Leadership isn’t easy, but it allows you to make a difference. Part of your job will be to work as a “jack of all trades” so that you can get many different things done. Everyone has a different situation, so it’s up to you to figure out which skills you need for leadership in your area.

Communicate the company’s vision. You need to find a way to incorporate your values and your mission into your daily tasks. It’s important that you let others know what the big picture is while you lead your team to do their best at the roles they’ve been assigned. It’s a fantastic way to give people direction and build up a relationship with them too.

Be honest when dealing with employees, customers and clients – this is extremely important. Effective leadership requires trustworthiness. As you build your leadership skills, try working on honesty and trustworthiness. If people believe you can be trusted, their respect for your leadership will only grow.

Show appreciation for each individual worker in your team. A small thank you note goes a long way to making someone feel good. Even such a small mention of satisfaction can brighten moods tremendously and requires very little effort.

To better your leadership skills, don’t act like an expert in everything. Even your perfect ideas can be wrong at times. Don’t let your judgement cloud you or prevent you from listening to others around you. They may be able to offer advice on how you can make your idea better, go through with it, or tell you flaws they see.

Don’t do things in the workplace that people may see as deceitful or devious. You can’t get others to trust you if you fall back on promises repeatedly. If you boast about the great service your company provides, then be sure that everyone working for you recognizes what they need to do in order to provide it.

Guiding your team to success is what a leader does best. Using these tips can help make a difference. An effective leader is always willing to learn and is always humble.

There are tremendous opportunities for small businesses and social entrepreneurs to support their communities through community foundations, donor advised funds and other means of giving back. Find the neighborhoods in
Chicago, Illinois where you can make the most impact on civic engagement in the community.