Become a Leader When You Aren’t in a Leadership Work Position
Leadership is important at all levels. Whether you’re an administrative professional adept at managing workflow, or a plant floor manager who can mediate interpersonal conflicts, your leadership skills are important.
So how do you translate those skills into a promotion or advancement? First, you have to start thinking of yourself as a leader on and off the court – meaning, be a leader at work, at home and in the community. Once you start to branch out into leadership roles in other areas of your life. You’ll find your job performance starts to improve, positioning yourself as the next in line for advancement.
Here are some ways you can become a leader even if you aren’t in a management work position.
Go the extra mile
Make your work ethic rock solid by coming in early and get a head start on the day. Look at what your management team wears and start dressing for the part. Tell your boss you feel ready to take on greater responsibility and to add new tasks to your regular job duties. What areas of the company need more support? Offer to use your skills to help boost success. Most importantly, don’t just sit there and wait for change; be the catalyst.
Polish Communication Skills
Becoming a great communicator means becoming known as the go-to person for innovative ideas and insight. When you boost your communication skills, you can play a more substantial role in your company no matter what level you’re on. Make suggestions, share ideas and look for places in the company that lack efficiency and suggest a strategy for improvement. When you’re known as an effective communicator, people will listen. That kind of experience and influence lets your leadership skills shine through and can open doors to management roles.
Volunteer to Lead in the Community
In order to move into a leadership role, you need to show you can lead – and that can happen anytime, anywhere. Ask to take the lead in your neighborhood or volunteer to work on a committee that enhances office culture. Showing you can succeed in volunteer leadership roles shows you’re ready for a paid supervisory spot.
Build Teams in All Areas
Leaders, no matter what specialty, will always have to work with employees from other departments. Whether it’s the main guy in accounting or the industrial workers in the plant, the better you get along with other departments, the better leader you can become. Being part of a team means more than just working well with those around you; it means working well with other areas to support the company’s success. Through collaboration, you can prove you work well with others and display your commitment to the company’s needs and goals.
If you feel like you’re ready to be a leader, then start acting like it. Direct those feelings into motivation for a promotion. Unsure how or where to start? Let the motivated recruiters at Burnett and Choice Specialists help. We have connected job seekers just like you with advancement opportunities that changed not just their careers, but also their lives. Give us a call and we can help you discover your path, plan for your future and create a career that you can be proud of.
