Crucial Steps to Put Theories of Leadership into Practice

People from all walks of life tend to look back to history to get a better grasp on their present lives. Be it reading countless books on leadership theories or going to leadership development seminars, for those who seek the information, there are numerous sources that offer treasured insights into how to become a leader. However, simply reading and listening is not enough. Taking action is critical. Here are some crucial and practical steps that you must take in order to put theories of leadership in your day to day practice –

The List of Admiration

Sit down and write down a list of names of people who deserve your admiration. They can be historical figures or people from your day to day life. What abilities, morals, or characteristics do these individuals exemplify? What are their strong points and progressive viewpoints? Test yourself to take a keener look at how your own strong points and vulnerabilities side with theirs. Make a Venn diagram if you need to. The more constructive qualities that you find in common better are your probabilities of success.

Now that you have your list of admiration prepared, another constructive practice is to make a list of people you do not admire. What are their weaknesses? Do you share any of these weaknesses with them? Once these questions have been answered, you can have a clear plan to improve yourself on a day to day basis.

Integrate new Behavioral Patterns

Every day is a new opportunity to implement more veracity, to become more cooperative and to be more calculated. From the list of desirable attributes that you wish to have (the one that you created in the first step), make a list of behavioral patterns, evaluate it on a daily basis and make them constant practice by maintaining a trajectory of constructive transformations. Work on these practices every day. A positive behavioral pattern can be as simple as waking up two hours earlier. It might even be accommodating to incorporate these patterns in your total leadership objective list.

Read Biographies of Inspirational People

Look at the list of people you admire. From there, pick out one or two historical figures who have their biography written. Biographies usually tend to touch our sentiments and have the power to be more cathartic and stimulating than most business books. They extend a chance to observe how certain values that most leadership theories recommend can be put into action. And who can be a better teacher than someone you dearly look up to?

Welcome Criticism

Ask your colleagues, peers and seniors for an off-the-record assessment of your practical abilities and personal etiquette. By holding your horses for the compulsory yearly review, you possibly will miss an ideal chance to improve or alter your overall approach to life. Just as a sword needs a whetstone, your sense of self-awareness also needs criticism. Embrace it and sharpen yourself to do better.

Just by following these four basic steps, a considerable change in your regular output is inevitable, as you put leadership theories into practice.

Summary

Having knowledge of leadership theories is not enough. One must put them into practice to become a good leader. By preparing a list of the people you admire and incorporating their strong points, integrating fresh and appropriate behavioral patterns, and welcoming criticism, one can truly discover the path of becoming a great leader.

Reshali Balasubramaniam

Head of HR, HR Counselor and adviser at https://work.lk/. Do you offer a Service? Signup for an account at work.lk