In sports and life, successful people are always looking for ways to be a better leader. Leadership skills can influence many aspects of our lives. However, we spend little time developing those skills. Previously, we discussed the importance of positive leadership for team energy and what those leadership traits looks like as a coach and as a player. This article will focus on what we can do to help us develop these traits of positive leadership whether you’re a coach or a player.
Of course, there are many factors that influence a person’s leadership ability. We believe the following 3 actions are the most important. These are actions that we can take every day to be a better leader and have a positive impact on the people around us.
To Be a Better Leader
Simple actions that we can all start taking right now are:
- Being Nice
- Being Helpful
- Honesty
Be Nice
Simply being nice to the people around you is a trait necessary to be a leader. This does not mean that you become a ‘pushover’ and let people walk all over you or push you around. Being nice is simply an action to treat all people with respect regardless of who they are, what they do or what their beliefs may be.
It’s easy to be nice to people that you know, particularly your friends or family. What about people you don’t know? What about people that may have different beliefs than you? This is the first action that we can all do everyday to be a better leader and it’s also the simplest. Just be nice and treat all people around you with respect.
Be Helpful
Being helpful falls into the same line as being nice but involves an element of activity when inactivity is possible. Leaders help people when they see that help is needed regardless if they were asked to do so or not. Helping someone may involve help with normal day to day activities such as carrying books or cleaning up. It may also involve helping someone that is in trouble or someone that may not be able to help themselves, such as sticking up for someone that is getting bullied or abused.
As you can see, the helpful activity may be simple or it may take a lot of courage and strength. Leaders are built off of their ability to do hard things and make them look easy. Leaders show up for the people around them, their teammates, classmates, teachers, family and all others they come in contact with. They show up with heart and compassion but they do it with strength and conviction.
Be Honest
Honesty is a must have trait for great leaders. People have to be able to trust what you say in order to follow you. Without honesty, it’s impossible to depend on an individual. Honesty is at the core of developing leadership qualities. However, the effort to be honest does not give someone the right to be rude. We can be honest and do it with empathy and compassion.
Honesty builds trust. Leaders must be trustworthy in order to be a great leader. Like being helpful, honesty is not always easy. Sometimes there are hard truths to tell and sometimes being honest may negatively impact ourselves. Great leaders are accountable for their own actions first and foremost while also holding others around them accountable for their actions.
Starting Today, Be a Better Leader
If you wish to be a better leader on the field, court and classroom, you can start taking these steps today. Try to do these 3 things every day; be nice, be helpful and be honest. I know it sounds simple but if you will make a concerted effort each day to do each of these 3 things at least one time per day, your leadership ability will grow. People will have a greater respect for you and you will have a greater respect for yourself.
This personal growth will drive your self confidence and overall performance in everything that you do in sports and life. Be a better leader, be the leader you know you can be from ball to life!
BtL
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