When I started out in coaching it was in the area of leadership for many years. It wasn’t until my clients kept looking for self leadership help and balance in their lives that I switched to life coaching.

I still facilitate many classes on leadership and help leaders develop their own personal leadership style.

To get anyone jump started into leadership, here are 10 leadership tips to help you on the way:

1. Build Relationships – Leadership is all about relationships. Knowing who people are, what they value and what motivates them. This information helps you to know what drives them to get results and helps you to support them so you get what you are looking for. When you care about people, they will care about you.
2. Stop Networking – You spend so much time trading cards and sucking up to people higher up that you don’t even like. It doesn’t help your leadership or your career. Stop doing it. Like I said, it is all about relationships. Get to know people who you like and, guess what, like you too. This way you are both invested into each other. Doesn’t that make sense than talking to 70 year old VP who could care less about you?
3. Create an Inner Circle – Building relationships will help you make good partners to help you and them grow. You will develop trust with each other and now you can work as a team to support and coach each other along in your career. We all know  how some VP got their job from another friend who was also a VP. How do you think they became friends? This is your opportunity to develop your team.
4. Be Positive - In the working world, we spend so much time criticising what everyone does. It can always be better and faster or more effective. Since we all know that, do we need to beat everyone down about it? How about instead of always pointing out the flaws you are the first to say thank you or good job. This builds in positive reinforcement and gets people feeling appreciated. You will stand out in a crowd.
5. Play to your Strengths – In school we are taught, if you are bad at math but good at English; you spend your time working on math. Even if you spend all your time working hard on math, at best, you will be average. But if you worked on English, you could have been an expert. Know what you are good at and do it often.
6. Cover your Weaknesses – First you need to know where you are weak and then cover them. Not by hiding them but surrounding yourself with people that have strengths in the areas you are weak. It is about team work. They shine and you shine. That is what team work is all about.
7. Commit to a Career and not a Company – The days have long gone when a company rewards employees for years of service. Decide what your career is and work on it. Develop, grow and become an expert in that career. This means you can go anywhere you want. No longer to do you have to hope the VP will die so you can have his job, you will get calls hoping you will come over to their company because of your experience, drive and leadership.
8. Treat People as People – If you do not like people, then don’t be a leader. I mentioned remembering to say thank you and please and how it goes a long way. Building relationships with people, knowing them families, values, etc helps them want to be part of your team.  It is important to never miss an opportunity to be a person and to treat people as people. Never skip a birthday party for Betty because you are too busy. Betty is just as important as the work. The work will always be there but you not taking the time to celebrate with Betty maybe the cause of why Betty leaves and takes all her experience with her. Worse yet, years later it could be Betty who decides if you get to join the company of your dreams.
9. Work/Life Balance- You hear the term all the time, you support your team on it but do you walk the talk? You have a life beyond work and you can not give it up. Life is too short if you live at your job. You show a good balance in your life and people will look up to you. You set your career and boundaries. Create a balance no matter what. You will not regret it and it will make you even stronger at work.
10. Be Yourself – If you act like everyone else you blend in. How many times have I seen people wearing the same black suit, white dress shirt and tie. They all look like penguins. You want to be noticed, be yourself. There is no reason you have to stop being who are you be successful. Being who you are makes you different, and different is what every employer wants.

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