Good leaders are made, it’s not something you’re born into.
These leadership skills can be honed and developed just like any other ability.
But they do take time.
However, if you want to fast-track your own development into being a good leader, we have some great ideas of how to do so.
We believe that good leaders are split into the following:

  • Effective communication
  • The ability to motivate their team
  • Being able to handle and delegate responsibility
  • Offering positivity

These skills can be developed over time, and our bespoke banking and financial services recruitment company have some ideas on where to start.

So without further ado here are the top six skills that make a strong leader in the workplace.

1. Communication

A big skill that every leader needs is the ability to communicate.
This ranges from explaining to your employees specific tasks to clearly communicating goals.
And communication isn’t just limited to talking to one person, it can include anything from talking over the phone, social media, and full team conversations.
Another thing to consider about communication is that it goes both ways. You should be able to effectively listen as well as talk.
Therefore, aim to establish communication from yourself, and your team members. Perhaps introduce an open door policy, or hold regular meetings.
Make yourself available to discuss issues, or the concerns of your staff.
Communication also includes:

  • Storytelling
  • Reading body language
  • Presentations
  • Public Speaking
  • Explaining
  • and more.

Motivating your team through good leadership.

2. Motivation

For any successful leader, the power to motivate your team is a high priority on the necessary skills list.
Although a good wage is especially important to your teams motivation, building self-esteem through recognition or new responsibilities offers them a chance to be more invested in the work they do each day.
This in turn, will allow them, over time, to be more invested in the company you work for.
Learning what motivation works best for your team is a crucial step to encouraging their passion and productivity in the workplace.
Motivation opportunities can include, but not be limited to:

  • Assessing your staffs interests
  • Taking the opportunity to mentor them
  • Being open to their concerns, and providing work that reflects their skillsets through recognising their differences
  • Setting goals, and regularly thanking your team

3. Positivity

Providing a positive workplace atmosphere can really benefit your team.
Take the opportunity to brighten the space, even during stressful periods, such as impending deadlines.
You can spread positivity by asking your team about their weekend plans, or by cracking the occasional joke.
If your team like the environment they’re working in, they may be more productive and willing to go the distance in the long run.
But this doesn’t have to be all fun and games.
Creating a positive workplace can also include:

  • Showing you care
  • Encouraging them through hard times
  • Managing any conflict in the office
  • And overall, just being friendly and empathetic.

4. Responsibility

Whilst you may be responsible for any success in your team, you should also be responsible for the failures too.
The good comes with the bad.
Be willing to accept the blame when things don’t go according to plan.
You don’t want to be the type of leader who blames others, as this will cause your team to lose respect for you.

Once accepting the failures, aim to create solutions for your teams improvements to avoid the issue again.
Responsibility also includes:

  • Being open to customer feedback
  • Evaluating best solutions
  • Learning from past mistakes
  • Listening to feedback from employees and managers
  • Transparency

Delegating is the sign of a good leader.

5. Delegating

We’ve covered why delegating is important in one of our blogs you can find here.
But to summarise, whilst we know some leaders fear delegating tasks, it’s actually a sign of a strong leader.
Plus, delegating can help you focus on other, more important tasks, while your employees thrive.
Aim to use delegating to:

  • Gain valuable feedback from your team
  • Assess your teams strengths…and weaknesses
  • Evaluate employee performance
  • Train your team
  • And improve your trust in your teammates

6. Commitment

You’ll need to be committed to your work, and your team.
If you have to finish a task with an upcoming deadline, you should be willing to stay behind and put in the extra hours.
If you promise your staff a reward, follow through with the reward.
Expecting your team to commit to their responsibilities when you’re not completing your own can affect workplace morale.
Workplace commitments can include:

  • Being a team player
  • Prioritising your workload and team
  • Follow through with your tasks
  • Embrace your own development
  • Keep your promises
  • Show passion to your work

Our final notes

By following the tips above, we have no doubts you’ll succeed in becoming a great team leader.
Remember…the easiest way to earn your colleagues respect is always to be good at your job!
If you’re still looking for a role, remember you can speak to our finance and banking recruitment team about what role you may be best suited to.

You’ve just started your new role. Perhaps you’re in management, or a department director?
It’s very easy when you begin to try and do a bit of everything when it comes to your role.
However, after a while you’ll start to realise there’s only a limited amount that you can do, however hard you work.
After all, there are only so many hours in a day, and as a result only so many tasks you can complete in your working hours.
If you have a team working under you, or alongside you, you’ll need to consider the steps to take in order to make your time more efficient.
We know that many people in roles like yours will be comfortable making the same decisions you’ve always made.
You believe you can do a better job yourself, or don’t want to risk losing control of a situation and giving authority to your co-workers in case of failure.

There are a lot of decisions to consider when making an effective team, and we’d recommend starting earlier rather than later to make the process more effective.
But before we give you our tips, what does delegating mean exactly?

What does the word delegate mean?

“To delegate” means to assign responsibility for doing something.
So what can this include in a company setting?
Delegating tasks to employees or members of your team is a practice implemented by efficient entrepreneurs, business owners, and managers, as it can help them focus on more important tasks that require their full attention.

Learn to let go

As mentioned before, we know how hard it can be to let go.
It’s may be that you feel so dedicated to completing your own work, that you may refuse to let others help.
On the other hand you might fear that your team may not have the ability to complete the workload themselves.

This means you need to start learning to let go.
Initially, this could start with delegating small tasks, and then eventually working your way up.
Get to know your team and what they excel at, and know that to make your team successful you need to start trusting them.
Delegating tasks can be an effective form of leadership, read the tips from our bespoke banking and financial services recruitment.

Always include instructions

Afraid your team won’t be able to complete the tasks you’ve assigned?
A great way to begin getting members of staff integrated into new responsibilities is to include instructions.
This can be provided via written notes, Google Doc files, Dropbox, or even as a video.
Providing a set of instructions will not only smoothly integrate them into new tasks, but will also allow you to teach them your method of completing said task.
If you believe your way is the most efficient, why not teach it to others?

Use feedback to improve delegation

Feedback plays a huge part in improving your staff, and the quality of your team.
If your team has done a good job make sure to let them know, and if they’ve made mistakes or fallen short, give them some constructive feedback.

However, feedback works both way.
Ask your team their thoughts on how you’re delegating, this is a great opportunity to learn if you’re giving enough information, or giving the right people the right tasks.
Delegating tasks can be an effective form of leadership, read the tips from our bespoke banking and financial services recruitment.

Play to your teams’ strengths

When assigning tasks, consider working to your team members individual strengths and weaknesses.
As the leader of your team, you should have had a chance to learn what your staff excel at, including their current range of skills, or areas they could potentially excel at.
Remember to be consistent, if you assign the same type of tasks to one employee, that person will eventually become even better at that role.
Set clear goals, standards, and deadlines for the delegated task.
Then tell people to come back to you only if they have a problem.

Teach new skills

If someone on your team lacks the ability to perform a certain task, that doesn’t mean you can’t delegate to them in the long term.
Teaching skills is an investment.
Although it’ll take time out of your schedule to assign teach, in the long term you’ll be able to give that individual similar tasks in the future.
Therefore it’ll actually save you more time than you spent teaching.

Our final notes

We know that delegating may not always be easy, but the sooner you begin, the sooner you’ll start developing expertise in the area of delegating effectively.
Learn from your mistakes, use the tips provided by our banking and financial recruitment company, and you’ll begin leading a team productively.
Looking to start your hunt for the next member of your company?
Remember you can speak to our banking and financial services recruitment company about where you should start, and we can help recruit the best talent for your position.

According to the mental health charity Mind approximately 1 in 4 people in the UK will experience a mental health problem each year.
That means that in a workplace of 10 people, at least 2 of them may be suffering with their mental health.
A lot of people with mental health problems are diagnosed and treated, and therefore should continue to work productively.
All this depends on the severity and duration of their symptoms and the impact they have on everyday life.
Work can aggravate pre-existing conditions.
This means when things get tough or stressful in the workplace, it can make effects worse.
Different employers will have different levels of understanding when it comes to depression.
However, every employer will actually have a legal responsibility to help their employees.
According to ACAS:

Employers have a duty of care to their employees, which means that they should take all steps which are reasonably possible to ensure their health, safety and wellbeing. Demonstrating concern for the physical and mental health of your workers shouldn’t just be seen as a legal duty – there’s a clear business case, too.

So how can you help your team members who are suffering with mental health issues?
Our bespoke banking and financial services recruitment company has some ideas of how you can help:

Open up communication

As soon as you notice that an employee is having difficulties, talk to them.
But if the person does not feel comfortable talking to you about it, suggest they speak to another member of your team, HR or their own GP.
You should aim to make reasonable adjustments to their work schedule, and ask for them to provide any guidance in order to help them.
Also consider the affect having minimal contact or involvement during a sick period may have.
They may end up feeling isolated, or unable to return, so make sure to keep them informed about what is going on, and reassure them throughout their absence.

Aim to be flexible and supportive

One of the main things your employee will want when they’re upset is to have someone listen, reassure them, and most importantly give them any help and support available.
If you are alone in a meeting with them, ask them if they’d like someone with them, and make sure the assistance they are receiving is at a pace that they’re comfortable with.
Are they currently going through a crisis? If that’s the case they may not be able to process information or think clearly. Therefore try to be sensitive to what they can currently cope with.
Think of how you want to handle the situation, it may be best to take some time and think it through.
Consider asking them to highlight the main areas they may need help with, and if they are too upset during the session aim to rearrange it.
Depending on how often these situations occur, you should encourage them to see help with their GP or a mental health service.
Always speak to them calmly and, if possible, take them to a quiet place.
Suggest that you could contact a friend or relative or that they go home and contact their GP or a member of their mental health team, if appropriate.
When your staff need support always aim to work with them to ensure flexibility to suit their health needs.
Ultimately employees with mental health problems should be treated exactly the same as other members of staff, unless they ask for help, or demonstrate signs they need assistance.
You should never make assumptions about their capabilities, promotability or the amount of sick leave they may need.

Take the necessary training

Mental health charities like Mind, who our banking and financial services recruitment company is supporting the Manchester branch of this year, offer training for employers.
The courses on their website are currently available in London and Cardiff.
But if you’re interested in courses in your local area contact your local Mind office.

Utilise routine management

A great opportunity to learn more about your employees, as well as any problems they may have, is through scheduled work meetings, appraisals or informal chats about progress.
If you’re worried about a specific member of staff, make sure you open up dialogue about this early on.
You can do this through:

  • Asking questions in an open and non-judgemental way.
  • Start group dialogues on the topic so that staff are aware they can talk to you.
  • Ensuring that you show that you’re positive and supportive and offer the chance to chat to all your staff.

Our final notes?

If you keep these tips in mind, and seek the help of professionals from charities like Mind, we have no doubt that you’ll be able to ensure the wellness of your staff.
If you’d like to support our fundraising for Manchester Mind, you can do so here.
Looking to start your hunt for the next member of your company?
Remember you can speak to our banking and financial services recruitment company about where you should start, and we can help recruit the best talent for your position.