When Tiffany Ash and I first went into business together we did have some length discussions abut who should be the person heading up the workforce, naturally both of us wanted to be the head honcho. I won that argument but it was very clear after just a few weeks that this woman was a natural born leader, and given the fact that I wanted the business to be the best that it could be, I lightly handed the reins over to her and took a back seat.
For me Tiffany perfectly shows all the characteristics of what a great leader looks like and I want to talk about some of those skills today, so that you may take a look inside and see if you have what it takes.
Cool User Pressure
I can only think of a handful of times where I have seen Tiff lose her cool and most of those occasions were directed at me. Joking aside there is a real value about being the coolest person in the room whilst everyone else is losing their heads and this is a skill which definitely makes a great leader. If the person is charge is getting flustered then that doesn’t bode well for everyone else.
Spotting Strengths
Much of the reason why I realized that Tiffany was a far better leader than me was because she was instantly able to spot strengths and weakness in the workforce and she used that skill to put people into different roles where they would excel. I think that spotting talent and being able to develop it are two core skills which every great leader must have, square pegs in round holes is not a good look for business.
Driven
In order to be a successful leader you have to be more driven than anyone in the place and you must show that by example each and every day. I am just as passionate as Tiffany when it comes to making this business a success but in terms of sheer energy levels she blows me out of the water. This is the type of grit your teeth attitude which you need to have if you want to be a successful leader.
Shared Vision
Above all else, to be great leader you have to be able to share your vision with everyone in a way that makes them want to get on board. A great leader can be measured by their staff and how up for the task they are. In order to do this a leader must communicate well and inspire people so that they want to perform at their highest level for both the team and the leader. If you are capable of bring people on board then this is a great skill to have as a leader and one which will take you very far indeed.
Do you have what it takes to be a great leader like Tiffany?
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