Adding Enthusiasm to Your Leadership Skills

You've just been given that promotion you've wanted - and now, suddenly, you're a manager. To help ease your anxiety about the new position, remember that managing people means more than just giving out assignments. Good managers encourage people to do their best through their enthusiastic leadership and motivation.

Consider adding the following qualities to your leadership skills.

Passion

The best managers are passionate about their work and have a sense of urgency about what needs to be done and when.

Leadership in management means getting everybody working together amicably for a common goal. It's team building, and you are the coach. Leadership is often a matter of seeing that things happen.

But a sense of urgency is what inspires your people to go the extra mile - to work at delighting, not just satisfying, the customer, for example.

Passion for a product or service flows from the top down. If you're excited about your job and your contribution, it's more likely your people will be enthusiastic about their contributions too.

An expanded role

Good management requires having an ongoing set of responsibilities that combine tasks required of an administrator and a teacher with those of a visionary.

In addition to organizational skills that include linking tasks and creating a budget, for instance, managers also need to keep an eye on trends and make predictions about the future of their organizations and their positions in the marketplace.

Consistency

There are many management styles that work. Many people prefer a democratic approach, in which employees are encouraged to ask questions, make suggestions and have input.

This style involves team members is the decision-making process. However, this style may not be appropriate in a crisis, when you need to take charge.

Another management style is that of the take-charge autocrat who doesn't worry about what others think.

Perhaps the worst management style is to waffle and waver - to be an autocrat one moment, a consensus builder the next. If you fall prey to this approach, suddenly everyone's agenda will be more important than yours and no one will believe in your instincts.

Sharing credit

Managers who take all the credit for success and blame all the failures on others aren't popular leaders or successful motivators.

Cultivating a sense of teamwork is best. Don't think "you" and 'I, think "us." Not only will your group be stronger for it, you'll get better results.