My heart raced, my mouth went dry.
There, before my eyes, staring lifeless at me from the ground that I was digging, was a skull! I jumped back only to be faced with my workmen giggling nervously at a prank that they had pulled off to perfection! Suddenly, not being sure of whether I had appreciated the joke or not, their laughter was replaced by nervous smiles as they anxiously awaited my reaction.
To their relief I burst into laughter, feeling somewhat relived that the skull that I had unearthed was in fact a joke one and not the remains of a real human being.
They all began to laugh again, grateful that I had a sense of humour too.
Why do I mention this incident? In my opinion, humour plays an important part of developing good leadership skills as it helps to portray you as a human being, rather than merely being a boss.
What Is A Good Leader? Below are 5 Tips that I feel are key to achieving good leadership skills: 1.
Lead By Example In order to earn respect from your team you will need to set a good example.
This includes being punctual, being polite to others and ensuring that your own work ethic and standards are evident for others to see and to follow.
2.
Care For Your Team Take time to find out about your team's health, family members and their interests in order for them to feel that you relate to them as individuals as well as being work colleagues.
Try to find out their aspirations and goals and help to inspire them to achieve those goals by motivating them and providing coaching and training to help them to develop their skills further.
3.
Be Visible Good leadership skills and qualities involve taking time to speak to your team every day and offering praise for work carried out well.
You will also need to be approachable and be a good listener as a happy workforce is a productive workforce.
4.
Empower your Team Good leadership qualities include showing confidence in the ability of the people that work for you.
Take time to delegate effectively and empower your staff to be able to take on extra responsibilities that will result in you having more free time to concentrate on developing new business ideas.
5.
Connect With Your Team Try to connect with your team by showing your more "human" side.
This can be achieved by enjoying social nights out such as attending a quiz night in a local pub for example.
The more your team get to know you as a person, the more they will come to respect and trust you.
This will result in them wanting to work harder for you which will create better results for your business.
It is important to remember that nobody is born a leader.
We are all born the same, namely ignorant and afraid.
It is how we choose to develop ourselves that will determine who becomes a good leader.
However, as well as acquiring the necessary leadership skills, it is important to still share a sense of humour within the workplace as this helps to create a happy, relaxed and productive workforce.