leadership Tips You Don’t Want to Ignore

Do you notice you’re not the strongest leader? These 10 leadership tips will help you overcome any obstacles.

Are you the boss everyone hates? We hope not. Running a company is hard, and that’s before you get to the people aspect.

How do you know if you’re a good boss or not? It’s not like your employees are giving you feedback on your management technique.

Since they aren’t, we thought we would. See our top ten leadership tips below and get on your way to a more collaborative workspace!

1. Open Your Mind to Non-Traditional Candidates

When you’re hiring new employees, you want the best and brightest for your company. In the past, this meant whoever had the best grades and the highest degree from the best university.

Then, you’d look at who had the most real-world experience.

In a way, that has changed. While it’s still important for candidates to have a relevant resume, employers are starting to open their minds to less strict standards.

You’re always looking for employees who think outside the box, what about leadership tips for hiring outside the box?

2. Fire Fast

Hiring and firing is a delicate balance. You don’t want your employees to feel like they’ll get fired if they have one bad day, but you don’t want them getting too comfortable either.

When you hire an employee, let them know their position is performance based. Tell them what that means and keep them up-to-date as it changes.

If you notice their performance lagging, talk to them and express your concerns. Be empathetic and listen. You’ll be able to tell if they’re telling you the truth or making something up.

If you’ve talked to them and nothing changes, fire them. It’ll be hard for both of you, but the best choice for your company in the long run. As an added bonus, it’ll show your other employees that you’re serious about work quality.

3. Invest in Employee’s Lives

There’s a saying in recruitment and sales, People don’t join organizations, people join people. It means that the more human and authentic you are, the more you’ll attract the same type of people.

For example, do you have an employee that always talks about their softball league? Do your best to make it to one game per season. You can even make it a team-bonding outing!

If you make it a point to support the people behind the employee, you’ll have a much better workplace vibe. Leadership tips make the office a better place for everybody!

4. Invest in Your Employees Future

We’d like to think that our employees will be with us for life, but that’s unlikely. Whether it’s family issues that carry them away or a better opportunity, show them you support their future ventures by developing their resumes and skill sets.

Set up continuing education courses for your employees or bring in experts for lead workshops.

5. Ask for Feedback

Performance reviews are normal for employees, but what about for leadership? Give your employees a chance to give you some workplace and leadership notes as well.

Is there an issue in the office? It could be as simple as an old coffee machine or wobbly chairs. You can’t fix what you don’t know is broken.

If you feel like there is something specific you struggle with as a leader, ask them about it. Do so casually and without circumstance, so that employees feel comfortable giving criticism.

To further encourage employee honesty, be authentic in your willingness to improve. Thank your employee for their feedback and ask questions, then follow up with once you’ve made adjustments.

6. Be Transparent

While the success of your company may lie on your shoulders in title, that doesn’t mean your employees aren’t invested. If something is going wrong, your employees will find out.

Why not clue them into the issue and see if they have any ideas for a fix? The ideas of your on-the-ground employees will come with a fresh perspective.

If they can’t do anything to directly help, the threat of losing their jobs could push them to perform even better.

7. Ask For Help

One of the keys to handling tons of responsibility as a leader? Delegation! Asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness.

Instead of stressing yourself out and delivery quantity over quality, let a trusted employee take something over.

Even if they only help with one part of a project, that’s one less thing you have to worry about. The employee who helped you feels capable and trusted in turn. Everybody wins!

8. Get in the Trenches

One of the perks of being in a leadership role is that you bypass small tasks for more meaningful work. However, that doesn’t mean you’re above filing or other menial tasks.

If employees who take care of those things are swamped, step in and help out. It will show them that you don’t value yourself any more than them.

9. Give Positive Feedback

When you’re new to a job or even if you’ve worked there for years, there’s nothing like having your work recognized. A simple good job can go a long way!

If you notice someone is having a hard time in their personal life but it’s not affecting work, compliment them. Tell them you’re impressed with their work quality and you appreciate them.

Giving feedback not only makes friends and influences people, but it makes better workers. Workplaces that give praise have higher loyalty and office morale than those that don’t.

10. Be Reliable

We know that leaders have a lot of responsibilities, but consistently using leadership tips is one of them.

You don’t want to confuse your employees by being the supportive boss one week and never engaging again. Though employing all of these leadership tips sounds like a lot, most are quick and easy.

Leadership Tips: Going Forward

If you’re feeling overwhelmed right now, that’s okay. It’s part of the startup process!

Instead of transforming into an ultra leadership tips guru, pick one on this list to start with. Make it a goal to do it consistently for two weeks.

After the two weeks is up, it will feel like second nature and you can pick another. Now you have ten action items to complete in twenty weeks. You can do that!

Wish the startup process had more actionable guidance? We did too. That’s why we created our Ultimate Startup Checklist.

Check it out and become part of our ever-growing startup space. Can’t wait to have you!