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Your goal as a leader in business or in personal life itself, is to convey your values through example.
By inspiring your team members, motivating your employees, listening and learning, and being real, you will build rich and longlasting relationships with each and every staff member. Just remember, you're never to old to learn something new!

A great leader has these qualities:
  • Integrity
  • Understanding and compassion
  • Keeping your word
  • Harnessing your strengths
  • Accentuating the positive
  • Motivation and guidance
  • Being innovative 

Differences of managing and leadership
Too many managers and owners confuse the tasks of managing with leading.

Managing is implementing tactics, planning schedules and handing out assignments.

Leadership includes inspiring team members, sharing a vision with employees and nurturing staff.

"The leader leads, and the boss drives" —Theodore Roosevelt. 

Do the "Leading or Managing" team exercise to determine how well you and your employees understand the difference.

How does your leadership skills rate?
Not everyone is a born leader. However, even if leadership doesn't come naturally to you, it can be developed. To improve your leadership skills, you must be motivated to become an effective leader and you must make it a priority.

Taking the Leadership Motivation Assessment from MindTools.com will help you to determine how motivated you are to developing your leadership skills. Receive feedback on a comprehensive list of leadership competencies from 360-Degree Feedback.

Improving ones-self as a business leader
Assess your values by listing, beliefs and ethics. Interview customers and suppliers to here there opinion of your qualities!. How do you present yourself during staff meetings. Research what your leadership style type is with the Myers Briggs personality type assessment at PersonalityPathways.com. Learn about what it takes to become a good leader at Inc.com or Entrepreneur.com.

Create goals and timelines
See how you can improve your behavior. implement a timeline with specific goals by starting at the end of your life and working backwards to today. Design a action plan that outlines where you want to be in a set number of years. Don't forget to include improving communication skills, the foundation of great leaders.

Taking goal-setting tutorials at AboutGoalSetting.com will help to improve your ability to set goals and timelines. Mindtools has the resources and tools to improve your communication skills.

Ask for input from employees
Take notice how your beliefs are woven into your company. See where they work and where they're is room for improvement. By having open staff meetings with your employees, you improve communication, thus buliding trust and receptiveness for listening.

Seek assistance
Don't be reluctant to hire a coach or mentor for ongoing support. Your coach can help you assess your skills and set achievable goals. Leadership learning programs are another useful tool. Don't be afraid to go through the leadership goal-creating and achieving process several times. Include regular check-ins to assess how you're doing.

The Center for Creative Leadership and FindYourCoach.com provide a number of leadership coaching solutions. Consider leadership training Webinars and seminars from LeadershipIQ.com, or improve your skills with leadership training software from SimuLearn. 

Be receptive to critical self-assessment.
Learn from successes and failures.
Constantly work on your communication skills, which means improving listening and speaking presentation.
By motivating others to see their own greatness, will energizes your company.


Business Leadership Skills