Have you ever asked yourself, “How can I become a leader in my organization?” If you have had this thought and are struggling with what steps you need to take, look no further because VALLEY has an overview of what you need to start doing now in order to attain that position.
Find What You Love
If you already have an idea of what position you would like to hold in your organization, that is a great start. However, before you set your mind on that specific position, you should ask yourself a few questions:
- How much do I know about this position?
- What do I like about it?
- How will I be able to grow in this position?
- What ideas do I have for this position/organization?
Thinking about your answers to these questions is very important when evaluating if your desired position is truly for you. Whether you can answer all those questions with confidence or not, the most important aspect of becoming a leader is loving what you do.
You should shadow people who currently hold the position you want to gain more experience. Talk to people who know you and can give you their honest opinions on your work to get a better insight about what position may be best for you.
If you don’t love what the position entails, don’t do it just to build up your résumé — try to find a different position that may interest you. Make it clear to everyone in your organization, including yourself, that this is what you’re passionate about. This will set you apart from any other person chasing after the same position as you.
Networking Is Key
You will hear the phrase, “networking is key,” at least a hundred times during your college career. If you talk to any leader, whether it be someone in an organization on campus or a CEO of a multibillion dollar company, they will tell you that networking really is key. Building and growing your network of relationships will allow you to share ideas, receive feedback, collaborate on projects and will help you learn about how others go about running their organizations.
Go out of your way to introduce yourself to every person you meet and get to know who they are and what they do — every person has the potential to make a large impact on your life.
Break Out Of Your Comfort Zone
Becoming a leader doesn’t happen overnight and there’s a reason for that. Every path to becoming a leader involves stepping outside of your comfort zone and practicing the things that may scare you. Depending on the type of position you are interested in, you may start by practicing public speaking, building stronger relationships or starting difficult conversations.
Whatever it is that you need to work on, you can begin practicing with friends or a mentor to slowly grow and solidify those skills before you know it. Anything that may scare you or make you uncomfortable right now will only make you a stronger and more confident person with practice and determination. This will all work to make you a better leader.
Role Models and Mentors
When it comes to learning how to do anything, the best way is to find someone you admire and learn from them. You can learn from the current member that holds the position you would like to have, the president of your organization or an influencer from another organization or business. Find those leaders that you aspire to be and talk to them.
Take advantage of every opportunity you have to connect with those people and begin to learn how they grew into their leadership positions. As you begin to form deeper connections with these leaders, you will notice how they present themselves and communicate with others. You’ll begin to see why they are good at what they do.
You may even grow close enough with one of these leaders allowing the relationship to form into them mentoring you. They can help you through the steps you need to take or they could give you hands-on experience, which is the most rewarding experience you could hope for.
Believe In Yourself
The most important aspect of becoming a leader is to believe in yourself. In order for you to become a leader you need to believe that you have the ability to lead. Take time to think about the progress you have made and how far you’ve come. Evaluate what you need to work on and what your future steps are. Beginning to form the mindset that you are a leader will change the way you go about things and further set you apart from any other candidates in your organization.
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