When people think of leaders, they think of bosses. They think of people who hire employees and train them. They think of people who devise a vision and then work towards achieving certain goals. However, the roles of leaders are much more diverse than you might have anticipated. 

Leaders are the anchors that hold the ship together. From training the employees to ensuring they give their best, leaders perform some extraordinary duties in their lifetime. They are not only responsible for providing an equitable and non-toxic environment for their employees but are also responsible for motivating them. 

The most famous leaders in history did more than what was expected of them which is why they succeeded. You can follow in their full steps by understanding and then fulfilling the roles of leaders. Here is all you need to know. 

10 Main Roles and Responsibilities of Leaders

Many leaders fulfill their primary responsibilities. However, they forget their responsibility is not limited to hiring the right people. If you are unsure of all the things you need to do, here is a list of roes and responsibilities of leaders that will help you revolutionize your leadership journey.

•  Hiring and Training New Employees
• Encourage Collaboration Between Staff Members
• Acknowledging and Validating Good Behavior
• Effective Communication With Employees
• Modifying lousy behavior
• Setting the right example for others
• Creating a non-toxic environment 
• Inducing trust in leadership
• Conducting Ice-Break Sessions and Friendly Meetings
• Celebrating small wins

1. Hiring and Training New Employees

The foremost job of a leader is to hire new employees for the company. Whether it is a new CEO, a new team leader or somebody looking to expand their roots, hiring new people is a necessary job. However, the issue with most leaders is that they do not finalize the type of employees they want to hire. They leave the job to the HR department. 

A good leader is as involved in hiring these new employees as they would expect the company’s HR department to be. Moreover, once these new employees are hired, a leader is also responsible for training them. 

2. Encourage Collaboration Between Staff Members

New employees often find it hard to adjust to a new setup and environment. Apart from being intimidated by the old, more accustomed players, they also feel the pressure of doing more than others. An integral role of a leader includes encouraging and motivating these new staff members so they can reach their full potential. 

For starters, these leaders should give the new employees time and space to adjust to the new environment. Additionally, they should request other, more seasoned employees, to lend a hand to these new staff members. This helps collaboration between staff members. 

3. Acknowledging and Validating Good Behavior

Everyone, whether it is a child, an adult, or an employee, does better when they are encouraged. A major issue with the most company and most leaders is that they hesitate before appreciating and encouraging good behavior. To them, encouraging people makes them overconfident. 

In reality, validating good behavior acts as a big motivator, not just for the person being encouraged, but for everyone who is observing that behavior. 

4. Effective Communication With Employees

Effective communication goes a long way; it not only connects you with your employees but also adds enhances your relationship with people of all tiers. Most leaders tend to speak well. They will be able to communicate the most complex of ideas. 

However, when it comes to their listening skills, they waver and do not exercise the patience needed to listen well. If you want to fulfill your leadership potential, you must listen as well as you speak. 

5. Modifying Lousy Behavior

Sometimes even the best employees show lousy characteristics. This is not always a big problem and can be fixed by a leader who knows how to handle their staff well. Whether it is one employee or an entire team that is creating problems for you, you need to find ways to fix them. 

From involving Human resource departments to creating additional incentives like bonuses and awards, you can fix these lousy behaviors and motivate your employees to do better. 

6. Setting the Right Example for Others

Every characteristic that you want to see in your employees, you need to first integrate into your personality. You can not expect others to show traits like honesty, integrity, compassion, and commitment if you are showing the complete opposite of all this. 

To inculcate a positive attitude and the right behavior in your employees, you need to make a conscious effort to have an impeccable character. From showing complete honesty and transparency to showing compassion and kindness, you need to set the perfect example for your employees. 

7. Creating a Non-toxic Environment

Toxicity can drive even the most passionate of employees away. Imagine a company where females or minorities do not feel secure. From being targeted for their protected attributes, to being bullied and harassed, they have to face this toxicity every day of their jobs. 

The above will not only hamper the commitment of these employees, but it will also prevent these employees from forming any deep, meaningful loyalties towards the company. The job of a leader is to make amends and create equitable policies so everyone is treated equally. 

Also read: How leaders can cure a toxic workplace?

8. Inducing Trust in Leadership

Great leaders are trusted so much that their employees do not leave them to dry in times of crisis. If you are a great leader, almost all your employees will cheer you on as long as the cash is flowing. However, if you are a trusted and reliable leader, these employees will support you even when the situation is not in your favor. 

Trust in leadership is essential because leaders need their staff to have the utmost faith in their ability and their vision. One of the best ways to develop this trust is to not treat your employees as replaceable. Trust them and give them their due respect; they will do the same in return. 

9. Conducting Ice-Break Sessions and Friendly Meetings

For any business to run successfully, it is important that the staff collaborates and is not hostile. It is the job of the leader to work as a bridge between different employees. A leader needs to create avenues where the employees can bond and become each other’s supporters. 

A lot of companies hold monthly dinners and annual functions to help bridge the gap between employees. This not only gives them the freedom to socialize but also helps them develop deeper, more meaningful bonds with each other. 

10. Celebrating Small Wins

No one gets to win all the time. Big wins seldom come, especially if you are a small or a growing company. However, one of the biggest mistakes leaders make is that they wait for these big wins without realizing that they are missing the point of these big wins. 

Companies and employees work hard because they want to achieve certain goals. Leaders who do not acknowledge the efforts of their employees and do not give them cause for celebration from time to time end up de-motivating and devaluing the efforts of their employees. 

5 Steps to Becoming a Good Leader

1. Finding a Great Mentor

Before you can mentor others, you want somebody to mentor you as well. A great mentor and coach can fasten your journey and make you achieve exponential success in less time. However, most people underestimate the importance of good mentors. They believe that having mentors would reduce their worth and belittle their journey. 

However, a better way to look at this is to compare and contrast the journeys of the many, many successful leaders in the world. All of them, at one point or the other, had the honor of being mentored by somebody. If you want to learn the ins and outs of the game, you got to have a good mentor too. 

2. Conducting Thorough Research

Whether you are going into the business world or looking to lead an organization or head a country, you must carry out a good amount of research. Most emerging leaders trust their instincts and focus entirely on their gut feeling. Although this can work in your favor, it is not a good strategy. 

Regardless of the field you are going into, your behavior must be modified and influenced by data and statistics. You should be aware of the market trends so you can take decisions in the future. 

3. Practice and Perfect

Learning does not stop when you reach the top. If you read the stories of the great feminist leaders of today, you will notice that these individuals have continued perfecting their skills. From attending good programs to self-educating, these leaders do a lot to stay relevant. 

Another reason to keep on learning is that other competitive people are working twice as hard to get to where you are. To keep ahead in the game and go with the times, you have to mold yourself to the changing circumstances. This is the only way you will not lose your position and your respectability. 

4. Enrolling in a Training Program

We can not stress this enough; training programs can make or break your leadership career. The best leadership training programs are specifically designed to hone the skills of individuals who are looking to get ahead in the game. Rather than giving idle instructions to individuals, these training programs provide a perfect amalgamation of theory and practice. 

They also hire exceptional trainers and mentors who have had a good amount of experience in the field and can hence make things easier for you. From improving your public speaking skills to ensuring you can adjust to any situation, these training programs can revolutionize your leadership style. 

5. Identifying Your Unique Leadership Style

The world is full of many leaders, however, there are very few similarities among all these leaders. The roles they perform and the responsibilities they have also differ significantly, but why is that? Should not all leaders be the same, especially if certain traits make leaders great?

Although leaders need to exhibit confidence, channel the energies of others, and have a broader vision, each leader has a unique style that makes them stand out in the crowd. Some are inclusive leaders, whereas others are transformational leaders. To know more about leadership styles and the roles of leaders associated with each style, read ahead. 

10 Leadership Styles to Choose From

1. A Delegating Leader

A delegating leader is somebody who puts unwavering trust in their employees and delegates as much work as possible. Additionally, delegating leaders believe in team-building exercises and ensure that the entire team can work as a single unit. 

2. A Communicating Leader

Communicating leaders have exceptional articulation skills; from using the right words to using the right body language, they can do it all. Moreover, communicating leaders also can listen well which makes them stand out in the crowd. 

3. A Strategic Leader

For strategic leaders, strategy and vision take precedence over literally everything else. These leaders will compromise on revenue, sales, and even profits as long as they are thinking of the long term game and making strategic decisions accordingly. 

4. An Empowering Leader

Think of all the great leaders of the past; leaders such as Martin Luther King or Nelson Mandela, of them were empowering leaders. Their main goal is to create a domino effect that can bring long-term change in the lives of the people. These leaders work day in and day out to improve the status quo and empower people to bring sustainable change. 

5. A Resilient Leader

Resilient leaders like Abraham Lincoln and George Washington never gave up, regardless of the number of hurdles that came their way. These leaders have gone through considerable hardships in their lives and are thick-skinned. This makes them bring revolutions to the world. 

6. A Coaching Leader

As the name suggests, coaching leaders are experts in the field who train more than one individual and make them the best in the world. Most coaching leaders head teams and have the sole responsibility of increasing the success rate of a team. 

7. An Inspiring Leader

Inspiring leaders, through their exceptional traits and consistent personality, can inspire others to do better. Moreover, inspiring leaders spend time with their juniors and their associates and ensure that they reach their full potential. 

8. A Charismatic Leader

Charismatic leaders like Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Donald Trump, and Imran Khan can move crowds by using mere words. These leaders have great articulation skills which help them get ahead in the game and convince a large number of people to follow in their footsteps. 

9. An Inclusive Leader

Inclusive leaders are diverse and revolutionary; they refuse to give in to biases and prejudices and make decisions purely on people’s merit. To them, race, ethnicity, and religion do not matter. The only thing they look for is somebody’s potential and what they can bring to the table. 

Also Read: Inclusive leadership vs Transformational Leadership style- Are they the same?

10. A Transformational Leader

A transformational leader sees and acknowledges a problem with the status quo and then does their best to bring long-term change. They work individually or with a team to bring about a positive revolution and transformation in society. 

Learn To Execute Leadership Roles With the Best Diplomats

Most training programs will teach you the basic dos and don’ts of good leadership. However, most of these programs have become quite redundant now. They completely miss the point and undervalue the impact of great leadership.

The training provided by Best Diplomats does the complete opposite. It sees leadership, not as a means to an end, but as a never-ending and highly rewarding journey. Its conferences and programs are tailored to the needs of young entrepreneurs and leaders. You can join these programs and become an expert leader in your field. 

Conclusion

In the eyes of many, leaders are only responsible for the bare minimum. However, most people miss the point of great leadership. Leadership is responsible for the success of a company. From hiring the right people to ensuring these people give in their best, leaders perform an array of duties. 

The above can seem quite intimidating at times. However, with great power comes great responsibility so never shy away from fulfilling these responsibilities to their core. 

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