10 Tips for Leading Like a Boss

Table of ContentsView All

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Table of Contents

Find Out Your Leadership Style

Encourage Creativity

Serve as a Role Model

Be Passionate

Listen and Communicate Effectively

Have a Positive Attitude

Encourage People to Make Contributions

Offer Rewards and Recognition

Keep Trying New Things

How would you describe a strong leader? One study citedleadershipqualities such as assertiveness, adaptability, intelligence, and conscientiousness as the most important.

Transformational leaders are positive, empowering, and inspiring. They value followers and inspire them to perform better. So, what can we do to embrace these valued leadership qualities and become stronger and more effective leaders?

Transformational leadersare usually described as enthusiastic, passionate, genuine and energetic. These leaders are not just concerned about helping the group achieve its goals; they also care about helping each member of the group reach his or her full potential.

Getting Mental Health Support When You’re the Boss

Understanding your currentleadership styleis essential. What are your strengths? Which areas need some improvement? One way to start assessing your skills is to take thisleadership style quizto get a general idea of how you lead.

Once you have completed the quiz, read about the major characteristics of your dominant style. Are these qualities helping or hindering your leadership? Once you’ve determined which areas need work, you can look for ways to improve your leadership abilities.

Idealized influence is another of the four key components of transformational leadership. Transformational leaders embody the behaviors and characteristics that they encourage in their followers. They walk the walk and talk the talk. As a result, group members admire these leaders and work to emulate these behaviors.

Research suggests that leaders are able to foster a specific belief and then transmit that inspiration to their followers.As a result, followers are optimistic and have high standards for performance and achievement.

If you want to become a better leader, work on modeling the qualities that you would like to see in your team members.

Would you look to someone for guidance and leadership if they did not truly care about the goals of the group? Of course not! Great leaders are not just focused on getting group members to finish tasks; they have a genuine passion and enthusiasm for the projects they work on.

Good leaders should express sincere care and concern for the members of their group both verbally andnonverbally.

By keeping the lines of communication open, these leaders can ensure that group members can make contributions and receive recognition for their achievements.

Transformational leaders have an upbeat, optimistic attitude that serves as a source of inspiration for followers. If leaders seem discouraged or apathetic, members of the group are likely to also become uninspired.

Even when things look bleak, and your followers start to feel disheartened, try to stay positive. This does not mean viewing things through rose-colored glasses. It simply means maintaining a sense of optimism and hope in the face of challenges.

Let the members of your team know that you welcome their ideas. Leaders who encourage involvement from group members are often referred to asdemocratic or participative leaders. While they retain the final say over all decisions, they encourage team members to take an active role in coming up with ideas and plans.

Research has shown that using a democratic leadership style leads to greater commitment, more creativeproblem-solvingand improved productivity.

Transformational leaders also provide inspirational motivation to encourage their followers to get into action. Of course, being inspirational isn’t always easy. Fortunately, you don’t need motivational speeches to rouse your group members.

Some ideas for leadership inspiration include being genuinely passionate about ideas or goals, helping followers feel included in the process and offering recognition, praise, and rewards for people’s accomplishments.

‘Doing What You Love’: The Battle of Extrinsic vs. Intrinsic Motivation

Another important quality of a good leader involves knowing that offering effective recognition and rewards is one of the best ways to help followers feel appreciated and happy. It may also come as no surprise that happy people tend to perform better at work.

Who says leadership is a one-way relationship? As you work toward developing some of these leadership qualities, don’t forget to look to your followers for feedback and inspiration. Pay attention to the things that have been effective in the past and always be on the lookout for new ways to inspire, motivate, and reward group members.

6 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Cekmecelioglu, HG, Ozbag, GK.Leadership and creativity: the impact of transformational leadership on individual creativity.Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences. 2016;235(24):243-249. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.11.020Hayati D, Charkhabi M, Naami A.The relationship between transformational leadership and work engagement in governmental hospitals nurses: a survey study.Springerplus. 2014;3:25. doi:10.1186/2193-1801-3-25Steinmann B, Klug HJP, Maier GW.The path is the goal: how transformational leaders enhance followers' job attitudes and proactive behavior.Front Psychol. 2018;9:2338. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02338Amanchukwu RN, Stanley GJ, Ololube NP.A review of leadership theories, principles and styles and their relevance to educational management.Management. 2015;5(1):6-14. doi:10.5923/j.mm.20150501.02Riggio, RE.The 4 elements of transformational leaders.Psychology Today. November 15, 2014.Gillbert SL, Kelloway, EK.Leadership, recognition and well-being: a moderated mediational model.Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences. 2018;35(4):523-524. doi:10.1002/cjas.1477Additional ReadingBass BM, Riggio, RE. Transformational Leadership (2nd ed.). Erlbaum; 2016.

6 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Cekmecelioglu, HG, Ozbag, GK.Leadership and creativity: the impact of transformational leadership on individual creativity.Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences. 2016;235(24):243-249. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.11.020Hayati D, Charkhabi M, Naami A.The relationship between transformational leadership and work engagement in governmental hospitals nurses: a survey study.Springerplus. 2014;3:25. doi:10.1186/2193-1801-3-25Steinmann B, Klug HJP, Maier GW.The path is the goal: how transformational leaders enhance followers' job attitudes and proactive behavior.Front Psychol. 2018;9:2338. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02338Amanchukwu RN, Stanley GJ, Ololube NP.A review of leadership theories, principles and styles and their relevance to educational management.Management. 2015;5(1):6-14. doi:10.5923/j.mm.20150501.02Riggio, RE.The 4 elements of transformational leaders.Psychology Today. November 15, 2014.Gillbert SL, Kelloway, EK.Leadership, recognition and well-being: a moderated mediational model.Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences. 2018;35(4):523-524. doi:10.1002/cjas.1477Additional ReadingBass BM, Riggio, RE. Transformational Leadership (2nd ed.). Erlbaum; 2016.

Cekmecelioglu, HG, Ozbag, GK.Leadership and creativity: the impact of transformational leadership on individual creativity.Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences. 2016;235(24):243-249. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.11.020Hayati D, Charkhabi M, Naami A.The relationship between transformational leadership and work engagement in governmental hospitals nurses: a survey study.Springerplus. 2014;3:25. doi:10.1186/2193-1801-3-25Steinmann B, Klug HJP, Maier GW.The path is the goal: how transformational leaders enhance followers' job attitudes and proactive behavior.Front Psychol. 2018;9:2338. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02338Amanchukwu RN, Stanley GJ, Ololube NP.A review of leadership theories, principles and styles and their relevance to educational management.Management. 2015;5(1):6-14. doi:10.5923/j.mm.20150501.02Riggio, RE.The 4 elements of transformational leaders.Psychology Today. November 15, 2014.Gillbert SL, Kelloway, EK.Leadership, recognition and well-being: a moderated mediational model.Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences. 2018;35(4):523-524. doi:10.1002/cjas.1477

Hayati D, Charkhabi M, Naami A.The relationship between transformational leadership and work engagement in governmental hospitals nurses: a survey study.Springerplus. 2014;3:25. doi:10.1186/2193-1801-3-25

Steinmann B, Klug HJP, Maier GW.The path is the goal: how transformational leaders enhance followers' job attitudes and proactive behavior.Front Psychol. 2018;9:2338. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02338

Amanchukwu RN, Stanley GJ, Ololube NP.A review of leadership theories, principles and styles and their relevance to educational management.Management. 2015;5(1):6-14. doi:10.5923/j.mm.20150501.02

Riggio, RE.The 4 elements of transformational leaders.Psychology Today. November 15, 2014.

Gillbert SL, Kelloway, EK.Leadership, recognition and well-being: a moderated mediational model.Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences. 2018;35(4):523-524. doi:10.1002/cjas.1477

Bass BM, Riggio, RE. Transformational Leadership (2nd ed.). Erlbaum; 2016.

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