Gentle Leadership: How to Become a Great Leader

Every organization has some prominent personalities that lead their Employees in each department and are responsible for their performance. These personalities are usually called managers, who assign tasks to the people working under them. Among the list of managers managing the workflow and quality, some managers can also be called leaders. 

Most of the time, people need clarification on the terms “manager” and "leader." All leaders are managers, but not all managers are leaders. In this blog, we will learn the difference between managers and leaders and the qualities of a great leader.

What is Gentle leadership?

Gentle Leadership can be defined as aligning all the employees in the same direction towards a similar Goal and keeping them motivated to move forward continuously. The best leaders have the ability to take their team in the same direction. He knows his team members and is aware of the strengths and weaknesses of his people.

Differences between Managers and Leaders

Qualities of a Gentle Leader

Every leader adopts his unique way of leading a team and adopts some new characters with time. There is always a margin of learning for everyone. Here are some characteristics that a good leader must have.

Listen Carefully and Communicate Properly

A good leader must possess good communication skills. He speaks clearly and has the ability to convey his message. He is not shy about communicating his thoughts and ideas to his team members. A leader should also be a good listener who is all ears to his team, knows all their problems, and understandably addresses them.

Build Trust

Leaders communicate with their teams and make a strong connection with them. They build trust between them and their team. Everyone in the team has the belief that they can discuss anything with their leader and solve all types of issues with them.

Their friendly, helpful, and assisting behavior gives confidence to their team that they can talk about their flaws and mistakes to their leaders without fear of demotivation.

Encourage Personal and Professional Growth

Leaders are not just focused on the growth of the organization but also on individual growth. They interact with each member of their team and guide them according to their requirements.

Leaders make them aware of their qualities, increase their capabilities, and polish their skills. In this way, they encourage all members of their team personally and professionally, resulting in outcomes on an organizational level.

Keep a Positive Attitude

Leaders possess an optimistic attitude toward every aspect. They think positively about every task and challenge. Their constructive traits inspire their subordinates and spread positivity in the environment. Once everyone in their surroundings has positive energy, they can maintain better focus. In this way, leaders can build a creative environment where everyone is helping each other.

Think Critically

Managers usually use traditional methods to manage their team and complete tasks. Sometimes these traditional ways require more energy and time. Leaders think critically about every task or project and find a more practical and suitable way to learn new things. Their critical thinking helps their team learn and complete the task more efficiently.

Inspiration for Everyone

Leaders do not adopt the ordering and dictating method; instead, they also work with their team for betterment. They have a vision that they share with their team. Their character is a role model for their team. Leaders work hard with honesty and focus and motivate their team to adopt their character traits for success.

Define Clear Goals

Leaders have defined clear goals and then make a plan to achieve those goals. He makes clear the role of every person in his plan and directs everyone in the same direction to reach their final destination. Nobody in the team is working for himself, but working for the same target.

Be Open to Feedback and New Ideas

Leaders are always welcome to new and creative ideas, no matter who is giving them. They do not want fame or authority. Their main goal is to achieve the target efficiently and in less time. So, they do not just stick with the old methods but also accept new suggestions from their team members.

Leaders are not afraid of having bad feedback, as they can learn from it. They accept all positive and negative feedback. They take it as an opportunity to learn whether their leadership methods are good or need improvement. Feedback helps them to make betterment in their character.     

Try New Things

Along with modernization, change is important to keep your organization updated. Leaders are always welcome to introduce advancements to their team and their leadership methods. They try new things to get better results. Leaders always want to learn new things and teach their team members about new technologies and advancements.

Create a Team

People who are working in different directions with different individual goals are not a team. In a team, all people follow the same way to reach their destination. Leaders turn a group of people into a team. They define a goal for the whole team in which everyone is working toward the same goal by using the same method.

We can finalize our words by saying that leadership is a different thing than managing a group of people. Instead, leaders form a team that follows the same method to achieve the same goal. They all help each other under the supervision of their great leader. The leader has a vision to grow his team members and the organization as well.