Essential Tips for Enhancing Your Effectiveness as a Leader

Shift Your Leadership Mindset

Traditional org charts place leaders at the "top," which can feel like you’re above everyone else. Instead, picture yourself out in front, guiding the team forward. Imagine the chart laid flat - no hierarchy, just a path where you clear obstacles and set the direction.

Why It Matters: Leading from the front builds trust and keeps everyone focused on shared goals, avoiding the disconnect of a top-down approach.

How to Do It: In your next team meeting, describe your role as a guide: “I’m here to clear roadblocks and help us hit our goals together.” Write a short team vision statement, like “Create a culture where everyone’s ideas drive innovation,” and share it on MS Teams or via email. Check in monthly to make sure everyone’s on the same page.

Build Two-Way Mentoring Relationships

Mentoring is a win-win: It sharpens your leadership while helping others grow. Unlike coaching, which zeros in on immediate performance, mentoring focuses on long-term growth - career goals, skills, and mindset. Plus, mentees bring fresh ideas.

Why It Matters: Mentoring keeps your skills sharp, reinforces what you know, and opens you to new perspectives.

How to Do It: Pick one colleague or team member to mentor for 3-6 months. Set up biweekly 30-minute chats to talk about their career goals, like learning a new skill. Ask, “What do you want to tackle next?” Share a story from your own experience to spark ideas, and invite their thoughts to learn something new. Keep track of notes and key points and stay true to your calendars on scheduled meetups.

Focus on Your Strengths

The Pareto Principle says 80% of your impact comes from 20% of your skills - what I call your “points of power.” Maybe you’re great at inspiring people or solving conflicts but less confident with spreadsheets. Doubling down on your strengths usually pays off more than trying to fix weaker areas, as long as you’ve got the basics covered.

Why It Matters: Playing to your strengths lets you lead naturally and effectively, saving energy and boosting impact.

How to Do It: List your top three strengths, like communication, vision-setting, or empathy, using self-reflection or feedback from business partners. For each, pick one way to level up this month - say, if you’re good at communication, run a team workshop. Delegate weaker areas, like data analysis, to a colleague or tool like Excel. Check your strengths every quarter to stay focused.

Know When to Manage versus Lead

Management and leadership are two sides of the same coin, each with a different focus. Managing is about organizing tasks and keeping things efficient - like tracking budgets or schedules to get results. Leading is about inspiring people and driving change - like rallying your team around a new strategy or mentoring someone to grow. Managing is more transactional, focusing on immediate outcomes, while leading is transformational, aiming for long-term impact.

When to Manage: Use for executing plans, tracking metrics, or streamlining processes.

When to Lead: Apply when sparking change, navigating uncertainty, or growing people.

Why It Matters: Balancing both keeps operations smooth while inspiring your team to grow and adapt.

How to Do It: Each week, sort your tasks into managing (e.g., checking performance metrics) and leading (e.g., motivating the team). Aim for a split, like 60% managing and 40% leading, and tweak it based on what’s happening. For example, lead during a strategy pivot by sharing a clear vision; manage during routine work by tracking KPIs. Find a method of organizing your tasks and reflect weekly on how you’re balancing the two.

Conclusion

Great leadership comes from blending mindset, mentorship, strengths, and knowing when to manage or lead. See yourself as a guide, mentor others to grow while learning from them, lean into your strengths, and shift between managing and leading based on what’s needed. These ideas can flex to fit your style and workplace.

Next Steps:

• Reflect: Pinpoint your strengths with StrengthsFinder or feedback from colleagues.

• Mentor: Start mentoring someone this month to build a two-way relationship.

• Balance: Track how you split time between managing and leading for a month, adjusting as needed.

• Learn: Check out Harvard Business Review articles or TED Talks on leadership for fresh ideas.

By weaving these practices into your routine, you’ll boost your impact and help your team shine.