1.

A Clear Communicator
Effective team leaders communicate clearly. Quality verbal and written communication skills
allow leaders to present expectations to team members in a way workers can understand.
Effective communication skills also allow team leaders to listen to the input of others.

2. Strong Organization Skills

Effective team leaders possess exceptional organizational skills. Organizational skills help team
leaders plan objectives and strategies, which allow team members to perform optimally.
Organized team leaders put systems in place that maintain order and guide team members toward
meeting company goals and objectives.

3. Confident in the Team

An effective team leader is confident in his abilities, as well as confident in the abilities of his
team members. A confident leader is secure in the decisions he makes that affect his team. A
self-confident team leader also reassures team members of his authority within the organization.

4. Respectful to Others
A quality team leader is respectful of his team members. A respectful leader empowers
employees by encouraging them to offer ideas about decisions that affect them. This lets team
members know that the leader respects their input and opinions.

5. Fair and Kind

A quality team leader treats team members fairly. He is consistent with rewards and recognition,
as well as disciplinary action. A fair leader ensures all employees receive the same treatment.

6. An Example of Integrity
An effective team leader is honest and open with his team members. Leaders who possess
integrity gain the trust of team members because he does what he says he will do and treats
others the same way he wants to be treated.

7. Influential in Core Areas

Influential leaders help inspire the commitment of team members to meet company goals and
objectives. Influential leaders also help manage change in the workplace by gaining the
confidence of workers through effective decision making and communication.
8. Willing to Delegate
Effective team leaders know how to share leadership through delegation. Delegating certain
tasks to trustworthy team members allows the leader to focus on improving workplace functions
and production.

9. Powerful Facilitator
Effective team leaders are powerful facilitators. As a facilitator, team leaders help workers
understand their goals. They also help organize an action plan to ensure team members meet
their goals and objectives more efficiently.

10. A Skilled Negotiator

Team leaders utilize negotiation skills to achieve results and reach an understanding in the event
of a workplace conflict. Team leaders who negotiate effectively streamline the decision-making
process, as well as solve problems for the best interest of everyone involved.

Here are eight tips to help you establish and maintain a productive, collaborative team while
developing your leadership talents along the way.

1. Make time to lead.

To be effective, team leaders need to invest time in the role. Too often, this responsibility is
simply added onto someone’s already lengthy task list, thus setting the new leader up for failure.
As a team leader you need to be visible to the team and available to support them. If you’re
predominantly tied up with your own critical hands-on tasks, you won’t be. So, be sure to review
and re-negotiate your workload before taking on a leadership role in the first place.

2. Get to know your team.

Leadership is all about how you influence your team to achieve its objectives—something you’ll
struggle to do if you don’t get to know your team members and what makes them tick. While it
might be tempting to jump in and start making big moves from day one, remember that you’re
not there to flex your ego.

Take time to listen to your team members; find out what their issues and aspirations are, gather
ideas, and identify potential strengths and weaknesses. Only then can you formulate a leadership
approach that stands a chance of success. Getting to know who you’re working with is the first
all-important step to bonding with the team and establishing their respect and trust. The old
adage of listening twice as much as you speak still holds true.

3. Communicate, communicate, communicate.

Once your team is up and running, it’s imperative to keep the communication going to build
relationships, assess progress, and identify risks and issues. Plus, you’ll get more engagement
from team members if they see you investing time in them and showing interest in their
activities. Make expectations and responsibilities clear so that everyone knows who’s doing
what, why and by when. This seems obvious but don’t assume everyone has your detailed
understanding of the project at hand. Encourage and embrace new ideas. The more your team
can contribute to the project, the happier they’ll be.

4. Lead by example.
Think about the behaviors you want and expect from your team members and be sure to exhibit
those traits yourself. You’re the role model, so what you say and do will impact the team’s daily
work habits and attitudes. That said, it’s important to be yourself and to believe in yourself. If
you fake it, you’ll soon be unmasked and you’ll lose credibility and trust.

Be open, honest and passionate. Treat everyone on the team fairly, with respect and without
favoritism and you’ll find those behaviors returned. Extend the same courtesy to the rest of the
organisation as well. Never undermine or criticise other individuals or departments in front of the
team. Make it clear you’re all there to work towards success for the big picture.

5. Reward the good and learn from the bad (and the ugly).
Be quick to recognise a good performance and reward it where appropriate. You might not be in
a position to hand out pay raises and promotions but a little bit of verbal praise goes a long way
in showing your team you are both aware of and appreciative of their achievements.

Be equally as timely in tackling poor performance issues.The longer you leave them, the tougher
they’ll be to fix. Look for the best in people and understand that mistakes will happen. When
they do, learn from them and see how they can be prevented in future. And whatever you do,
don’t play the blame game.

If you need to have a challenging conversation, do it in private; no public floggings. And don’t
try to win a popularity contest. Not all your feedback and initiatives will be well-received, but if
you concentrate more on being everyone’s friend instead of being a strong leader, the work will
suffer, as will your integrity.

6. Delegate.
Trust your team to do its job. Being team leader doesn’t mean you’re there to do other people’s
work for them. Be clear on what’s expected of everyone and let them get on with it. When issues
or opportunities arise, empower the team to find a resolution themselves with your support—
don’t add every new issue to your own to-do list.

7. Be decisive.
Don’t procrastinate. Grab the nettle when you need to. It’s all too easy to defer the difficult
decisions, but ultimately costly for the job in hand and how you’re viewed as a leader. If things
go wrong, take a breath, gather the information you need to make an educated decision and make
it. Don’t be afraid of seeking help (it’s a sign of strength, not weakness). Team management is an
ongoing learning process and you will never have all the answers.

8. Enjoy it!
Team leadership is often challenging but frequently rewarding. Heading up a team that’s
working well and delivering results is a great feeling, so go do it!