Ensure enterprise data protection while working remotely

Ensure enterprise data protection while working remotely

Ensure enterprise data protection while working remotely

June 20, 2022

How to ensure enterprise data protection

We can all agree that the pandemic has turned our lives upside down. And although it was exciting to work from home at the beginning, as time passed by, we were becoming aware of the disadvantages of remote work as well. One of the weaknesses of remote working is enterprise data protection.

So, if your business has shifted to a remote work model, you should focus on enterprise data protection. There are plenty of file-sharing methods out there, but not all of them can ensure enterprise data protection. To avoid cybercrime, be sure to employ the following secure file share practices.

3 ways to initiate enterprise data protection

When companies are switching over to remote work, they are afraid of the possibility of hacking or security breaches. But fortunately, you can ensure enterprise data protection by implementing these five tips.

Email phishing

Remote employees send a lot of emails back and forth to their co-workers, managers, and clients. It’s possible that an employee could fall victim to an email phishing scam if they aren’t careful. To ensure enterprise data protection, teach your employees to use a reputable email platform that helps automatically filter out spam messages that could have malware, untrustworthy links, or downloadable files.

Securing Wi-Fi and desktop with passwords

Ask your employees to change and strengthen their passwords on their Wi-Fi and desktop computer for that extra level of security. Inform them that using public Wi-Fi could leave them open to a cyberattack, but a VPN or file sharing server can protect them as long as they remain online. Employees should change their passwords regularly to avoid potential breaches.

Backing up files

Most employees will have a thumb drive or a separate hard drive where they can keep duplicates of client files. Every person at the company must have a copy of each client document if a hard drive becomes corrupted or the file is deleted by accident. Your employees could also upload these files to an encrypted Cloud sharing platform.

3 essential processes to ensure enterprise data protection

Once your organization has numerous operating units based in different locations, your needs clearly become more complicated than a one-location business with one IT department. To ensure enterprise data protection, make sure you apply the following tips to your business.

Best practices for organizing work remotely

Even though file integration is probably the most challenging part, remaining organized is a necessity as well. That way you will make sure you don’t mix up your personal files with work-related data. 

Use the following tips to ensure you don’t get confused after switching to a remote office.

 

  • Folder structuring: Create separate folders for different departments, projects, and types of information. Keep things simple and straightforward.
  • File naming: Decide on a common naming convention. For example, you could name a folder like this: Client Name, Date, Work Type, Draft/In-Progress/Final.
  • Tagging: Use different tags to look up the product, department, or the purpose of the project, like “internal use only” or “brochure.” 
  • Granular permissions: Some of your documents will contain sensitive information, so it’s essential to tag employees who have access to these files.
  • Password managers: Use password management tools to keep work-related passwords safe in one place with a possibility to share necessary data with your colleagues. .

Sharing a local file server over the internet

If you already have a local file server setup, you can quickly turn it into an Internet file share server. Remote workers are consistently involved in internal and external company functions, and they may need to visit customers to show them data locked on a central file server. You’ll need a file sharing solution based on the on-premise file server; your workflow depends on it. With a file-sharing server, users can create a mapped drive without using a VPN, can lock files, provide mobile sharing and folder access, all from a web browser-based interface.

Share files with a VPN

A VPN is another, although more complicated, way of sending secure files over the Internet. Whether you buy a premium VPN or use the Windows 10 built-in settings to set one up between computers, you can create a VPN server on the host PC to access all incoming connections. It does require a bit of computer know-how and a great Internet connection to work. Additionally, the benefits of VPN extend beyond secure file transfers, providing enhanced encryption when used in conjunction with a file-sharing server.

Conclusion

Cyber attacks can bring major damage to corporate IT infrastructures and result in substantial data leaks. That being said, you should definitely focus on enterprise data protection, starting with these practices that can be done by you and your employees.

 In the end, if you are unlucky and a victim of a security breach, make sure you act properly so you can minimize the damage.

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How to get followers on Instagram without following anyone

How to get followers on Instagram without following anyone

How to get followers on Instagram without following anyone

June 14, 2022

How to get followers on Instagram

When you start assessing research on acquiring more followers and gaining visibility on social media platforms – like Instagram,  you will come across a myriad of different tactics.  Everyone has a different opinion about what approach works the best but the reality is that only a small percentage of tactics work long-term for getting Instagram followers. One of those random recommendations is to just start following a variety of other accounts. Many of them will click ‘follow’ for you in return.

The cold hard truth is that this is really just a nuisance more than an assist. It’s really not genuinely effective either. You just find random things in the news feed, and many of those never return a follow favor. There are systematically other ways that one might be able get IG followers without following anyone. It just requires a bit of will and some effort too.

It might be hard and time consuming but still, with dedicating, it is possible to grow your Instagram and become a influencer.

7 tips for getting followers on Instagram

We’ve compiled some the best tips for how to sustainable gain followers on Instagram.

Caption each posting wisely

We know what you are likely thinking. Your posts have no titles or subheadings, so how can you caption them? It’s all about learning how to position and type out the post so that it’s attractive. Figure out some small catch line or phrase to start the post out. Use emojis to catch people’s eye. 

Then skip a line and say what else you need to say. That first little tidbit is the caption in reference here. If you’re looking for tips for how to get noticed on Instagram, scenarios such as this are optimal ways to improve the odds. First, consider a small phrase that encompasses the approach. 

Instagram actually has the capability to develop captions so you should take advantage of the concept. However, you can choose to simply formulate each created content to be catching in the setup. If you choose to develop your post well beyond the caption, that’s quite alright. Just add some sort of one-liner to captivate first. 

You can then proceed to sharing more details, providing lists, typing out a how to, or whatever else. Don’t forget to always provide a closing. We will talk about this a bit later in the guide!

Take the easy way

Hard work is where it’s really at primarily. However, you also could simply choose to perhaps buy some followers. When you make this particular purchase, you never have to follow others just to scrape for a single like or follower. Yet one accomplishes a guaranteed number of new fans with said purchase. 

Several varying companies and package options exist online. To buy Instagram followers, start at 1 dollar on a small package that will allow you increased options as well. This is how to get Instagram followers fast without following anyone and with guaranteed assurance of delivery. These companies often begin delivering results almost immediately and will fulfill an order in a matter of just days. 

One logically good idea is to always make sure they use active fans and absolutely no bots ever. It’s also necessary to check for little details like guarantees and the timeline for delivery. Other than details such as this, buying fans is a cheap and quick solution.

Make your bio magical

The first thing you see when you check someone on IG? You review the bio or profile as you will. When someone is curious, they sniff out the profile details. This often determines what happens next, right? 

This will work the same for you. The magical bio is the means to be recognized and gain some traction here. It’s ultimately just a quick highlight about an individual or business. It reflects the basic notions about a person, the brand, and details. 

IG’s bio is a tricky place so do some research to figure out the best approach to pack tons of details into that tiny little space. You need short snippets to share. This should include a short descriptive piece, a designated link, and maybe a CTA, depending on initial goals. 

Some people even create custom hashtags for their brand and showcase them here. IG forces you to squeeze all of this detail into 150 characters so short, sweet, and efficient is the key to your magical process here.

Tagging is your friend

You know who already has thousands of followers? Influencers! Really striving for the potential to be seen might involve tagging influencers. Now, be strategic with the approach. You can’t just choose some random influencer that is irrelevant with posted subject matter or a dedicated nichel. 

In fact, this approach is viably efficient at negating your hard work to get Instagram followers free fall and leaving you hanging. People will take one look, shrug their shoulders, and just move right along or get suspicious. 

Let’s be honest. Anyone would likely react the same. Someone tagged one of your favorite influencers, so you hopped over to their page thinking it could be spectacular. But you find out they were way off base. Denied! 

When you’re choosing influencers, make them relevant. Either find them by relevant hashtags or even relatable content. Always tag them but make it worth the tag, you know? Chances are an influencer or manager will take note of the tag and be grateful but everyone who follows them will also be subjected to noticing the tag and this could bring you some gained following in the meantime. 

Use this like a rare treat and not a daily practice. Just choose to tag them on occasion and always make it applicable. Quality will make a substantial difference.

Sharing products

Maybe you have a side hustle that sells something? This is the winning chance to demonstrate it! Surely you’ve noticed posts for giveaways on IG? It’s considerably the perfect way to drastically improve a fan base and get some traction. 

There are so many different options here. Maybe choose to give away a product or even some sort of service. It technically isn’t required to be your own product. Although, if you sell products, it makes sense to stick to the line of ideas. You could collaborate with someone in this scenario too. 

Beauty bloggers might choose to give away something like their favorite hairbrush or a favorite lipstick or something like that. If you create custom t-shirts, you could do a t-shirt giveaway. Find something that will engage the people and give them something in return. 

Not only can you effectively spotlight a specific product or offering but it just might bring people flocking in. Statistics reflect many times these fans will keep following you at least for a while even after your giveaway ends. 

One can opt to host regular giveaways to provide the people something to appeal to later. Design some sort of a contest, pick a random winner, or whatever you decide. You can require anything feasible such as likes, shares, follows, etc. You would be surprised at how much this can grow a fan base. 

Utilize hashtags

You know that hashtags are an integral piece of the Instagram system. Those that love Instagram love the searchability of a simple hashtag. People use those all the time. You’re allotted the ability to add 30 hashtags in any single post you create. While that many are not required, if you want to boost Instagram followers without following back, it is essential to be using at least a few. 

Hashtags should be chosen carefully. Avoid randomly typing in a bunch of nonsense tags. Find some highly relevant tags to include. Try to mix in a few common ones as well. If you need inspiration, try doing some research through other similar users and reflect on your options for inspiration. 

Make an effort not to simply copy them completely but this might help inspire you. We recommend a mix of the following.

    • Highly relevant to post content
    • Brand relevance
    • Popular options that everyone sees

Choose wisely and if you only end up with 10, that’s fine. Just make them great ones! Don’t skip hashtags completely.

Deliver a Killer Closing

Now that we know the basics of creating things like profile bios and valued content, don’t forget to wrap up each post usine a closing line. This should always have some sort of call to action. It’s a closing line, a request to do something, or a question designed to develop engagement. 

For example, one could end a posting by asking a question to the audience. Maybe you told a funny story. Invite those readers to then versions of a story of their own in the comments. Perhaps you talked about some fantastic product. 

Close that post with a call to purchase theirs right away and direct them with instructions to accomplish just that. This is where you might say “visit the link in the bio to get yours today” or something along those lines. But don’t just use that wording. Give them an excuse to visit said link. 

Without the invitation to do something, it’s possible these readers never will take action. 

Conclusion

The end-all prize is simply to be seen. It’s not enough to just waste all of your time following following people and crossing your fingers they will then do the same for you. You also aren’t required to turn around and follow everyone who does choose you. 

Instead, use valuable time to really create amazing content designed to draw people in. Learn how to increase Instagram followers by taking advantage of varying tools like buying them or offering contests and giveaways to become more known and followed. Using our guide you can become famous on Instagram without following anyone.

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14 customer retention strategies to adopt immediately

14 customer retention strategies to adopt immediately

May 11, 2022

Most effective customer retention strategies

As frightful as it sounds, studies show that 77% of brands could disappear, and no one would care. This means a staggering number of businesses failed to satisfy and retain customers. 

And what have you done to make your customers care about your brand? Have you failed at creating a solid customer retention strategy? Are you one of them?

You better not be, because the Pareto Principle shows that 80% of your profits come from just 20% of customers. In other words, if you have 10 clients, the most loyal 2 of them are more valuable than the rest combined. This is where you should put your focus – on implementing the most effective customer retention strategies.

The most effective customer retention strategies for 2022

However, it is not our goal to scare you but to show you ways to do better at customer retention. There could be as many customer retention strategies as there are businesses in the world, but you should only adopt the ones that fit your brand. 

To save you some time doing research, we’ve done it for you, thus, keep reading and find out what customer retention strategies are proven to be most effective these years.

Surprises

Although there are people who claim that they don’t like surprises, we doubt they will return a gift, no matter how small it might be. That’s what makes surprises one of the best customer retention ideas.

In fact, 61% of consumers think surprise gifts and offers are the most important way a brand can interact with them.

These surprises shouldn’t cost you a fortune and overburden your already tight budget. A small gift, a special discount, or even a handwritten note of appreciation can take you a long way with your customers.

Complaints and customer feedback

In the business world, you need to understand that complaints shouldn’t be taken personally. Instead, they are opportunities for growth. The product or service you offer is built for the needs of the customers and should serve them 100%. Complaints will show you where you failed to deliver the maximum.

77% of consumers say they favor brands that ask for and accept customer feedback. It’s important to know to accept the bad as openly as the good.

Overdeliver

Don’t promise the stars and the moon to your customers. Instead, promise them only the moon and then bring along the stars. In this case, they won’t be expecting the starts so if you were unable to deliver them, they won’t feel betrayed and robbed. On the other hand, if you manage to deliver the stars as well, that will win you major points. 

To put it differently, you have to exceed their expectations by adding a pre-calculated extra because 48% of people expect specialized treatment for being a good customer.

Personalize

Do you keep detailed notes about your customers? If not, you should start immediately! 

Listening to and understanding each customer’s particular needs and wishes will help you connect with them on a more personal level. It is now surprising at all that 86% of customers say an emotional connection with a customer service agent would make them continue to do business with the company. 

At the end of the day, your job is to make sure that your customer doesn’t feel like just another number. Use whatever data you collect on your customers to personalize your correspondence with them. Know how best to contact them and how previous interactions went. By making customers feel like you know and care for them, you’ll be making a lasting impression that is bound to keep them around.

For example, this is how Konnexx does it:

    • Empathy – understanding their situation and being mindful not to force our agenda onto them until it is appropriate. Booking calls back times if necessary.
    • Being Polite. Asking if it is a good time to talk – and if not, booking a callback time at their convenience.
    • Asking questions rather than delivering information. Listening more than talking.
    • Mirroring some of their languages.
    • Confirming their needs and wants and dovetailing these with the benefits of the products/services we have to offer.
    • Talking about benefits rather than features.
    • Confirming what action needs to be taken and following it up where necessary.
    • Booking at a convenient time for the next call.

Community

Build a community! You can create a discussion board on your website or a Facebook group where all of your loyal customers will be invited to join. This gives them the opportunity to connect with each other and exchange opinions regarding your products or services. You can also turn it into a place where you share promos, discounts, or general news about your company.

Another way you can leverage the power of social media is to create engaging accounts that will constantly interact with your audience through meaningful and branded content.

Customer service

We are aware that customer service is a relatively broad term including a lot of factors. However, knowing that 93% of consumers are more likely to make repeat purchases at companies with excellent customer service leaves us no space to ignore it.

Take a better look at your customer service and identify your weaknesses. Maybe it’s response time – reduce it! Or maybe you over-automated it – bots are good to an extent, but they can’t replace real humans. 

Know your offer by heart but don’t be scared to admit it when you’re into the blue. Turn to your colleagues, and act as a team. Customers can recognize a genuine effort to help them and will be patient even if it takes more time to get what they deserve.

Just show that you care!

Onboarding

How do you welcome new customers? If ‘Thank you for shopping with us’ is the best you can give, then you’re not trying hard enough or you really don’t care about your customers.

The welcome message they get the first time they spend their money on one of your products or services is of crucial importance! It is the first step to building a long-lasting relationship with mutual respect. 

Customers are five times more likely to engage with you in the first 90-100 days than at any other point.

For that reason, you should educate them with branded content. Email newsletters are great for this. Send them regularly but not too often because it can be perceived as pushy. Include content that will teach them how to use your products or services e.g. step-by-step guides, behind-the-scenes footage, etc. Give them a reason to stay with you.

Loyalty Programs

Reward, reward, reward! 

One of the most effective customer retention strategies businesses can do is to offer incentives to their customers. Incentives can be a powerful tool for customer retention. By offering customers incentives for sticking with your product or service, you can show them that you value their business and want them to stick around.

Some common incentives include loyalty programs, which offer points or other rewards for repeat customers, and discounts for customers who renew their subscriptions or contracts. Other incentives might include free shipping, early access to new products or features, or bonus content or features.

Create your own loyalty program where your frequent customers will be rewarded with discounts, special incentives, better deals, exclusive offers, etc. This is a perfect way to encourage them to spend more with you. Your brand will become part of their daily life.

Involve them

Put your customers in your shoes and give them a feeling that they are not just spending their money on your offers, but they’re also creating them. 

    • Ask them for ideas and suggestions
    • Involve them in the designing process
    • Give them first access to prototypes
    • Invite them to company events
    • Hang out with them on neutral grounds

Payment methods

Whether you have a digital-only product or a brick-and-mortar store, one thing is for sure – you have to make payments as easy and quick as possible. The easier it is for a person to pay, the more likely they will. Therefore you need to remove unnecessary steps, forget about only cash, implement contactless card payment, and even consider Bitcoin payment gateways.

Build customer trust

Building customer trust and long-term relationships are proven to be one of the most effective customer retention strategies. Businesses should always aim to provide value to their customers and show that they are reliable. For one, businesses can educate their customers about their products/services prior to purchase and after. They should ensure that they are always there to help customers should they need help. 

Furthermore, it’s important to provide excellent customer service to help them solve issues. Be sure to ask for customer feedback to know what area of your business can you improve on. When customers see that they can rely on your business, they trust you and become loyal to you.

Thank your customers

Even though it may sound like a simple customer retention strategy, it works wonders. Even if it’s just a simple thank you email or sending gifts, it shows your customers that you value them and appreciate them for sticking around. 

If a customer doesn’t feel appreciated, they are more likely to jump ship when a better opportunity from your competitor comes along.

Leverage social proof

User-generated content is still one of the best marketing strategies for acquiring new customers and retaining existing ones. Since reviews influence people’s buying decisions, it can greatly help if you encourage your customers to post their experience in using your products/services. 

People trust brands that are recommended by their peers or if the brand has many positive reviews on their page. By showing proof that many customers had positive experiences doing business with you, you can convince existing customers to stick around.

Be active in your community

Customers are getting increasingly concerned about social issues, and you should be too. Hence, customers want to know if your business gives to charity if employees participate in community service initiatives, and with whom you communicate and cooperate. 

Find a way to support a cause that fits well into your brand. For example, you can donate a percentage of your proceeds to a charity organization, plant trees for every purchase, or finance scientific programs. It doesn’t matter what it is as long as it’s done with good intentions and pure heart. Your customers will see and recognize this effort, and reward you with their loyalty.

Furthermore, suppose you’re a tech business, for example. In that case, you might volunteer to go into a local school and guide the future generation of technologists. You may also write blogs about how to get into the sector or record a short podcast about it. The trick is to be innovative when it comes to your brand.

Conclusion

Retaining existing customers is probably even more important than attracting new ones. In fact, statistics show that satisfied, loyal customers share their positive experiences with a brand with 11 other people. This means, that by retaining customers you’ll be also bringing new ones, hence don’t wait any longer and implement the most suitable customer retention strategies in your business.

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7 powerful characteristics of a successful business owner

7 powerful characteristics of a successful business owner

April 12, 2022

Characteristics of a business owner

Every individual has a unique set of characteristics that differentiate them from other people. The same principle applies to business owners as well. However, if we look closely, there are certain characteristics of both male and female business owners that repeat. Namely, Elon Musk and Jack Ma could not be any more different but it’s undeniable that they have several business owner traits in common: passion for one.

It’s important to note that some of these characteristics of a successful business owner are inborn, yet others are obtained and developed later in life. Hence, you may not be genetically predisposed to being a confident person, but that doesn’t mean you can’t become one with practice and experience.

What are the signs of a  successful business owner?

One thing is for sure, lacking one of the powerful characteristics of a business owner listed below doesn’t make you a bad entrepreneur. There are hundreds of business owner traits and what matters is not how many of them you possess, but how you put the ones you have to work.

Stamina

Of all the characteristics of a successful business owner, this one is probably the most needed. The road of entrepreneurship is one bumpy ride and flat tires occur more often than you think. So having the stamina to not only survive but also thrive in difficult business situations is definitely imperative.

How many times you’ve heard about a successful entrepreneur losing billions only to come back richer than ever before? It’s because they had the stamina to sustain the blows.

Goal-setting mindset

Without a goal to reach, you’ll just wander around aimlessly never achieving anything of significance. It can be either a short-term or long-term goal, regardless of it, you must always have a goal in mind. Additionally, goals won’t work out themselves without a plan. So besides the goals, you must also have a plan for how to achieve them. 

Steve Jobs’ goal was to create the most practical, aesthetically-pleasing and quality smartphone in the world. And he did it, all because he possessed a goal-setting mindset.

Confidence

Have you ever seen a non-confident successful business owner? Me neither. 

Confidence can sell anything in the business world, even the worst idea or product. When your approach is shaky, you appear distrustful in your partners’ or clients’ eyes. And the last thing they want is to spend money on something you don’t even believe in. 

As one of the most important characteristics of a business owner, confidence radiates power and shows you’re in control. It makes people more susceptible to what you’re saying because they trust you.

Passion

One thing is for sure, you have to have passion for what you do in order to succeed. When you sincerely love and believe in your work nothing is too hard. Of all the traits that make successful business owners , this is possibly the most romantic one, but that doesn’t make it less valuable. 

The greatest ideas are born out of passion. The hardest obstacles are insignificant when you have passion in the heart. Real passion keeps you going no matter what.

However, if you’re not led by passion, you’ll sooner reach failure than success.

Risk-taking mindset

Simply put, nothing good ever comes out of staying in your comfort zone and not risking anything. Risk brings profit. If you’re not willing to risk in business you’ll regress instead of progress.

There’s an opportunity knocking on your door but you have to risk a big portion of your budget? Evaluate, calculate and if the win outweighs the loss, take the risk. Have the courage to step out of your comfort. Don’t be afraid to experience loss. That’s the whole point of business: losing and winning. In fact, sometimes in order to win you have to lose.

Adaptability

You can plan budgets, strategies, projects… write it all down on paper, but don’t ever fool yourself that you’re in control of everything. Life always happens and unpredicted things show up out of nowhere. Therefore, you need to adapt and be flexible. If you’re rigid, and you must have it your way or no way, then you’re doomed.

Look what it happened to Thomas Cook: a giant in the tourism industry brought to its knees because the management failed to adapt to the new streams and trends.

Conclusion

As humans, we’re blessed with the unlimited potential of growth. This list of characteristics of a business owner who strives for success is not definite. As an entrepreneur, it is your duty to explore your possibilities and master your skills in order to avoid all the myths of entrepreneurship out in the world .

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15 leadership behaviors and traits of successful leaders

15 leadership behaviors and traits of successful leaders

15 leadership behaviors and traits of successful leaders

April 10, 2022

Effective leadership behaviors every leader should be aware of

Are you a good leader? A bad boss? Or a meek manager? Do you possess the necessary leadership behaviours to be successful? Oh, and are effective leadership behaviors and attitudes instilled from birth or developed throughout the years?

If these questions bother you, you’ll probably find the answers below where we’ll go through the leadership traits and behaviors that set apart the good from the bad leaders. No, it’s not necessary that you possess all of them, but a big portion yes.

Also, the good news is that you’re not doomed if you’re not, let’s say, a natural public speaker. Because with work you can improve that and eventually become comfortable at speaking in front of big crowds. Now, there are some people who seem to be born leaders – their charisma is bigger than life – but even they work on improving their leadership behaviours.

Take Obama for example, put aside his policies, the man was predestined to be a leader. Yet, during his campaigning and later as President he sometimes struggled to communicate his vision and knowledge to the public. For that, he was trained and mentored by his communication team.

 1. Self-awareness

 2. Sympathy

 3. Critical thinking

 4. Good communication

 5. Perseverance

 6. Desire to pass the torch

 7. Curiosity

 8. Emotional intelligence

 9. Storytelling

 10. Interest for their team

 11. Humility

 12. Assessment

 13. Stoic mindset

 14. Self belief

 15. Integrity

 16. Conclusion

So what are leadership behaviors?

Simply put, leadership behaviors are sets of characteristics and actions of a good leader. Through this leadership behavior they are able to influence, motivate and guide a group of people. Each leader has a unique set of leadership behaviors and traits. For instance, some have a natural charisma, but lack confidence; others are super confident, but lack tact.

15 effective leadership behaviors and attitudes

Let’s see how many of these effective leadership behaviors you can identify with, and which ones you should work on improving. These leadership behaviors are most seen in successful leaders, from every day small business owners to Gandhi, Oprah and beyond.

Self-awareness

According to Jasmine Chen, Founder of LIFE Intelligence, one of the most important leadership behaviors is self-awareness. That involves both internal and external self-awareness. Internal self-awareness is seeing yourself clearly: understanding your strengths and weaknesses, why you act the way you do, your biases and triggers. External self-awareness is seeing yourself the way others see you: are you really coming off as funny, or arrogant? Are you presenting yourself as polite, or a pushover?

Here’s the problem: self-awareness becomes even harder to grasp as one gains power as a leader. Typically, the more power one has, the greater the chances that they will soon overestimate their skills.

In one example, a seasoned CEO, the grandfather of the company, decided to hold a town hall. But, rather than allowing attendees a chance to speak, he ended monopolizing the conversation with 90 minutes of monologue. While his attempt at mentorship came from a good place, he lacked the self-awareness to realize that his employees were feeling disengaged, obligated to sit through a talk while feeling disenfranchised by a less-than collaborative event. This is a classic example of how expertise and authority can get in the way of self-awareness.

Sympathy

The overused ideas of a leader always tend to lean in terms of strong, powerful, smart and so on. However, there is one major part of a leader that seems to be left out, sympathy. To actually have true passion and understanding for those you are in charge of makes a huge difference in productivity. If you are a leader that dictates rather than understands your employees then respect will not flow as naturally, says Steve O’Dell, the Co-Founder of Tenzo

Critical thinking

Leadership should always be based on a person’s ability to think critically. How do you as a leader handle difficult situations? How do you break bad news to someone? These types of questions are only solved through deep critical analysis of situations. If you have a leader that overlooks the deeper outcomes of interactions then a lot of details will be lost in passing. There is a reason why schools want to focus so much on critical thinking, and it is because it is what shapes our youth to become powerful leaders, says Jack Klauber, CEO of Everyday Dose

Good communication

As Gerald Lombardo, the Co-Founder of The Word Counter puts it, a good leader must have great communication skills. Leading is dependent upon being able to reach people and connect with people in a way that makes you trustworthy and reliable. When you’re a leader you need to be a resource that pours into others with guidance and direction. The flip side to good communication is knowing when to listen and how to decipher messages correctly.

Perseverance

Great leaders persevere in the face of adversity. My business, Snow Monkey, was created because I’m not one to back down from a challenge—when I was diagnosed with Celiac disease during college, there were few sweet treats available that could accommodate the dietary needs of an athlete with Celiac. I took matters into my own hands and created Snow Monkey, a plant-based, high-protein ice cream alternative.

That same drive that led me to create Snow Monkey and bring it to market was tested again when I found that many investors were hesitant to work with a female, 20-something first-time founder. Instead of giving up, I launched a Kickstarter campaign to gain capital and proof of concept. It was fully funded within 24 hours. The challenges of being a business owner never stop, but a true leader knows that no obstacle can keep them from their goals, says Rachel Geicke, Founder of Snow Monkey.

Desire to pass the torch

As a professional development trainer and college professor of management, says Stacy Roberts, President of SMR Leadership Solutions, I found that a quality that good leaders have is the desire to pass the torch.

They mentor, groom, and prepare their followers to grow and develop so the company, vision, and mission will continue once they’re no longer there. Succession planning is crucial to the legacy of an organization and I’ve seen many in leadership positions fail to cultivate the next leader to take their place.

One of the best managers I ever had told me, “Stacy, I want you to grow here. I want you to be ready to take my place one day and I’m going to make sure when the day comes, you will succeed in securing and excelling in my role.” Guess, what? She followed through and I’ll never forget her.

Curiosity

There are, according to Amie Devero, President of Beyond Better, so many well-discussed leadership behaviors that make good leaders, and trying to come up with one less obvious one may prove daunting. In my work as an executive coach and strategy consultant for the founders and leaders of high-growth startups, I inquire into this question on a regular basis.

Maybe the thing that comes to mind first is a deep sense of curiosity about themselves and others. Leaders are relentlessly curious, and tend to be adaptable enough to recognize opportunities to both grow themselves and their teams – as well as noticing subtle changes or behaviors that they can learn from. This proves true whether trying to grow one’s team, or adapt the strategy of an organization – or transform oneself to better serve an organization and its customers.

Without having that motivating curiosity, people (and so, leaders) become stale. They fail to notice the moments when an employee needs support, or acknowledgement; they often can’t see the ways they must themselves improve. That lack of curiosity means they simply cannot hear and utilize the constant feedback that’s available.

Emotional intelligence

In the words of Valeria Lo Iacono, owner of Symonds Training  emotional intelligence is an important trait of good leaders. People with high emotional intelligence have good awareness and control of their emotions and abilities, as well as a good understanding of other people’s emotional states.

In a leader, this means that they will:

  • Know their strengths and weaknesses and therefore be able to delegate effectively.
  • Avoid making impulsive decisions and lashing out at other people in anger.
  • Have better communication skills as they understand other people’s point of views.
  • Have great negotiation and persuasion skills, thanks to their ability to grasp other people’s emotions.
  • Lead a happier, more satisfied and more productive team, as their team members will feel valued and appreciated.

Storytelling

A storytelling skillset is an underestimated leadership trait, but it’s for strategy execution and to inspire others.

I personally learned it when I was working for a client and noticed something special. A senior manager had his team and colleagues respect and admiration. After I spent a few days with him, I realized what was his secret: storytelling.

He experienced one of the worst crises in the 1980s in his home country, Peru. He quickly shared his thoughts and inspiration.

After more than four years, I still remember how skillful he was to deliver much more than information through storytelling. He was capable of turning a dark mood into a combative one or lifting people’s moods with a humorous anecdote. Since that day I noticed that storytelling keeps showing like a distinctive trait among every good leader I have met, says Yker Valerio, Founder of Bon Vivant Caffè.

Humility

According to Capri Wheaton, CEO of Thryft Corp, great leaders possess a substantial amount of humility. Humble leaders create unparalleled levels of trust and transparency within their organization. Humble leaders achieve greater success by fostering safe, collaborative work environments. When a leader acts with humility, that sets the tone for the entire organization.

Assessment

Most lists of leadership-traits talk about communication, respect, gratitude, and so on. But one game-changing leadership trait that is often overlooked according to Jason Fonceca, Co-Founder and Director of Ryze, assessment. Good leaders must have superb assessment skills because they’re the ones leading. If they lead in a poor direction, it’s vital that they can assess the situation and adjust.

They need to assess their own strengths and weaknesses, as well as those of their team. They must assess their mistakes and amend them. Not to mention weigh all the paths, tools, and resources available and select ones that fit. Leaders must constantly assess progress, growth, and momentum, then speak up if things are off-track. They have to assess opportunities that may be disguised as bribes or distractions. Assessment is an invisible skill so many leaders neglect, don’t let yourself be one of them.

Stoic mindset

Staying motivated and not letting what they cannot do interfere with what they can do is an important leadership behaviour, claims Christian Bolz, CEO of Retail CRM Cloud. Some may call this a stoic approach since you doing what you currently are able to do for your business, rather than worrying about things that you cannot affect.

This idea also trickles down into the work mindsets of employees and pushes them and yourself to innovate and move with the possibilities at hand. This has been a defining principle during the pandemic to uplift my spirit and the people working with me.

Self belief

Successful leaders believe in themselves, says Outstanding Food CEO, Bill Glaser. You can’t expect others to follow you when you’ve barely been able to convince yourself. Before I became comfortable building businesses, I would decline opportunities because I was afraid. My fear of failure was holding me back, and it prevented me from finding success earlier in my journey.

Thankfully, my business mentors, peers, and self-study through influential books by thought leaders taught me to invest in myself and trust myself to reach my full potential. That self-confidence helped me become the best leader I could be, and now I’m passionate about sharing my wisdom with young aspiring entrepreneurs who might need a similar push into the light.

Integrity

As per Deepak Shukla, Pearl Lemon’s founder, integrity is a trait that all great leaders possess. Great leaders do what they say they will do and will live by their word. Integrity is what makes a leader responsible and answerable to their team. This relationship is the foundation of trust between any leader and their team, and is crucially important for any business.

Conclusion

These effective leadership behaviors and attitudes show the clear distinction between a mere boss and a good leader. A good leader is aware of the importance of teamwork, but is not afraid to make a decision that’s opposite to the rules and expectations. A good leader helps their team to grow and appreciates their feedback and effort. A good leader owns their mistakes but never apologizes for their passion.

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