How to Develop Your Leadership Skills on a Worksite
Effective leadership skills are a key factor in succeeding in the more advanced stages of your career in any trade. It’s the springboard that helps you to leave the on-the-tools labour behind and climb up the ranks into management, or even open up your own business.
If you feel that these development opportunities aren’t offered in a formal sense within your company, then it can be difficult to know how best to take that next step. A course like a Diploma of Building and Construction online can help, but you also need to focus on on-the-job skills too.
There are plenty of ways you can introduce personal development to your current role to build the skills you need. Couple these with formal qualifications like building and construction certificates, and you’ll be ready for management.
In fact, demonstrating initiative is one of the most fundamental aspects of leadership, so you’re already heading in the right direction. So, let’s look into how to develop leadership skills at work, before you take on a complementary qualification like a Certificate IV or Diploma in Building and Construction.
Invest in your Apprentices
As you mature within your career, you’ll no doubt be assigned an apprentice. Look at this as a fantastic opportunity to mentor someone to be the best that they can be. If you take it seriously, it can be a significant reflection of whether you’re ready for senior management or to run a business.
Make sure your regularly check in with them, asking if they have what they need to do well. Are you supporting them enough? Is the training at their pace? Is there anything they are struggling with, and if so, how can you help?
Bond with your Colleagues
If you want to help your team to be the best it can be, you first have to know it, inside and out. Why do your co-workers get out of bed every morning to do what they do? What do they want changed? What are they good at, and what needs improvement? Who don’t they get on well with?
A team is a complex network of relationships, and a leader needs to be able to elevate everyone to perform at their best. You also need to be able to trust individuals to take responsibility for certain tasks, and the more you know them, the more you can do this with confidence. Fostering a sense of team is a fantastic example of how to improve leadership skills in the workplace.
Look at the Big Picture
Even if you’re not planning to enter management within your current organisation, you’re in a fantastic position to use it as a case study for understanding existing issues and mapping out the best way to rectify them. These are the types of traits that will help you to make the most of your building and construction certificates learnings.
Have you noticed any negative themes that spread throughout the company, like a high worker turnover rate, that people aren’t particularly positive about their role, or that they seem to be making the same mistakes over and over?
Leaders will see these as problems that need solving. Perhaps the problem is a lack of internal training, or not enough hands-on direction. Being able to identify these weaknesses will help you to ultimately build a stronger business when you do choose to step up, either within the company or on your own.
Keep Track of Trends
Being able to see what’s around the corner is a key component of any good leader’s skill set, and you should always be looking for efficiencies or how the business can improve. If you’re studying building and construction certificates while you’re still at work, it can be useful to apply your learnings to your current company.
Maybe it’s a matter of following some industry leaders on LinkedIn and making an effort to read a new post with your morning coffee. Or maybe you can see that your team would really benefit from new technology that’s making waves in your sector.
Ask for Responsibility, Ask for Feedback
If you feel ready to take your first big test before beginning your Certificate IV in Building and Construction, then chat to your boss about taking ownership of a new project. It might be a scary thought, but it’s okay—you’re not expected to know everything. Feel free to check in and ask for feedback on how you’re performing, or how you can improve if there’s any area you’re less than confident in. Not only will you now have a solid case study of your management ability behind you, but you’ll also be front of mind for your boss if they’re looking to invest in the next leader.
Take on a Diploma Of Building And Construction Online
Of course, each of these soft leadership skills can be further developed with a Diploma of Building and Construction online. Building and construction certificates give you the formal qualifications that can help put you at the top of the list for your next career step. What’s more, if you choose to enrol in a Diploma of Building and Construction online, then you won’t have to interrupt your career to study.
Want to stay within your current company? Chat to your boss about the possibility of taking a Diploma in Building and Construction—they may be willing to invest if they see potential. Not only does it demonstrate initiative that you’re willing to take charge of your own development, but it also indicates that you’re loyal to the company and willing to use your own learnings for the betterment of the business.
A Diploma in Building and Construction can be your ticket to your next career move.
Looking to take the next step in your career in building and construction by taking on a Certificate IV or Diploma? Contact our team at 1300 LEGEND (1300 534 363) or request a callback and we will get back to you with all the information you need.