8 Powerful Leadership Styles Tips

As they say, leaders are born, but so few as to not make a difference in the grand scheme.

Most leaders are made. Even born leaders learn through trial and error – through studying other leaders and themselves – and through practice.

Leadership Development is Personal Development. You are your instrument of leadership, difference making and success.

Here are eight power leadership tips to follow if you want to know how to lead people.

(After you read this article, watch this video on the one trait studies show is necessary to leadership)

Leadership Tips

Leadership Styles Tip 1: Specific and Compelling Vision, Yet Flexible Tactics

Have a crystal clear, compelling vision of change, a brilliant outcome, a better way. Your great life mission. How you serve other people, their needs or aspirations. Be clear and passionate about achieving your end-game, your vision. Work diligently, focused and energetic, each day. Yet, remain flexible in how you get to your vision or even on the possibility of your vision changing, as you may find your true destiny on your way to your vision.

Leadership Styles Tip 2: Consistent, Communicated Expectations, Yet Empowering Management Tactics

Be explicitly clear, consistent and fair with people about their responsibilities and your expectations – but support them in THEIR best way of contributing to the actualization of your vision. Hire well and lead. Do not micro-manage or excessively direct HOW people get there.

Leadership Styles Tip 3: Own and Live Your Mission, Yet Make It About Others, Not You

Know, own and live your passion and mission, yet always make it about others and not you or your success. Seek simple and big ways to give to others, both within the grand purpose of your mission, as well as in your daily life. And remember, it’s often the little things that count most, such as a word of support, a listening ear, a compliment or a smile.

In our drive to succeed and in our confidence, we often view people and circumstances from the perspective of “what’s in it for me?” and “what effect are they having on my goals?” It’s human nature. Survival. Be aware of this and rise above self-serving focus. Be of a giving, service, mindset and behavioral set. Not to be confused with being anyone’s doormat. Follow the other leadership tips and maintain confidence and certainty, while of a service mindset.

Leadership Styles Tip 4: Be Over-Confident, Yet Humble

Be confident, even over confident, yet humble and considerate. Recognize and be grateful for your skills, accomplishments and value. But don’t be arrogant, condescending or a bully. Beware of Optimism Bias. Studies show we aren’t as good as we think we are. Believe wholly, and deeply, in yourself, in your mission and in your value and contribution, yet remain equally observant, grateful and admiring of others’ worth.

Use your personal and organizational power to give and to serve. Always from the perception, position and feeling of substantial personal power to positively affect your world. Approach others from the perspective that you are blessed and you have much to give, so you are on a mission the spread the goodness of your value and your good fortune to inspire and support others in being their biggest, best selves and to contribute materially to their vision and to your common, organizational vision – the better way. This may be one of the most difficult leadership tips, because highly drive, confident people often, though not always, find it difficult to maintain humility. But the combination of massive self- and mission-confidence and certainty, coupled with humility, is powerful and compelling.

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Leadership Styles Tip 5: Focused & Driven, Yet Also Present

Be driven, results- and success-oriented, yet present. Base today’s focus, actions and activities on your grand vision and not on fire-drills, habit or whatever you most enjoy. Own your passionate purpose and mission. Be tenacious in creating and living it. Invest massive energy in making it happen. Constantly inspire yourself and others to create it. Yet remain still, calm and centered in yourself and with your work and other people within this moment. Don’t lose the simplicity and power in the present moment for your passion for, focus on and commitment to your goals of the future. Maintain balance. Awareness. Mindfulness. Focus and act fully in the now as you move towards your vision.

All of the leadership tips incorporate incredible passion, mission and action. But living and acting fully present is shown to be a crucial component of Peak Performance and mental and physical health. That makes this among the most important, and difficult, of the leadership tips.

Leadership Styles Tip 6: Have the Highest of Standards, Yet Remain Compassionate and Patient

Have the highest of standards in virtues, values, behavior and results, yet remain patient, compassionate and supportive with yourself and with others. Don’t be hard on yourself or others. Don’t be judgmental. Don’t focus on any perceived negatives. Rather, always maintain focus and energy on positives, on where you are going, your vision – and inspire in yourself and in others a higher calling, a better way, our greatest selves, life and results.

Leadership Styles Tip 7: Listen to Understand and Support, Not to Speak or Be Right

Listen to understand, support and cultivate, not to be heard, understood or right. We learn much more by listening than we do by speaking. We also build more trust, respect and friendship. You have a right to your opinion and need to be right – but a leader is most often best served keeping both to themselves. Inspire and lead people to see, feel and desire your vision. Don’t try and convince or bully them into it by being right or being constantly heard. Show through your beliefs, behaviors and actions and less through your words.

Leadership Styles Tip 8: Tenaciously Results-oriented, Yet Gracefully Grateful

Be tenaciously driven, yet graciously grateful. Focus and move passionately, doggedly towards your vision. Act, act, act passionately and constantly towards its great realization. Yet find and feel gratitude, celebration and comradeship with and for yourself and with and for others. Make it fun. Make it joyful. Make it playful, but not juvenile or irrelevant.

There you have eight golden rules to step up to inspirational leadership. Post this on your desktop and pick one each day and make yellow post-its or reminders to go off on your smart phone at least three times for that day to remind you to inhabit, own and personify the beliefs, virtues, values and behaviors incorporated in each of these principles.

Knowledge is NOT power. The habitual, effective use of it is. And without reminders and deep intention, this will be no more than more useless knowledge. WITH passionate intention and constant reminders, you might retrain your brain and develop a new mindset and behavior and skill set that will seriously change your life and work for the better.