Top Leadership Tips for New and/or Scaling Teams
Whether you’ve just been promoted to your first management position or you’re steadily scaling up the size of your team and your number of responsibilities, it’s always a good time to reflect on your leadership skills.
If your team is new or growing, read our top tips for top leadership.
1. Know yourself
Research published in the MIT Sloan Management Review found that self-awareness is the most important capability for leaders to develop, so before you start worrying about what everyone else is or isn’t doing, take time to reflect on yourself. What are your strengths? Where are your gaps? What kind of leader do you want to be, and how can you achieve this? Jot down some reflections and refer back to them to stay true to your values and goals as a leader.
2. Know your team
A good leader knows their team inside and out. Don’t just focus on their skills or past performance. Find out more about their personalities, their motivations, and how they prefer to be managed. Spending this time will not only lay the foundations for great working relationships, but it will also allow you to get the best out of each member of staff. Time to get the kettle on and get to know your team.
3. Build trust
Building trust is essential in any healthy relationship, including professional ones. According to the Harvard Business Review, people at companies with a high level of trust report 74% less stress, 76% more engagement and 50% higher productivity than those at low-trust companies, and have 13% fewer sick days.
But remember, trust is a two-way street. You want to get to a point where you can fully trust your team to do their jobs well, whilst your team wants to follow a leader that they can trust. Make sure you do what you say you’re going to, admit when you’re not sure about something, and genuinely prioritise the wellbeing of your team. Your employees are far more likely to be engaged and motivated as a result.
4. Communicate
No one likes working in an environment where they constantly feel unsure or kept in the dark. According to a report from The Economist, poor communication leads to issues completing projects, low morale, missed performance goals and lost business (sometimes amounting to hundreds of thousands of pounds).
Communication is one of your most important leadership tools, and you should aim to use it liberally. Let your team know what they are doing well, as well as areas they can improve. Make sure your conversations are dialogues, not monologues, and listen as much as (if not more than) you speak. A well-informed team feels valued and is less likely to spiral into speculation.
5. Delegate
Delegation can be one of the most difficult but rewarding aspects of leadership. By delegating well, you can free up more of your own time while helping to develop members of your team and identify potential candidates for promotion. It also shows staff that you trust them, which – as we know – is highly motivating.
Read more about the power of delegation.
6. Keep learning
As the saying goes, ‘when we stop learning, we stop growing’. Never assume you know it all just because you’ve completed the compulsory online training modules or been in your role for several years. The world is constantly changing (just look at where we are now compared to 2019), and you need to stay on top of things to lead effectively. From developing your digital skills to managing your team’s mental health, the key to continuous improvement is continuous learning.
We can help!
At Business Scale Up, we’re committed to helping leaders and their teams continuously develop to promote business growth.
Upcoming training includes:
Level 3 Award in Mental Health at Work (20th & 21st April 2023, East Riding)
Art of Delegation (31st May 2023, York)
Or talk to us about working one-to-one with an expert consultant to support with your personal and professional development.
Speak to our Business Engagement Advisors about our funding contributions towards training and consultancy in leadership and beyond.