A leader who stand apart from the others is the one who works hard to acquire the skills necessary to stay at the top of his game. He understand the basic that it is hard to get to the top but it is even more difficult to stay there. To avoid his downfall and to remain a role model he has to act very carefully in both public as well as in his private life. Here are some of the desired factors that affects success and keep you at the top:

Have Clear Goals – Be Organized

As you rise up the ladder the most scarce resource you have is time and to best utilize your time, you need to have clear goals. Remember the mantra: Be productive rather than busy. Plan in advance and learn how to prioritize so that you don’t miss out on the important tasks. Learn the art of delegation of responsibilities to free up your time, that may be better utilized in more productive tasks. Your team will repose more confidence in you when they see you organised and in full control.

Take Responsibility

A true leader stands in the front when team faces challenges and gives the credit of accomplishment of the tasks to others. He understand that it is always the team effort that brings success. In the face of challenges he takes the initiative and is the one who guides his team through, but when met with failure he owns up the responsibility himself. This increases the team’s confidence and trust in their leader.

Train Other People

A successful leader do not feel insecure to raise other leaders rather he want to grow from being a leader to a mentor. The biggest investment you can make is, if you work to increase the skills of your people, that is where all the multiplication comes in and your company gains momentum.

Read A Lot

To stay at the top, your best bet would be continuous learning. In today’s fast changing and competitive environment those who think that they know all, are surely doomed for downfall. Only an inquisitive mind can grow constantly to higher levels. Books have a wealth of information and can be your own personal mentors. Whether in trouble or to stay motivated good books will be your best companion.

Listen Well

Some people when given responsibility tend to become bossy and try to push everyone to work as per their own style of doing the things. To build trust among your employees and to improve productivity be a patient listener to your colleagues. You will be doing yourself a great favor if you listen to their suggestions and needs. When your employees feel they are heard, they become motivated and do their best in their jobs.

Be Reliable

Be a person on whom everybody can depend. Develop a habit that you commit only when you are very sure about your ability to complete that task. Always plan keeping in mind the unforeseen difficulties that may crop up and have a safe buffer or margin while deciding deadlines or targets. Be a kind of person who will always do more than promised rather than the other way round.

Demand High Standard From Employees

In the path to success there are no shortcuts and those who compromise on quality are doomed for failure. A true leader will demand high standard of work from his employees and will subject himself also to the same standards. This ensure that the company remain totally dedicated to quality benchmarks.

Ask For Help

No matter the level you have reached there will always be times when situations gets tricky and there is absolutely no shame to ask for help from people who know how to handle such things. Rather this may save you a lot of time compared to learning yourself.

Take Care Of Yourself

 

Always take good care of your health. Success will become meaningless if you are unhealthy. Exercising is good not only for your health but it has a significant positive effect on your mood too. You will have enormous energy and enthusiasm if you are fit.

Take care of your personal grooming. Look good and smart, after all people first see you from outside.

Related: 9 Success Factors For Growth

Control Your Thought

Anybody who has achieved even little success knows the importance of controlling their thoughts. What you think, gives shape to the destiny you will make. Control your mind and rest all will fall in it’s place.

Apart from the above mentioned qualities there are also few traits that you better avoid in your life:

Avoid Lust Of Power

To remain at the top of your game remember you need to have motivation but there should be no lust for power. If you devote yourself to constant and never ending improvement in yourself, you will keep moving up the ladder. Leave the greed for power and instead develop more leaders. Raise yourself from the level of a leader to mentor.

Avoid Anger

Successful people master the art of keeping their emotions in check. As you move to the top keeping a cool head should become your main priority. If you get angry easily people will see you as an unpredictable person and will not be open to you.

Avoid Ego

Remember it is always teamwork that matters. Individual brilliance can take you ahead only this much, but with collective efforts no mission is impossible. A leader who is egoistic will loose the trust of his employees.

Avoid Arrogance

You need to listen to other’s thoughts and needs if you want to be respected by your juniors. A good leader is not a credit taker but one who takes full responsibility. Keep in mind that ‘none of us is smarter than all of us.’

To master the art of leadership always keep in mind that there are no shortcuts. If you consciously develop these positive traits and desist from above mentioned shortcomings, not only you will always stay at top of your game but you will be able to raise the bar higher.