Successful leadership might seem a matter of chance at times – but you can learn how to roll the dice in your favour. Leading a team or department means keeping on top of every aspect of its role within your firm and its day-to-day operation, from setting objectives to dealing with complaints.

It also means motivating team members to do their jobs to the best of their ability – but even the most hardworking manager can falter when it comes to persuading their staff to share their own dedication to the team’s goals.

You may only realise this is an area you need to work on when things start to go wrong; perhaps staff turnover is high or team members are unproductive without obvious reason. Although it’s easier to blame such problems on other forces, they may indicate that you need to assess your leadership skills.

There is no need to be despondent if you don’t feel you have a ‘natural’ ability to motivate. Inspiring leadership comes naturally only to a very few; most leaders have had to learn to carry people with them.

Communicate your vision

Successful leaders tend to have a ‘vision’ of their enterprise that they share with followers. In the case of a business, this is likely to reflect what the firm is striving to achieve, whether that’s substantial growth, social good or simply a well-run organisation that supplies a valuable product or service.

It’s also likely to focus on the role your team can potentially play in delivering this wider goal. The more clearly you communicate your vision, the more likely your employees are to feel that coming into work is worthwhile. Setting short and long-term goals en route to realising your vision will give individual staff targets to aim for.

Assess your style

Your ability to communicate your vision and inspire employees may be hampered by your management style, however. Do you instinctively prefer to issue orders, work on your own and stick to plans? Or do you delegate, and encourage participation and initiative?

The latter approach encourages greater staff engagement and loyalty. It may mean going against your instincts, but the more you involve other people in decisions and listen to their ideas, the better they will perform.

Achieving this does not have to be difficult. To start off with, you can:

• conduct regular ideas and feedback sessions
• reward effort and initiative, as well as output
• scrap email in favour of face-to-face conversations
• make sure people know they can approach you freely with questions, problems and suggestions.

You can also delegate. This will both encourage initiative and free up more of your time to work on developing and communicating your vision and the strategies you need to adopt to achieve it.

Find support

If you don’t feel confident enough to change your style without support, there is plenty available. An internet search will highlight many leadership training organisations, at least one of which may offer an approach to leadership that works with your natural tendencies.

Or you might prefer to work with a mentor who can help you develop in a very specific way. There may be someone within your organisation or wider network who is happy to fill this role; alternatively, you could contact an organisation such as the Coaching and Mentoring Network.

There is no one-size-fits-all leadership style, however, and you need to know what is right for you before making an investment. The right choice, however, could transform your team and give you a greater sense of fulfilment and achievement.

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