Leadership Goals You Can Set to Become a Better Leader

Leadership goals are measurable and achievable goals that leaders set for themselves to help them develop better leadership skills or management skills over time. Goal setting is a critical part of leadership development and professional development and can be useful for entrepreneurs and leaders in any company culture or setting to develop new skills such as self-discipline or active listening skills.

If you want to improve your own leadership skills by setting goals, you can create a leadership development plan to determine your long-term goals or short-term goals within your leadership position.

1. 1. Analyze your strengths and weaknesses. First, take stock of what areas you excel in and where you need to improve. If, for example, you determine you are good at communicating information in a written conversation or one-on-one but have a hard time presenting that information in front of a group, then you can choose to focus on becoming a better public speaker.
2. 2. Create an action plan. Your leadership development plan should include an action plan with milestones and leadership assessment check-ins on a regular basis to help you achieve your business goals. For example, if you want to become a better mentor to your direct reports, you can outline a step-by-step plan. For example, you can first start a conversation to learn about their interests, then find opportunities that match their interests, then check in with them to see their progress and help them solve any roadblocks, and finally consistently ask them for feedback so they feel supported throughout the process.
3. 3. Request feedback and advice. Constructive criticism can help you grow as a leader. You can request feedback during team meetings to help you identify areas you might have missed when you created your action plan or where you could improve. You can also seek advice from other leaders whose leadership style you want to emulate.

Regardless of how strong a leader you are, there are areas you can focus on to expand your skill set. Here are a few examples of leadership goals you can set to become a more effective leader:

• Become more adaptable: Processes, jobs, and team organizational structures change all the time. Being able to adapt to those changes effectively is one of many leadership qualities that can help you thrive in a work environment. To help you on this journey, you can study situations where you struggled to embrace change and determine where you can improve.
  
• Better your time management: Prioritizing your and your employees’ workloads is a solid trait of successful leaders. A leader needs to know how to juggle several deadlines as well as multiple people’s schedules for proper project management; otherwise, tasks will go uncompleted and projects could fail. You can excel at time management by deciding what you should prioritize, saying “no” to tasks you can’t complete, and staying organized.
• Delegate more: You can become a better leader by delegating. A leader with experience knows that delegating tasks to their direct reports instead of taking them on themselves can work to everyone’s advantage. And implementing proper delegation skills among team members can build confidence in employees. To help you improve at delegating, you can ensure you provide all the correct resources to your team, give your direct report tasks that align with their skill sets, and encourage employees to ask questions or seek advice when they hit a roadblock.
• Develop your problem-solving abilities: One of the more important leadership traits is problem-solving. Difficult scenarios regularly arise, and you need critical thinking to create solutions. Strong leadership knows how to solve the problems that come up and equate them to the big picture. You can become a better problem-solver by having a grasp on the problem and how it affects your work, identifying several solutions, and figuring out a way to track whether the solution works.
• Improve your communication skills: Effective communication is critical in a great leader since a manager must clearly explain processes and instructions to their direct report. They must be good communicators and able to practice active listening. To become a better communicator, you can practice your message ahead of time, take note of what you may communicate nonverbally, and be respectful of other people’s time.
• Increase teamwork: People in leadership roles are still members of a team. Effective leadership means team members know how to get everyone in the team involved in a project and working together to reach their shared goal. You can encourage teamwork by providing opportunities where employees can work together, setting clearly defined roles and responsibilities, and investing in the tools you use to work together.
• Refine your decision-making skills: The best leaders have the ability to come to and make a decision; it should be one of their core competencies. Effective leadership is about making the call when you have to make tough decisions. To become a better decision-maker, look at the pros and cons, think of how you’ll communicate your decision to others, seek differing perspectives, and learn how to approach the situation calmly.

To climb the corporate ladder, you must first learn the fundamentals of leadership and innovation. Discover Rosalind’s approach to change management and agile teams, plus learn how to lead through crisis when you sign up for the MasterClass Annual Membership.