Five Tips to Give Leaders a Jump on the New Year

Common knowledge in the business world is that the rate of failure among new leaders in the first 18 months ranges from 38 percent to more than 50 percent. This statistic motivates leadership experts Lisa Kohn and Robyn McLeod to share the following five tips for new leaders on how to create success in 2014.

Click through for five tips for new leaders on how to create success in 2014, as identified by leadership experts Lisa Kohn and Robyn McLeod.

No. 5: Catch people doing great things — and celebrate them. “One of the biggest fears people have about getting a new boss is that he or she will focus on finding all the things wrong with how work gets done, and then change everything,” Kohn says. “Look for what is working well and acknowledge successes. The problem areas will most certainly reveal themselves, but leaders shouldn’t make those problems their main focus.”

No. 4: Be present. “Taking on a new leadership role is extremely demanding,” McLeod says. “It’s easy for leaders to get caught up in meeting after meeting, or traveling to every office under their purview. They should be sure to schedule time for open-door access and walking around the office.”

No. 3: Put development first. “Making personal and professional development – their own and their team’s — hallmarks of their leadership will drive loyalty and trust, and make people want to stay,” Kohn says. “Leaders set an example by taking their own development seriously and sharing information about their development journey,” adds McLeod.

No. 2: Create a vision. “Leaders benefit by figuring out their vision for the organization and sharing it,” says Kohn. “Once they share it with their team, they can ask them to poke holes in it and make it better. Leaders must be willing to see their vision transform to one that everyone can call his and her own.”

No. 1: Listen. “Leaders do well to listen a lot more than they talk,” says McLeod. “The only way to learn about their team, the work of the organization, and how things get done is to listen. Rather than spending time writing great rallying speeches filled with jargon, they should keep their comments brief and ask questions to solicit feedback.”