Contrary to what you may have been told, great leaders are both born AND made. Right now, you might be doing okay with your events team, but if you want to tackle even bigger and better projects, you need a team that will really pull itself together to make things happen. That only happens if a strong leader is at the helm. That leader could be you.
[Tweet “Leadership means you need to work with people, and work with them well.”]“But do you pick up leadership skills over years of actually leading a team, and not a seminar or course?”. Well, yes and no. Experience is the best teacher, no doubt, but think about it: lots of leaders have already shared their experiences, making it easy to learn what works and avoid what doesn’t.
Why You Need To Be a Better Leader
Here are 3 good reasons why you should take leadership training seriously.
- You’ll discover what type of leader you are. Self-awareness is a part of the 5 components of emotional intelligence at work, according to Daniel Golemen, who coined the term “emotional intelligence”. Are you a leader who inspires a team to action or one who can really relate with your team and its struggles? Leadership training can help you answer this question and others like it.
- It’s an opportunity to grow both yourself and your team. As selfish as it sounds, leaders should put themselves first if they want to help their team. Invest some time learning about leadership and you’ll be able to better manage, lead and grow your team. Thus, showing them an avenue for their own growth by pointing them in the right direction.
- Training gives you an edge. Having solid leadership skills means having a solid team. It might not show at the start, but if you’re able to consistently deliver great service during your events, clients will notice and word will go around that you’re one of the best in the business.
Where to Learn To Be a Better Leader
Work is stressful enough, so we’ve compiled a few leadership training courses that you might want to take at your own pace and at your convenience.
- Stanford University’s Continuing Studies – Stanford’s Continuing Studies is a program created by Stanford University to “share the rich resources of the school with all adult students”. Stanford opened up an avenue for non-alumni to experience the Stanford culture and offer 450 courses annually. You have 450 courses and a year of opportunity to learn from esteemed Stanford professors, lecturers and even entrepreneurs.
- Live Online Training at Dale Carnegie – Dale Carnegie Training offers online training in Leadership Development, Sales Effectiveness, Personal Effectiveness and many more. The online course is set up as a virtual classroom so students feel as if they’re still in school. In addition, there’s also a two-day leadership training program you can pick up. Check out schedules and venues on their website.
- Free Training at Harvard. If the word “Free” doesn’t attract you, maybe “Harvard” will. Yes, Harvard offers free courses via HarvardX with the edX platform. Leaders of Learning, The Einstein Revolution, and Introduction to Computer Science are just some of the courses that caught our fancy for the unconventional leaders in you.
- Take training anywhere with apps. Did you know that the Ken Blanchard Companies have a leadership training app on Android? It’s called How2Lead. The app has a bunch of really good leadership articles to read while you’re on the subway or bus on your way to work.
A Win-Win Situation for Your Events
Leadership means you need to work with people, and work with them well. A team that works well together can take on bigger events, maybe even national and international ones. But for you to reach that pinnacle, you need to take the first bold step of getting trained as a leader. Are you the leader your team needs you to be?
