Career Blog
What does it mean to be a leader?
A ‘leader’ doesn’t just ‘lead’ the group. A ‘leader’, is not just someone who has followers that look up to them. A ‘leader’ isn’t just someone who knows how to delegate.
A leader is someone who strives to make other leaders. As a leader, your first goal is to empower your team members.
But how can this be done? Here are things I learned as a student in a leadership position.
Delegate, delegate, delegate
This doesn’t mean to simply boss people around. Delegation is how any organization moves forward, and is one of your key roles as a leader. However, it is important to find a balance between lack of involvement and micromanaging when you are delegating. Your team members need to learn for themselves and go through the same struggles you went through in order to grow both professionally and personally, but they need to be able to use you as a resource. It is important to find that balance between delegation and micromanaging. You want to give your employees their space to do their assignments how they want, but still be near in case they encounter challenges. This can be done by asking your employees what they need help doing, what they are finding easy or hard, how their tasks have been proceeding so far, etc. Then you can step in as you see appropriate.
Motivate your team
This is probably the most important takeaway. Motivating your team can be difficult, but isn’t impossible. Firstly, encourage your members. Remind them of the importance of their work, remind them that they are a crucial part of the organization. Second, celebrate their successes. Make them feel proud for what they have accomplished. Doing this will give them the confidence to aim even higher next time. Finally, show that you rely on them and trust that they will do the best job possible. By doing this, they won’t want to let you down and will put their highest efforts towards their tasks.
Be approachable and understanding
Your team members will make mistakes and it is important that they feel comfortable coming to you when encountering challenges. You can do this by speaking to them on the same level. Don’t let your ego of being given a leadership title get in the way of the success of the organization. A strongly divided hierarchy is intimidating and makes you look more unapproachable. Don’t be afraid to share your mistakes or admit when you are wrong. By doing this, your team members are less likely to hide their mistakes too. Finally, encourage a strong team dynamic; you want to be friends with your team. This can happen by planning team socials, celebratory dinners, and talking about things not work related- actually getting to know your team members will make you more approachable.
To conclude, leading a team cannot be taught in a short blog, it is something you learn overtime. Remember these three points, and you will be off to a great start. When in doubt, remember every leader, manager, or supervisor you ever worked under: what did they do to (de)motivate you?
Leadership Development
So what does leadership mean to you? Is it merely people with great management skills along with specific traits? This is a broad question, since everyone has their own definition of a leader. I’d like to give you some of my personal insights and advice for developing YOUR leadership skills.
An open mindset - As you develop to become a leader, learning to embrace mistakes and failure are important. Success does not necessarily come easily, and you should be clear of one thing: It’s OK if you make mistakes at work or at some point in your life. The key should be what you will do to improve upon your mistakes. Remember to never let fear of making mistakes draw you back from pursuing your goals, even if the future seems like a blur at this moment.
Self-reflection is important - Keep in mind that, ultimately, you choose the person you will become. That being said, being a leader means constantly monitoring how you portrait yourself and abiding by, perhaps, certain ethical principles to avoid being negatively influenced by fraud, bribery, and other corruptions. You can have all the success in this world, but without ethics, morals, and integrity rooted deep down within you, it’s much harder to do what’s right and you might miss out on the opportunity to have a positive impact in the world. Leaders also contribute to a positive trickle-down effect since they become role models for others.
Discover your own passion - If you pay attention to all the successful business people out there, you’ll find that passion is one of the underlying key ingredients that led them to their success today. I’d encourage you to take time to think about your own passion, and perhaps link it to your career prospect.
Getting involved - Aside from being a Career Centre Ambassador, I took on the role of an Exchange Participant Manager at AIESEC. This type of involvement helps shape your leadership development through practical experience by exposing you to challenging work environments. At the end of the day, it shouldn’t just be about getting a degree -- You need experience!
AIESEC cultivates young talents across the world, allowing students’ transition into the job market to be much smoother. If you are seeking personal and professional development and global impact, then AIESEC is the right place for you!
Here are some benefits of joining:
- You will have the opportunity to grow your professional network to develop skills that will increase your chance of employability upon graduation.
- This leads you to a new journey of self-discovery and possibility of a positive impact on others.
- Gain access to an international network and help your resumé to stand out more.
- You can do Co-op or an internship through AIESEC.
What better ways to start off 2018? Not only will you be able to go to exciting countries but your entire journey will be carefully monitored and assisted by our AIESEC members. What is there to lose? Come join us on an exchange!