Managers control and direct people according to the values that have been established. Leaders set new direction or vision for their group. They also act as the spearhead for that new direction.

Management without leadership

Managers without leadership characteristics serve to control resources to maintain a status quo. They work to ensure that all things are happening according to the already established plans. A good example of a manager is a referee. Referees exist to make sure that all players abide by the rules that are set for a certain sport. However, a referee would not provide any leadership because there is no change or new direction required.

Managers who don’t have effective leadership skills can actually cause losses to your business. By demotivating the people who report to them, it restricts employees’ ability to demonstrate the valuable skillset they were hired for in the first place.

In addition to not being able to motivate employees, some managers have a difficult time placing trust in them. Instead, they prefer to handle the key tasks themselves instead of delegating them. This also causes employees to lose confidence and become disengaged.

What makes a good leader?

It is well-known that good leadership is crucial to the success of any business. But, to become a leader is not a task that can be accomplished overnight. There are many factors that contribute to good leadership. Over time, anyone can become a good leader regardless of whether the person possesses natural leadership traits or not.

Here are three critical components to being a good leader:

1. Effective communication skills—especially about burnout

Communication is the most important element of leadership. With the COVID-19 pandemic came an increase in remote workers. I’m not sure anyone expected this new way of remote management to last as long as it has. Additionally, the concern of employee mental health and well-being became more important as people became more isolated.

Every good leader must learn effective communication skills, but the pandemic has introduced the need to place an extra focus on burnout.

A recent Software Advice article found that burnout is, in fact, the biggest threat to employees’ well-being. A whopping 77% of employees who transitioned to working from home due to the pandemic are experiencing at least some burnout (alarmingly high among younger workers) where 41% said they haven’t discussed mental well-being with their manager lately.

When you are open to communication, you are able to clearly convey your ideas and thoughts to employees so they have better direction. At the same time, you can more effectively listen to your employees’ feedback to find out what problems they may be facing, and how you can address them.

2. Collaboration and teamwork

It goes without saying that two heads are better than one. Teamwork is always something to consider when you are determined to become a good leader. This means providing opportunities for employees to work together and collaborate on projects. But it also means becoming part of the team yourself.

The purpose of teambuilding is to achieve a task that would be difficult or impossible for a single individual to perform in the given conditions. Team members need to be clear on the purpose the team is willing to achieve.

When teamwork and collaboration are effective, productivity and engagement increases.

3. Motivation and engagement

Motivation is another trait that is vital for good leadership. Employees tend to stagnate when their motivation goes down. They start becoming less engaged. The reason for this is the lack of motivation from leaders.

There are still managers who tend to motivate employees with a “do what I say or something bad will happen” mindset. This may get results, but only for a short period.

Leaders, on the other hand, use positive motivation to engage their employees, such as providing opportunities to challenge themselves and grow. This style proves to be more effective over the long term.

To learn more about becoming a better leader or gaining new leadership skills, browse through our course marketplace.

The post Managers as Leaders: Three Critical Components of Good Leadership appeared first on Schoox - A Learning Management System.

There’s a lot more open discussion in the world today, and more people value the spirit of inclusion and diversity. But for some, there’s still a long way to go, particularly in the workplace.

How you approach open discussion in the workplace can significantly affect collaboration, morale, and productivity.

Are you actively seeking to learn from others with different opinions, experiences, and backgrounds? If not, what valuable ideas and perspectives could you be missing out on? Hearing differing perspectives that challenge our own has great benefits.

In this episode, Schoox VP of Learning and Brand Success Matthew Brown discusses the importance of valuing different perspectives.

Listen to The Learning Exchange podcast episode below to learn more or keep reading.

The benefits of seeing a different perspective

Hearing different opinions has multiple benefits. It makes everyone feel heard and understood. But it also helps us broaden how we think about things and how we approach problems.

L&D professionals or a managers can greatly benefit from creating a safe space for people to share their diverse opinions.

Sometimes it’s not easy to hear differing opinions, especially if they are directly challenging your own. But it’s important to fight any defensiveness that often comes up when a challenge presents itself. The benefits will always outweigh any initial discomfort.

The difference between feedback and valuing different perspectives

By listening to different perspectives, we don’t just mean getting some simple feedback.

It’s important to understand the difference between seeking feedback and valuing different perspectives. Feedback is great. But many people are programmed to give positive feedback. While it may be constructive, it may not offer too much in the way of change.

Most feedback won’t go too far outside what you’ve put in front of them. Try to present a completely different perspective that is outside the box and offer something entirely unique.

Different perspectives and problem-solving

We have only lived in our own world, so we only have our own experiences to draw from. Unless we’re open to hearing and encouraging other perspectives, we may never know other experiences or skillsets. And that could be the very thing we need to solve a problem.

Let’s look at an example. Say you are in a meeting about a new project, such as a new learning program or training course. The people in that meeting may not necessarily consume the program themselves. They’re not the target audience. They may create an excellent course for people at their skill or experience level. But it could completely miss the mark for the people taking the course.

It may not be useful for people with lesser experience or completely different skillsets. For example, you need to get everyone up to speed. Maybe you should start the course at Step A instead of Step C.

The outcome you want your course to bring may not happen the way you want it to.

In this case, try seeking an outside perspective. It could help you create a course that fits the needs of those actually consuming it.

Are you in a similar position? Consider whether you may be too close to the topic to give your audience what it needs.

There are no stupid questions, only different perspectives

Have you ever been at an event where someone makes a comment or asks a question intended as a joke? And the audience or moderator casually laughs it off?

What would happen if, instead of disregarding it, we nurtured the conversation and opened a dialogue? Maybe you could say something like, “Tell me more about it,” or “Why do you think that?” Encourage them to speak their mind and share their thoughts openly without judgment.

When something like this happens, you will likely notice that the energy in the room changes. The moderator has decided to create a safe space where people feel more open to talking.

When people know others won’t ridicule them for “stupid questions,” they will be much more open to sharing. When people are comfortable sharing their own thoughts and experiences, everyone wins.

What if people aren’t open to different perspectives?

At some point, you will likely run into people who are less open to other opinions. They may approach things more cynically or will be stubborn to change.

While this can be a challenge, it’s an opportunity to lead by example. You can demonstrate what it looks like to embrace different perspectives. And you can show what happens when someone opens up a dialogue.

Handling difficult conversations

Training yourself to hear other perspectives has another benefit as well. It can make dealing with difficult conversations much more productive.

Whether it’s a difficult guest, customer, or employee, seeing different perspectives can really help you step outside of your preconceptions. You can step outside, recognize when something is wrong when you might normally get defensive. Developing this skill can make you a much better leader.

Try challenging yourself. Pick an upcoming project and bring a diverse group of individuals together to collect feedback.

Actively seek out different perspectives. When you listen to and represent others’ voices, they are much more likely to engage with an open mind. And that’s how we all learn.

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