A Guest Post by: Katheryn Rivas
Just because you don’t officially have a leadership position within your company or organization, it doesn’t mean you cannot be a leader. There are numerous ways for employees to become leaders without having the title. In fact, many companies will try to cultivate leadership in all of their employees because that characteristic can directly improve the company’s success. Additionally, if you’re an employee who practices being a leader, you also benefit by preparing yourself to take on more responsibility.
So when you think about ways to be a leader at work, try to follow some of these guidelines, as they’ll hopefully prompt you towards action worthy of a leader. And, of course, if you have any tips to add, please leave them in the comments section.
Lookout for Opportunities
Good leaders have an idea about how opportunities arise and how the company or their team can take advantage of those opportunities. This means that at the office you not only have to be able to accomplish your daily tasks, but also you have to remain aware of the greater context in which you and your company work. Knowing about industry trends, movement and goals within the company, and how your supervisors and co-workers interact will keep you prepared to jump on an opportunity.
Be Self-Aware
This is pretty simple, but you should always know your own strengths and limitations. If you are aware of your own attributes and how they affect your productivity, then you can figure out how others could compliment your strengths and support your weaknesses. Furthermore, being aware of yourself will help you become aware of other members of your team. This awareness will prepare you for those times when you need to lead a project and collaborate with others.
Communicate with Your Supervisors and Co-workers
A good leader is an effective communicator. As a leader, you should have clear and open pathways of communication between you and your co-workers and between you and your supervisors. Ideally, you should not privilege one over the other, given that communications at all levels is important. Your co-workers can be just as valuable as your supervisors when it comes to gathering information or opinions about the most recent project you’re working on.
Expand Your Job Description
In order to be a leader in the workplace, you will have to, at some point, expand your role beyond the one defined in your job description. This means that you might have to take on some extra work; however, the extra work will be worth it because it will be for a project that you took the initiative on. It won’t be busy work, but instead work on a project that you planned and implemented. In other words, you’ll be proud at having reached this achievement. You will have taken the opportunity to lead your co-workers to success. Eventually, your hard work will be recognized.. But until then, you have to be willing to take on some extra projects of your choosing.
Take the Chance
Leadership is all about rising to the occasion and taking a chance. Leaders are forged when an opportunity presents itself and they take it. So, take a chance and be the leader you want to be.
About the Author
This guest contribution was submitted by Katheryn Rivas, who regularly writes for online universities. She welcomes your comments at her email Id: [email protected].
