Improving your Leadership skills

What makes a great leader? Do leaders come naturally or are they created? Which type of leadership works best?

All of these questions will be addressed in this article!

Definition of Leadership

Leadership is the process of influencing others to pursue a shared objective (Weinberg & Gould, 2011).

There are three different approaches to identify a leader:

• Interactional approach: This approach believes that effective leadership happens when a leader’s traits and style fit the demands of the followers or the circumstances.

• Trait approach: According to the trait approach, exceptional leaders are predisposed to be excellent leaders by having particular qualities. Put differently, leaders are not created; they are born.

• Behavioural approach: According to the behavioral approach, displaying particular behaviors is what makes a leader effective. This method also suggests that these behaviors are learnable and developable. This method holds that leaders are created, not born.

Multidimensional Model of Sport Leadership

• The multidimensional model agrees with the Interactional approach in that an effective leadership happens when a leader’s traits and style fit the needs of the followers or the situation.

• Highest levels of performance and satisfaction occur when a leader’s actual behavior closely aligns with desired and required behaviors.

• Performance and fulfillment rise when a leader provides their followers with what they want and what works best in this particular circumstance.

A great leader is one who can adapt to their environment to fit the preference of people and current situation. A leader can undergo many approaches to decision-making:

• Autocratic: Leaders that adopt an autocratic approach make choices for themselves. When making decisions, they don’t ask for advice from others.

• Democratic: Democratic leaders gather opinions from all parties engaged in the process of making decisions. Usually, a vote is used to decide this, and the majority wins.

• Participatory: Participatory leaders incorporate feedback from a select group of important people of their organizations when making decisions. Although such leaders still have the last say on matters, they consider advice from others when making judgments.

• Laissez-faire: “Laissez-faire” describes a non-interventionist approach to decision-making. This type of leadership involves delegating all decision-making to followers.

Leaders should practice Self-care

Many leaders focus on their team and often lose track of taking care of themselves. Thus, it is crucial that leaders make time for self-care. Here are some ideas for leaders to take care of themselves:

• Remember: it’s okay to take some time for yourself

• Set aside some time each day for meditation or yoga

• Schedule in time for breaks to exercise

• Make time each day for yourself

Leaders who take care of themselves will be better able to manage stress and support their followers.