Manager to Leader-Transformation

It is said time and again that a good performer doesn't mean a good Manager or a good Leader. We have seen behaviors coming on the way of a great performer or a great manager to be a Great leader.

Whether you are an entrepreneur or a senior leader managing a team of people, there are certain traits/behaviors universally expected from a leader. Giving space and freedom to the team, be compassionate, be inclusive, give them the due credit, share and celebrate achievements no matter how small they are and reward the right performance and behavior.

There are multiple leadership styles and its always a mix of different styles that helps to be the most effective Leader. However in my head there are certain must haves that will help creating a great Leader regardless of the individual leadership style.

• As a starter for ten, identify the strengths of individual member of the team and have a blend of different strengths to make it a high performing team.
• Accept their limitations and fit them in a way so they can play to their strengths and look various parts of one complete jigsaw puzzle
• Most importantly check your behavior at all times, it should be nothing less than what you expect of them. This is where a leader gets an opportunity to create company culture that resonates with the Organizational Values
• Encourage little bit of entrepreneurship in them- Ask them to think as if they were the owner of the company and come up with the ways they can take the organization to the next level (be it customer service/product line/ process improvement etc)
• If you want to be innovative let them know that its OK to fail trying to build something innovative
• Build a small incubator of your own- Allocate sometime to be innovative. Throw some problem statements and let them come up with probable solution (no matter how wild or impossible it sounds) 
• Last but not the least- Ask Feedback for self and provide feed forward for the team at regular intervals.