By Web Scribble    

Every manager has the same goal in mind: lead your team to victory. But are you taking the right steps in order to be victorious?

Being a leader at your association can mean a lot of things. It can mean you’re in charge of a large part of the staff, that you oversee operations, and that you need to generate an overall sense of morale within your organization. Being a leader means wearing many hats, performing many tasks and exerting a lot of energy.

And in order to take leadership to the next level and run a successful association, you’ll need some practice. Learning new tips and tricks to becoming a better leader and managing your association’s team is always beneficial, no matter your title.

So, if you want to truly be the leader that your association needs to achieve greater success, you may want to try something new. We’re providing you with 4 tips that can help you become a leader who is trusted and respected by your association team members.

1. Take initiative

One important characteristic any effective leader needs to possess is taking initiative. It’s now your responsibility to get the ball rolling on upcoming projects and goals that need to be accomplished.

Taking action on projects starts with a few different steps. First, you’ll want to gather your entire team when it’s time to start projects. Having all of your staff in one place will allow you to properly communicate and delegate tasks, as a leader should.

You’ll also want to show your staff that you really hold true to what you want achieved. Creating task schedules and having regular check-ins on projects you’re running will not only show you care, but it will demand a level of respect and attentiveness from employees that will in turn ramp up productivity.

Taking initiative in order to see positive changes for your association is a leadership must.

2. Learn from others

While you might be managing a large team and be seen as an expert in all fields, chances are you don’t know everything about everything. It’s important to recognize that gap in knowledge, find someone who is an expert and learn from them. Learning from others isn’t a sign of a bad leader, in fact, it’s quite the opposite. You should always be learning and growing to set a great example for your association’s team.

Consider attending workshops, joining webinars, and completing online certifications on the topics and skills you’d like to know more about. With so many helpful resources available online and in person, there’s no reason you can’t tighten up your grasp on subjects that could make you a better manager.

Additionally, reaching out to staff within your association will allow you to learn from those you manage. If you’re trying to run an IT project with little knowledge on IT, it may be beneficial to sit in on their process and learn more about how they complete tasks. This can also give you a better idea of how your team manages their time.

3. Honor ownership of responsibility

As a leader for your association, responsibility will always fall on you.

That being said, you don’t bear the brunt of every problem. It’s important to make sure you know who on your team is taking care of what task, and what their results bring to your association. This will allow you to know who to turn to in case of a misstep- or even to congratulate a huge success.

Honoring responsibility and following through on what you delegate shows your team that although you want everyone to work as a cohesive unit, you care about them as individuals and want to push them to the best of their ability. It can also allow for less frustration among staff – no more playing the “blame game” when you know exactly who’s doing what.

Honor task ownership and extend responsibility through your staff for maximum project management.

4. Embrace challenge

And finally, if you truly want to be someone that leads your team to victory, you want to embrace every challenge, hardship, and piece of criticism that comes your way.

Embracing tough challenges makes you a better leader because it shows a brave face in the midst of adversity. It allows your staff to see that challenges are nothing more than that – things to tackle in order to achieve the result you want.

Embracing criticism is another form of bravery, too. If you can take constructive feedback from those outside and within your team and turn it into positive change, you’ll be on your way to a stronger leadership style.

Taking any challenge that comes your way and turning it into an opportunity to grow will show your staff you have what it takes to be a top-notch leader.

With just four simple steps, you could be on your way to truly enhancing your leadership skills.

Looking for more association leadership tips? Check out the Web Scribble blog.