Improving Your Leadership Skills
Posted By:
Dave Ewers, Director of Content Development, Tooling U-SME on
January 05, 2022

Manufacturers increasingly want and need actionable advice to help them
lead more effectively. So we partnered with an expert in leadership
training, Robin Storti, for a four-part webinar series dedicated to
leadership in manufacturing.
Today, I’m sharing highlights from all four webinars:
“
Leadership Communication Skills
,” “
Stress Management
,” “
Time Management
” and “
Team Building
.”
Communication
Good communication is the No. 1 characteristic of good leadership. And to
be a good communicator, you must listen carefully and ask a lot of
questions.
By doing your best to understand the other person’s point of view, you can
clear the path to communicating more effectively. But that isn’t always
easy. First, you need to overcome numerous communication barriers — not
only obvious barriers such as culture, gender, language, religion, and
politics, but also less-obvious barriers such as wants, needs, and
attitudes.
Second, you need to consider your method of communication. Think about your
own favorite way to communicate. Do you prefer texting, emailing, calling,
posting on social media, interacting in-person, writing or instant
messaging? Then think about the preferred communication method of the
person with whom you’re trying to connect. By using his or her favorite
method, you’re more likely to get results.
You’re also more likely to be successful by being clear and straight with
your message — even if you’re delivering bad news. But whatever the
information being conveyed, remember to present it in a mindful, respectful
tone — regardless of the recipient’s position.
Stress Management
Stress isn’t always bad. Positive stress, called eustress, can make life
more exciting. But negative stress, which can manifest itself in physical
symptoms like low energy and fatigue or psychological symptoms like
irritability and anxiety, can interfere with your health and your quality
of life.
So if you start experiencing symptoms of negative stress, don’t ignore it.
Instead, start doing something about it immediately. Get enough exercise
and sleep. Avoid excessive sugar and caffeine. Decrease your alcohol
intake.
Other stress-reduction methods include focusing on the present, following a
routine, pursuing a hobby and hanging out with happy people. Laughter can
work wonders to relieve stress.
If you do start feeling stressed out, remember to breathe through your nose
and out your mouth. It’s the best way to bring your heart rate down and get
yourself back in the game quickly.
Time Management
Your attitude toward time probably influences your perception of whether
you have enough of it. For example, if you say, “Oh, I never have enough
time,” then you probably won’t. But if you say, “I’m going to start having
enough time,” then you might — because you’re going to stay focused on
getting results.
Here are some ways to get those results:
Create time-saving ideas.
Make an action plan to deal with time-stealers such as texts, emails,
people, social media and phone notifications. For example, your action plan
might be as simple as turning off notifications on your phone.
Write things down.
You’re more likely to remember something if you take the physical act of
writing it down, whether it’s in your calendar or in a priority note.
Delegate.
Not only will delegating save you hours of time, it will provide you with
the perfect opportunity to train people and make them feel valued.
Use the 80/20 rule.
The trick is to prioritize. By spending 20% of your time focusing on
efforts that will achieve 80% of results, you’ll be ahead of schedule and
can get more tasks accomplished. The same goes for your team.
Team Building
We hear a lot about team building these days, but why is it so important?
First of all, creating a team automatically provides you with more
resources. After all, you only know what you know. But when you’re part of
a team, you can take advantage of what the other members know — which is a
critical factor in problem-solving, productivity and efficiency. As the old
saying goes, “Many hands make light work.”
Plus, teams are great for motivation. Members stimulate and inspire each
other.
However, for a team to be able to make decisions and come to a consensus,
its members need to follow some simple guidelines, including respecting
others, being open minded, providing honest feedback, and practicing
patience.
To learn more about effective leadership, view our entire on-demand
“Leadership in Manufacturing” webinar series
here.
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