Mason Bird coached three seasons of soccer for Christian-based youth organization Upward Soccer. With many other volunteer activities and mission trips under his belt, Mason Bird is a natural leader who has experience dealing with and helping others. But not everyone’s a natural leader. These three tips will improve your leadership skills and abilities:
1. Be passionate. Others will not commit to your vision or goals if you are not passionate yourself. The positivity and enthusiasm that goes hand-in-hand with passion is infectious, and serve as a beacon to others, telling them you are a leader who cares about what they are doing. Become passionate about your project and others will, too.
2. Listen effectively. You may think being a leader is all about saying the right things to inspire your team or group, but listening is arguably more important. As a leader, you will regularly have to listen to concerns, suggestions and feedback from your team, whether told verbally or through body language. Being an effective listener means you will be able to respond appropriately to their issues and incorporate them into your plan and vision.
3. Criticize constructively. You can be the best listener in the world, but it doesn’t matter if you stink at providing constructive criticism. As a leader, you will need to help your teammates figure something out or correct an error. The ability to positively provide feedback without making your teammate feel disheartened or inferior goes a long way. You can practice this by providing imaginary advice in your head to friends, family members or even celebrities in tough situations.
1. Be passionate. Others will not commit to your vision or goals if you are not passionate yourself. The positivity and enthusiasm that goes hand-in-hand with passion is infectious, and serve as a beacon to others, telling them you are a leader who cares about what they are doing. Become passionate about your project and others will, too.
2. Listen effectively. You may think being a leader is all about saying the right things to inspire your team or group, but listening is arguably more important. As a leader, you will regularly have to listen to concerns, suggestions and feedback from your team, whether told verbally or through body language. Being an effective listener means you will be able to respond appropriately to their issues and incorporate them into your plan and vision.
3. Criticize constructively. You can be the best listener in the world, but it doesn’t matter if you stink at providing constructive criticism. As a leader, you will need to help your teammates figure something out or correct an error. The ability to positively provide feedback without making your teammate feel disheartened or inferior goes a long way. You can practice this by providing imaginary advice in your head to friends, family members or even celebrities in tough situations.