How to Uplevel Your Leadership Skills, to Positively Impact the World

Leadership matters most—and is hardest to do well—when people feel threatened, unsettled, or unsupported. When there are massive industry and economic shifts, confusion, and anxiety abound. 

Smart leaders avoid making excuses during challenging times and focus on sharing the vision of what is possible. They understand that managing the psychology of credit, blame, and control is a big part of their job.

Leaders who get caught up in negative thinking, or playing the blame game wind up burning through cash and failing to sell products or services. This then cuts off the lifeblood of the organization –– cash flow. 

To support people towards moving forward together, sometimes it's best to slow down, seek guidance and advice, and then do the "emotional work" required to get everyone on the same page.

This difficult work usually must be done on the fly, and instituted quickly, knowing that the information you have in front of you today may not be the same tomorrow, next week, or next month. 

Showing up as your authentic self helps people let down their guard and become more willing to accept and implement new strategies. When people believe their leaders care about them and are trying to do what is best for the organization –– this becomes the platform with which trust is built. Surviving and thriving through difficult times can ultimately create the most solid of teams. 

When managing the emotional aspects of change, focused on what you can do to move your teams towards better performance—even during unpleasant changes like layoffs, restructuring, and increased competition.

As a leader, your goal is to get your team to where they think, "Okay, I'm in. Let's do this!" as fast as possible. So what does it take to make this happen?

• Recruit champions.
• Adapt Quickly, learn to do things differently, which most likely means changing habits. 
• Celebrate small wins. 
• Don't neglect day-to-day business. 
• Seek feedback, celebrate, and acknowledge success. 
• Review what worked, capture insights, refine, improve processes, and move forward.

Every change initiative is instituted to get better business results—and leaders must manage the emotional aspect of change to achieve them. If you don't, you risk getting stuck in the disruption spiral —and every moment there costs you time, money, and energy.

 No matter the circumstance, good or bad, you are always left with takeaways that can help you grow tremendously and lend influence to your leadership style. 

You don't have to be a "natural-born leader" to be a leader. No one wakes up one morning, having the skills necessary to run an entire organization. 

You may interview them and ultimately give them the golden invitation to be part of your organization. Still, they are the ones who are investing their most valuable assets with your team — their time and talent.

Even with the best intentions, circumstances can change beyond that leader's control, but it is ultimately the leader's responsibility to follow through with their promises.

No one expects you to share every detail about how you're feeling, but people can tell when you're being disingenuous, even if the intention is good. Don't be afraid to tell your team when you're unsure of the answer or your fears around a situation. There is nothing worse than a leader who acts like everything is okay all the time.

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If you've not yet taken a look at this keynote from the Purpose Summit last year, now may be a good time to give a listen. In it, I discuss the Global Communication Shift and how to navigate disruption by using LinkedIn.

Kim has attracted an audience of over 235,000 professionals from around the globe on LinkedIn and is the CEO of Linkability, Inc. She is a dynamic Entrepreneur, Global Business Communications authority, and three-time business founder. Linkability is a strategy and consulting firm that provides world-class Intrepreneurs, Entrepreneurs, and organizations with consulting, services, and products that helps to grow robust networks and drive tangible results in sales, marketing, and thought leadership positioning.

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