True leaders know the difference between influence and authority. Instead of leading by fear, influential leaders use their contagious passion and keen emotional intelligence to help their team reach its goals.
New leaders may not have all the answers. However, they’re willing to put in the work to learn and consistently take the best course of action for the organization. As their leadership skills mature, they also help employees reach their full potential and professional development goals. We’ll highlight 10 habits and best practices that help new managers grow into influential leaders and share leadership mistakes to avoid on your professional journey.
Ways to become an influential leader
Effective leadership requires a blend of self-reflection and a commitment to improvement. It also demands diligent self-care. Prioritizing your physical, mental and spiritual well-being ensures you have the energy to proactively focus on your team’s needs.
Madeleine Homan Blanchard, chief coaching architect at Blanchard, emphasized the importance of self-awareness. “The higher people go, the more self-aware they need to be — the more they need to continue to grow and leverage the best parts of themselves and to get better at mitigating the less great parts of themselves,” Blanchard explained.
With that in mind, consider the following 10 habits and best practices that can help new managers become influential leaders.
1. Maintain composure in your leadership role.
Everyday management situations can incite fight-or-flight emotions in any reasonable person. Predatory customers, leadership misdirection and toxic employees can create frustration and rising emotions in even the most seasoned managers.
Maintaining your composure ― no matter the scenario ― is essential to leadership. Speaking respectfully, with tact and reason, is critical to being heard by others.
A true leader can respond to emotionally charged situations with a sound mind and calm disposition. They consider all possible effects of their response and act accordingly.
2. Exude confidence in your leadership role.
No matter the risk of success or failure, a leader exudes confidence and courage in situations others may question. Employees may fear a decision’s outcome but willingly support it when they witness confidence in their leader’s verbal and nonverbal messages.
Demonstrating confidence in your decisions — or your team’s decisions — encourages confidence all around. When leaders are confident enough to take the helm, employees are inspired to follow.
Jacob Goldstein, founder and executive director at the Leadership Laboratory, noted that new leaders often struggle with “impostor syndrome” — the feeling of being unqualified for their role. Imposter syndrome can significantly erode a new leader’s confidence and inspire doubt in their teams. However, thorough preparation — gaining the necessary knowledge and tools — can help alleviate this challenge.
“If I want to show up in my work and in my leadership with confidence, I need to make sure that I’m showing up with that feeling that I have a strong sense of competence,” Goldstein advised.
Blanchard cautioned that some leaders confuse confidence with arrogance. Arrogant leaders often fear they’ll appear unconfident and unsure if they involve other thinkers and stakeholders in their decision-making process. “When, in fact, [involving others in decisions] is the confident move,” Blanchard explained. “The key, however — and this is where confidence is critical — is to make the decision in the end.”
According to
Korn Ferry's Workforce report, 37 percent surveyed said that management role reductions had left workers feeling without direction. When employees step into positions feeling unprepared or unsupported, it can fuel
imposter syndrome.
3. Be accessible as a leader.
Accessibility can be challenging for new managers accustomed to working independently because they’ve only ever been accountable to their higher-ups. In contrast, a leader is accountable to everyone they manage.
For best results as a leader, strive to be accessible with an open-door policy in the office. Additionally, you must be proactive with your employees and actively seek opportunities to support their efforts and professional growth. To be a good people manager, come out from behind your desk, walk the floor and visit your team. Identify their hurdles and commit to solving problems and setbacks together.
4. Use your leadership position to motivate others.
Leaders don’t seek recognition; instead, they offer it freely. They give credit where it’s due and recognize others’ hard work and efforts.
Leaders know recognition isn’t just about occasional rewards, employee bonuses and promotions. Recognition means identifying the daily accomplishments and tasks that benefit the team and its goals. When you convey an attitude of appreciation for workplace accomplishments, you help improve employee engagement, morale and motivation.
Goldstein pointed out that recognition isn’t one-size-fits-all. Motivating factors can vary significantly by employee. “So, a lot of it is asking those questions of our team members and our direct reports about what it is that motivates them,” Goldstein explained. “There’s no need to guess. Let your direct reports tell you explicitly what motivates them to do their best work. Then use that as the customized blueprint for working with them moving forward.”
5. Watch your body language in your leadership role.
Your team consciously or subconsciously evaluates every move you make. If you make body language mistakes that send the wrong messages, your team will see the disconnect and trust you less.
For instance, effective leaders adopt an open posture during conversations. They use a neutral stance that invites engagement and signals confidence. When you stand with crossed arms or display fidgety mannerisms, it can distract listeners and undermine your credibility.
6. Practice word awareness as a leader.
Leaders speak succinctly, using only words that add value to their message. You can perfect this skill by practicing the less-is-more method.
Work to eliminate filler words like “um” and “uh.” Use intentional pauses to transition between ideas, giving your listeners a moment to process information. Deliver your points clearly to prevent confusion. Clarity builds confidence in listeners and credibility in the message.
What you say to your team is particularly crucial in
crisis communication. Be transparent with your employees during a crisis — especially customer-facing team members likely to face the brunt of the stress.
7. Respect others in your leadership role.
Respecting others is a crucial tenet of successful leadership. You can demonstrate respect to others with the following tactics:
- Encourage diverse viewpoints: Share the floor with those who want to share their thoughts, allowing them to ask questions, offer concerns and respond to events. Goldstein recommended soliciting feedback about your leadership style from direct reports using a “start, stop, continue” model — asking employees about what you should start, stop and continue doing. “[This] gives a really nice framework for individuals to be able to [tell] their supervisors about what is going well, what might change and maybe what needs to stop or end,” Goldstein explained.
- Practice active listening: Allow your thoughts to be clear and entirely focused on others. Put away phones and laptops that might steal your focus from the conversation.
- Give speakers your undivided attention: Lean forward in your posture, make eye contact and refrain from formulating your response until the person you’re talking to has finished speaking. Showing this essential courtesy strengthens your credibility and helps earn your team’s respect — instead of driving them away with disrespect, thoughtlessness and rudeness.
- Demonstrate the impact of their work: Goldstein cautioned that leaders often make requests of their direct reports but fail to follow up to show them how their work added value to the organization. “Even if the impact might seem obvious, the more we can highlight that their work made a difference, the higher their level of engagement for similar tasks in the future,” Goldstein explained.
8. Be grateful and humble in your leadership role.
Influential leaders recognize that success is rarely a solo endeavor. While recognizing others is essential, a true leader’s gratitude and humility inspire others to act.
When you acknowledge that you can’t perform alone and show appreciation and humility toward your team, you encourage more focused, deliberate work. Humility demonstrates that you recognize improvements are always possible, regardless of how experienced you may be.
Blanchard cited the adage, “The best leaders hire people who are smarter than they are,” and added, “That takes confidence and humility because it’s so threatening, right?”
Blanchard also warned leaders to avoid the pitfall of having to be the smartest person in the room. “[Move] to a place where you can help other people be the smartest person in the room because you need 10 ‘smartest people’ in the room to succeed, not just one,” Blanchard advised.
Leadership styles typically include givers and takers. To balance giving and taking leadership styles, be strategic about who you help, avoid people-pleasing and don't hesitate to ask for help.
9. Continue your leadership development journey.
Influential leaders recognize that growth is a continuous process rather than a destination. They refuse to become complacent, seeking feedback from trusted mentors and coaches to hone communication and management practices and improve their business skills continually.
Inspirational leaders want to know how others perceive them and work diligently to earn trust and credibility from their teams.
10. Champion others in your leadership role.
True leaders know they’re responsible for mentoring, guiding, setting employee performance goals and providing feedback continually. However, they’re also responsible for identifying employees ready to be promoted from within.
Britney Cole, Blanchard’s chief innovation officer, explained that influential managers should go beyond helping their employees achieve excellence in their current roles. They must also build a support coalition for them throughout the organization by looking for opportunities to promote them. “So, it’s almost your job as a manager to get ready for people to leave the nest,” Cole said. “I joke that a leader’s job is to get yourself out of a job because you’re building that succession pipeline behind you.”
Seek out the
best leadership books to inspire your leadership journey. Simon Sinek’s “Start With Why,” Stephen R. Covey’s “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” and Sheryl Sandberg’s “Lean In” are excellent places to start.
