Do you have to be a good role model to be a good leader? Well, it certainly helps, as people tend to listen to you more when you’re ‘walking the walk’, so it should be an element that you factor into your ongoing personal development plan. It takes a certain type of person, but it’s absolutely something you can work on.
What Makes A Good Role Model In The Workplace?
Well, a good role model will naturally demonstrate - via their advanced interpersonal skills - a commitment to achieve their goal. They tend to display a ‘can-do’ attitude and are not easily beaten when presented with a problem that needs solving. Their passion and energy allow them to influence those around them, helping them aspire to improve.
What Qualities Make A Manager A Good Role Model?
While a competitive nature is usually present in a good role model, so is selflessness, as they understand that when the company wins, everyone wins. Whether encouraging others to ‘do as they do’ or assisting an employee who’s struggling with work-based online studying, their positive effect can be felt everywhere, and they do it for the good of everyone - not just themselves.
So, if you become a leader, how do you become a role model? Let’s dive in and see…
Step #1 - Appreciate Others In Your Workplace
A great start to becoming a workplace role model is appreciating and recognising the hard work of those working for you and around you. Studies show that 82% of people who feel appreciated work harder, so while this might seem like a minor point, it really isn’t. Showing appreciation for others also shows that you’re a person with good values - rather than being driven, but self-centred.
You see, respect works both ways, so if you show that you understand their challenges and needs while doing your best to meet them, you begin to be seen in a role model-like way.
Step #2 - Be Inspirational To Your Coworkers
There are many so-called leaders out there who simply delegate the work they’re presented with in a perfunctory and matter-of-fact way. To become a role model, you need to be inspirational, which requires a number of interpersonal skills like good communication, confidence, and empathy.
You could inspire others to achieve by getting stuck in yourself and showing nothing is beneath you or by actively coaching your teams collectively and making things less about individual performance. The result of this kind of approach is often a tight-knit group, with you as the inspirational figurehead. ,
Step #3 - Be Someone Your Staff Can Trust
Honesty and fairness are ranked highly amongst interpersonal skills, as they’re values held dear by most in everyday life and work. These values help engender trust, another essential element for anyone wanting to be viewed as a workplace role model.
As such, leaders should do their best not to lie or be underhanded with their staff, as these things tend to get noticed. For example, if there are some work-sponsored tafe courses being offered to employees, make them available to everyone, rather than just your own mates.
Admitting when you’re wrong is another way to get people to trust you, as it creates transparency. You also have to demonstrate that you trust your team to meet the targets set, both from a personal and task-oriented point of view.
Being a leader can be easy, but being a role model takes time and can’t be forced. By doing the right things every day and doing right by everyone whenever you’re able to, you’ll create a positive perception of yourself. Whether you become a role model for others, is largely down to you. Just don’t expect it to happen overnight.
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