In today’s workplace, the best way to lead is by example with your employees. Employees are now following leaders who are willing to work with them and not bark orders with no actions. There are some ways to be able to help you as a leader to lead by example.
Make sure that what you are doing and saying is something you believe in as well. There is nothing worse than employees seeing that you don’t actually believe in the things you are trying to lead them with. Give yourself time to understand the company’s values and find out how they align with your own values. If you don’t believe in the core values, you won’t be able to honestly be able to lead employees in those values.
As a leader, you need to be able to identify what needs to change in the business. There can be problems between employees and policies, and being able to see those issues to be able to correct them is key. Take some time to be able to fully observe a situation from all sides before diving into a solution, sometimes there are multiple sides to a story and can often time offer insight into the situations and issues.
When trying to implement a change in the company, you need to be able to “be the change you want to be”. When implementing changes, many employees won’t like it but if they can see you made the change willingly and fully as well it can help with the ease of transitions. Make sure you are able to adjust your own practices first so that way you are able to be able to speak to the change in an easier manner.
One of the biggest things you need to do in a position of leadership is to be able to communicate with your coworkers. Being able to talk to employees in a person to person rather than an employee-employer fashion.
Lastly be able to be consistent in your communications with employees and with your behaviors in the workplace. Consistency is the best practice to have when it comes to leadership, employees are able to understand how you lead with no ambiguity around the matter. No one will be able to trust or follow you if the way you lead is inconsistent or all over the place. Being consistent will only help you down the road.