As always, the first quarter of the year has flown by. It’s time to be reviewing the things that went well and the things that didn’t get accomplished during that time. It’s also time to make sure those Q2 goals are established that will help you work toward the overall goals for the year. Here are six leadership tips that can help you as you plan:
1. Look for what you can delegate
Many leaders struggle with delegation. They worked hard to get to where they are and have a difficult time accepting that someone else could handle tasks to the same level that they do. If you catch yourself thinking this, it’s time to challenge those thoughts.
Yes, if you hand a task off to an employee, they may screw it up. There is likely to be a learning curve. But if you don’t learn how to turn tasks over to others, you’re going to be limited in the amount of growth that you’re able to experience. You only have so much time and can only accomplish so much together. If you want to scale and keep hitting your goals, then you’re going to need to learn how to trust others.
Remember to have grace when they make an error. You are there to teach and guide them as they learn what to do. And remember that when you delegate a task, you need to delegate the decision making ability and resources that are necessary to get the job down correctly. There may be some mistakes along the way, but if you work on helping them learn from their mistakes, you’ll end up with a great employee who can handle the responsibilities you have delegated and your potential for scaling skyrockets.
2. Schedule time for training and team development
It’s easy to think that you’re going to bring in training or be intentional about team building and skills development, but it’s easy to let time go by without ever acting on it. If this is something you’ve been putting on the backburner, take time before the quarter starts to get something on the schedule.
Personal and professional development training has become a popular perk that employees are looking for. Make sure that you’re not only training your current leaders, but that you provide training opportunities to each employee. This helps you continue developing up and coming leaders.
3. Analyze your feedback
As a leader, it can be difficult to listen to feedback and criticism about yourself and/or your team. But being able to listen to and process feedback is an important skill for leaders. As you get ready to move onto the second quarter, make sure that you take time to review the feedback that you’ve received during Q1. This could include feedback from clients or employees. It could be the feedback you receive from marketing and sales reports. Be honest as you analyze the feedback to see what adjustments need to be made as you move into a new quarter.
4. Share successes and failures with your team
Including your team helps them to buy into the work that you’re doing and any changes that need to be made. Take the time to share the successes that the company achieved in Q1. Then, share the failures that the team experienced together in Q1. Help them to get an accurate picture of both areas. As you recognize the successes, make sure to show appreciation to your team for the work that they did. Recognize any individuals that did outstanding work during the quarter that correlated with growth.
5. Realign what went wrong in Q1
After you share the failures with your team, make sure you have a plan in place to help you realign those specific areas so you can reach your goals for Q2. When your team is aware of what the company and department goals are along with the Q1 successes and failures, it helps them understand what changes need to be made going into a new quarter and why.
It’s normal for employees to have a hard time with change. However, if you’re open with sharing all of this information with them on a regular basis, it helps them to keep an eye on the big picture. As they see the problem with the way things are currently being done, it can help them accept change easier.
6. Get accountability to achieve your goals
The most successful leaders in the world aren’t afraid to get a little accountability or mentoring when they need help reaching a new goal. As a leader, you may feel like you need to have all the answers on your own, but that’s not the case. As you work towards achieving your Q2 goals, find a coach or mentor that can help you get from where you are to where you’re trying to go.
If you’re interested in exploring the ways that a SPEARity leadership development coach can help, contact us here.
