Are leaders born or made? Though some people are born with natural talents that cater to certain leaderships styles, in the end, leaders are made, not born. If you are interested in becoming a leader and are looking for ways to unlock your leadership potential, look no further.
Jako Hall, a former naval officer well-known for his strong work ethic and skill to proactively lead crews, offers a guiding hand in how to identify your inner leader and grow leadership potential through these helpful steps:
Step #1: Identify Strengths and Weaknesses
Start your leadership development by becoming familiar with the strengths of a good leader, such as self-awareness, situational awareness, quality and communication skills, and comparing these strengths to your own. What strengths do you currently have that align? What strengths do you consider more personal weaknesses?
Step #2: Identify Your Leadership Style
There are eight effective leadership styles deemed most proactive. You should familiarise yourself with them and identify one as your most natural and desired leadership style to help better set clear goals of where you want to grow your leadership potential. These styles include autocratic, bureaucratic, charismatic, democratic, laissez-faire, servant, transactional, and transformational leadership.
Step #3: Practise Learning from Others
Once you have processed where your individualism falls on the leadership board, it is time to start implementing practices to blossom your leadership potential. A good leader knows how to trust and learn from others, leading to productive delegating and a constant willingness to learn. Practise having an open mind and effective listening to learn from everyone you speak with and see how much you can learn from others.
Step #4: Practise Discipline
Practising discipline is the best way to master one of the most significant building blocks of leading others: learning how to lead yourself. Implementing discipline as a daily practise in both personal and professional life boosts self-awareness as well as patience along the way, two other essential leadership skills.
Step #5: Practise Initiative
Taking the initiative in your professional workplace and volunteering for more responsibilities rather than waiting for them to come to you via assignment is a forward step in the right direction towards building leadership talents. Leaders step out of their comfort zone to enhance skills through challenges. The more work you take on, the more opportunity to learn while still practising balance.
Step #6: Practise Critical Thinking
The superpower that good leaders carry, enabling them to see problems in the future, is generated from critical thinking. Anticipating failure where there are cracks or weak spots in a project helps better prepare for something going wrong or avoid loss altogether.
Step #7: Practise A Leadership Position Outside of Work
Whether you are developing your leadership potential for an ideal future position at work, entrepreneurship, or promotion, a fantastic opportunity to put your skill training to work is to find a leadership role outside of work to fill. This role could be paid or voluntary. Regardless of what leadership role you choose, acting in a leadership position outside of work is vital in helping you better implement your leadership skills and learn from real-world situations through experience.
About Jako Hall
Captain Jako Hall is a skilled mariner who gained extensive experience in vessel operations, leadership, and management while serving as a naval officer for 13 years. After serving in the Combat Branch on multiple warships, Jako transitioned into the superyacht industry. Sailing many oceans and remote destinations makes him uniquely qualified to handle any challenging maritime situation.