It’s important no matter what you do that you have leadership skills. These skills will help you in all walks of life.

It is said that leaders are born, but since it is a skill I believe it is something you can study and develop and become a better leader, which will help you achieve more success.

To become a great leader people need to know about you. This means making a name for yourself however make a name for yourself for all the right reasons.  You don’t want a name for yourself because you a pain in the butt, or trying too hard. You want people to remember your name for the good you are doing.

Here’s my top tips for developing leadership skills:

Get to Know Everyone

It’s important to know everyone not just the people you are directly involved with on a daily basis. This means talk to people from different departments, the receptionist, the porter the cleaners. Soon people will say that Richard chap is really nice, always stops to say hello!

For example:

• Go out with people from the company.

• Talk to people and show an interest in their work.

• Listen to others

Make connections. Even though you might not work directly with these people you may need their help in the future. Plus they will be happy that you have an interest in them.

Know how to delegate

As a leader you may be asked for advice, asked to take on projects etc. Know your limits and know when to delegate. Say no and help others take on more responsibility.

If you can’t do something get someone else who can. Other people will respect you for this and feel privileged that you giving them the work.

Give reasons why you might not be able to take on a project, never say it’s because it’s too hard, or you have too much on.  This looks like a cop out. Make sure you give a genuine reason. People will respect this more. If you take something on and then don’t do a good job it will not reflect well on you.

A simple “no” can be a great way to get others to take notice, especially if you’re otherwise very agreeable.

In order to say no nicely look at the following:

• “I’d really love to help out but I’m working on X other projects. I’d be able to do it next week, however in the meantime I can see if I can find you someone who can do it.
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  I’d prefer not to do a half hearted job on this.”

• “I appreciate that you thought of me! I would love to take this on but this week I’ve another X projects to complete. How about we have a quick meeting and see if I can help you and guide you in the right direction?”

Makes a difference?

Work as hard as your team that you lead

Always lead by example. Never be afraid to work long and hard. Don’t expect or ask your team to do it if you do not do it yourself.  The sign of a good leader is a person who will “muck” in with the rest of the team.  Imagine you say to your team we have to get this done, you have to work overtime and then you leave the office at 3pm to play tennis! Is this a good example?

This shows you respect them and in turn they will respect you.

Provide Solutions

Always strive to provide solutions where you can. Sometimes people can’t see a reason for what is going on and this is where you need to step in and help them.

People will remember you as a solution provider rather than someone who caused more problems and stress!

Use some of the above tips to help you get more recognized in the workplace.

Like it or not we are all faced with problems at some point in daily or weekly schedule. You may think that these problems are insurmountable. However, believe me there is nearly always a solution to any problem you face.  Initially you may not see a solution however think and see the problem from a different view point. In fact the first thing you can do is to see the problem as a challenge rather than a problem. It’s easier to complete a challenge and find solutions to challenges rather than to problems.

Sometimes what you see as impossible someone else will see as easy to solve. So look at things from a different perspective or think about how a friend might tackle the challenge.

Overcoming Challenges and finding solutions

Being able to solve challenges is a really essential skill to have. The more you do it the better you will get at it.  The thing is that so many people shy away from problems so they don’t have experience because they have never tried!  Sometimes we look for a more difficult solution, some challenges are easy to solve when you change how you think!

Here are my top tips for overcoming a challenge

1. Walk away from the problem for a while. If you keep thinking about the problem, if you focus too long on it you will literally melt your brain and you won’t be able to think straight.  So when faced with a challenge stop and walk away. Your mind will work away on it while you focus on something else. Before you know it you will find a solution.

1. Get a third party opinion. Getting someone else to look at the problem brings a fresh pair of eyes. They may have encountered this challenge before and have an easy solution for you! Sit down with a third party and get them to brainstorm some ideas. Remember two heads are better than one!

1. Write it down. Get a sheet of paper and write down everything you know about the challenge. Think about possible ideas that may help the problem.  Think of everything and write it down.
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   At this point don’t discard anything. Then combine this with what you did in step 2.

2. Chunk down – break the problem down into smaller chunks. A large problem is really a series of smaller more manageable problems. By chunking down you will be able to solve one problem at a time.

• For example, earning 100,000$ a year seems a lot, but if you break it down it’s $8,300 a month which is $2083 per week or $347 a day or $34.70 an hour. Now that seems a little bit more manageable.

1. There is always a solution to every problem. As they say there is more than one way to skin a cat. So think of as many solutions as possible and one will be right. If you have the mindset that only one solution is out there you are limiting yourself.

This list above is no exhaustive but it is a start and will help you greatly.

The main idea here is to change how you think about problem solving. In fact change the word problem to challenge.