Leadership Tips: 6 Social Tips

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A recent article in Linked-In that was titled "The Social Graces of Memorable Leaders." written by the Leadership Development group illustrated some great tips any serious leader would benefit from. The article highlights six areas where a leader can illustrate social grace and improve communication. Those six areas are:

   1.   Say "hello" to anyone.

The ability to create a friendly and welcoming environment for all members of the team starts with simply acknowledging their presence. The mistake many leaders make is avoiding contact with all members of the team. Every person has value and should feel as part of the overall team. Leaders help create a positive and engaging environment by bringing forth a positive energy. A warm smile and friendly hello is a great way to show that every member has value. Set a goal to say hello to everyone you meet.

   2. Ask more than you tell.

Leaders who ask questions receive great value in return. Talking more than asking will not create a culture of contribution and engagement.  Asking questions allows for employees to feel valued and respected. A huge part of asking questions is really listening to the answers. As this great article stated with clarity askers are the people you look forward to spending time with! It will be amazing what you hear!

   3.      Let your life speak for itself

Many leaders seek to impress their people with a long biography of their individual accomplishments and achievements. Your abilities will speak for themselves.  Giving credit to others and accepting more than their fair share of  blame will allow for the leader to be seen as worthy and responsible. In short, this will allow for the leader to become respected! Respect is earned not given.

   4.       Complain behind closed doors

The power of being positive cannot be overstated. Think of anything worthwhile that has been accomplished in your life. Think about your attitude and general mindset during that time. It is almost guaranteed that your attitude and mindset were positive. Goals are reached through actions. Actions that are positive in focus create more energy and better results.  Negativity is like a cold in that it is very contagious. Likewise being positive is also contagious. A great leadership tip for anyone is to be positive.  Business will always involve challenges and set- backs. Accept them for what they are on focus on positive thoughts to overcome them.

How many negative people are successful?

    5.       Find a reason to thank someone

Similar to number four make sure to praise good effort and result. The article makes a great point in that it is always easier to see what is going wrong. Go out of your way to see what is being done right. Remember a lot of great ideas resulted from failure. Praise good effort at every opportunity.  A simple thank you goes a long way for virtually everybody in the workplace. Being acknowledged for hard work and accomplishment will improve employee engagement. Engaged employees are productive employees. Set a goal to say thank you at least five times every day!

    6. It is the danger of the 15%

This social grace is something all leaders should make a note of right now. Being the boss does not make you smarter or better than anyone else. Leaders sometimes are simply wrong and do not know it. The way to avoid this trap is to remain open minded on all issues. Actually accepting and implementing the above listed five social graces will go a long way toward reducing this trap. Ask yourself what if I am wrong? Do you want to be right or do you want to be a great leader? It’s time to choose!