As a project manager or a manager of any position, you will need certain level of leadership.
The leader can move the team towards greater success through regular and consistent communication, sharing and leading by example.

In order for the leader to be proven, in my opinion, few things to note.

1. Listen To Your Team Members
Understand the team members difficulties. Hear what is bothering them. They do face issues when they are accomplishing the tasks for you. If they are not able to fulfill your delegated task, your assignment is incomplete too.

The team members just want to voice out their grievances. The leader just lend his ears, listen to their thoughts. Sometimes, you don’t even have to do anything. This may indirectly motivate and maximize team performance. The team member might feel that the leader is listening to them.

Team members’ opinion are to be valued as they are the ones that faced the issues and they are the so called subject matter expert (SME). A leader is not effective if you bulldoze your way when better suggestions are proposed.

2. Treat All Team Members Fairly
As a leader, do not be bias. Just because you are closer to one of your team member and you could give him/ her the best and easy task. Instead you should give attention to all your team member, the bigger the team, the more attention and fairer you should be.

If you are those that worked in a high attrition rate organizations, you have to develop the team members loyalty. Treat them fairly by delegating a fair share of joy and difficult task. In a way, you are building a team as a whole. You are also cross train every team member.

3. Develop And Grow Your Team Members
Give praises to team member in public. If they are not doing things correctly, reprimand in private. The bigger the team, the more you have to develop the members. Develop the team competency will shorten the learning curve in handling a task.
Grow the team hard skill such as certification like I.T.
Not forgetting the team’s soft skill, such as presentation skill, communication skill and so forth.

Informal team building, could foster a better relationship. Activities such as a gathering, drinking session after work, a game of football, basketball could bring the team closer and have a better working relationship.

Leading and Managing Team is never an one time event – It is for every day, 365 days a year. ”Once a Leader, Always a Leader”. It has remained a challenging but fulfilling task for Directors, Department Heads and Managers when done successfully.

A great leader is one who influences followers positively and help them to achieve their fullest potential and best performance through constructive conflict management and mediation.

There are various style to be an effective leader.

Each leadership styles and they do have certain impact on the team.

▪ Autocratic / Directive Leader
These leaders make all decisions without consulting the team member.
It may be good to the team if everyone is new to a task. Everyone is looking at the leader for direction.

On the contrary, this may be a single direction leadership. Better suggestions from team might be ignored. The cost of ignoring team members engagement could be high in this modern society.

▪ Democratic / Participative Leader
These leaders engage every member’s suggestion prior making any decision.
Engaging every member’s opinion may be a team effort

These leaders will engage the group within the decision making process, they will consider the groups inputs; however, he or she will retain their right to make the final decision

▪ Consultative Leader
Seek everyone suggestion prior making any decision

The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority. This is the very nature of consultative leadership in that you the leader will have to develop the ability to influence people rather than impose on them your authority as is the case in an autocratic leadership style.

▪ Transformational Leader
These leaders not only challenge the status quo; they also encourage creativity among team members. The leader encourages followers to explore new ways of doing things and new opportunities to learn.

Transformational leaders have a clear vision that they are able to articulate to followers. These leaders are also able to help followers experience the same passion and motivation to fulfill these goals.