What is a successful leader? If someone gets all the work done but treats their employees really poorly, are they still considered a successful leader? What about someone who doesn’t bother to understand helpful information or tech tips out of plain stubborn behaviour? Now, you may have your own examples of what and who you consider a successful leader to be. Here are a few characteristics that may come to mind:
- Good communication skills
- Discipline
- The ability to inspire others
- Creativity
- Critical thinking
- Growth mindset
Now, these characteristics have always been used to describe the ideal “successful leader” for a long time. So, living in 2020 aren’t we forgetting something? If you guessed “yes” you are right! Technology! Daily use of technology and knowing various tech tips is now one of the most essential habits of successful leaders. They use technology to communicate with their team, delegate tasks, monitor the progress of their projects and connect with the world.
So if you’re wondering how to be successful, understanding the importance of technology is a really good place to start!
15 Tech Tips for Young Leaders
1. Communicate Through Video Conferencing Tools
Skype, Viber, or any other safe special video conferencing tool for your organization will make your job a lot easier. Instead of scheduling appointments and meeting people in person, as a leader, you can schedule a video call at a time that best suits yourself and others.
A video call is much better than the usual phone call. Essentially, video-calling is like a virtual conversation. Both parties are able to see each other and communicate more effectively due to the ability to see facial expressions and body language.
2. Get Involved in the Instagram Community
Instagram is a great platform for a young leader to start building authority. There’s no learning curve. Just create your profile and be sure to upload some posts. You can discuss marketing strategies in order to turn your Instagram into a powerful branding tool. For example, Instagram has the option to set your account up as a “business account” which sets up your/your business’ contact information in the bio. It also allows you to connect your account to your business’ Facebook page to increase your daily views.
3. Benefit from Instagram Stories
You can share inspirational talks or any information via your Instagram stories. This feature lets you articulate your thoughts and connect with a wider audience. One of the most essential leadership skills.
This feature allows you to become a public speaker without having to speak to a public audience in real-time, rather online. However, once creating Instagram stories becomes second-hand to you, the skill of public speaking is very much developed. A truly successful leader has to be a great speaker and know how to express and communicate their thoughts.
4. Invest in Powerful Tech Tools
Keeping up with new advanced technology is also an important leadership skill. Invest in a state-of-the-art desktop, laptop, tablet, smartphone, and a virtual assistant device.
Try new apps and software and make sure you understand them. This way you will be more productive and more knowledgeable on the technologies you should and should not use in your industry. Being more experienced in this sector will allow you to have a positive impact on others and as a result. Essentially enabling you to demonstrate your expertise as the great leader you are!
5. Use a Calendar App
Time management is one of the most crucial habits of successful leaders. The secret to becoming a time management master is quite simple: Planning.
Use a great calendar app to plan all tasks weeks or even months ahead of time! If planning and time management is not your strong suit, then practice by using time and task-management apps. This is an incredibly important skill all leaders; young and old, need to have!
6. Connect!
LinkedIn gives you an opportunity to develop a diverse network of professional contacts. Connect with other leaders, industry pros, colleagues, and talents you’d like to hire.
Using LinkedIn like a pro gives you a chance to become more sociable and get new useful contacts. The ability to use LinkedIn is one of the most important leadership skills to develop.
7. Monitor Your Team
Are you using Asana or another team management tool? Each young leader needs one! Through this platform, you can delegate tasks and connect with your entire team.
Being a successful young leader means knowing how to manage a team. Success for a leader comes from the people around him.
8. Provide Technology and Offer Tech Tips to Your Team
Are you wondering how to be successful as a leader? Then you should ask yourself: “How can I make my team members happy?”
Maybe update your company’s technologies to keep your employees feeling special and excited! You can also share tech tips and recommend any helpful apps they can install.
9. Use Productivity Apps
If you analyze the habits of successful leaders, you’ll realize they make the most of their time. They use “to-do lists” and “note-taking” apps all the time. There’s plenty of apps you can use to increase productivity, so do your research and go for the ones you like!
Productivity means knowing how to do more things in less time. Not many people know how to be productive these days. But don’t worry, understanding how to be productive gets easier with time. As a leader, helping others to increase overall productivity is beneficial for both, you and the unproductive individual.
10. Breathe!
Leadership skills are not just about managing people. Staying calm in any situation is important. You already know that breathing and meditation help with that. Install any Breathing App and enjoy it!
Also, always remember that health should be prioritized. A healthy person is a happy person, and a healthy and happy person makes for a great leader.
11. Stay Focused
You should definitely use Instagram, Facebook, and other social media platforms, but as a leader, you need to make sure you won’t let them disturb your focus. Pay attention to the Screen Time Report you get for your phones. If you notice that social media takes too much of your focus, you’ll be aware it’s a distraction. That’s the first step towards limiting your total social media use.
12. Protect Your Apps
When you use so many apps with sensitive information, a key tech tip is remembering to always keep your devices protected. Always keep the operating system updated, activate the “Find my iPhone” feature, and enable the passcode.
13. Experiment with New Apps
Never, become too dependent on one app in particular. I completely understand that sometimes you may find an app so perfect and suitable for your needs – but you should always have a backup. Sometimes because you limit yourself to that one “perfect” app, you become too stubborn to try something new, something that may be much better!
Experimenting with different apps from time to time is one of the most important tech tips!
A true leader is not afraid to try new things, especially when it comes to technology.
14. Read!
As a leader, you should be a reader! You should stay updated and informed about the latest news, especially in your industry. But along with reading the news, be sure to read books as well. Whether you choose to read fiction or non-fiction, books are great for mental stimulation. This is where technology comes into play. By purchasing a great e-reader, you will be able to read thousands of books in an easy to access and compact form.
There are tons of e-books on the web that can become a source of new knowledge for a young successful leader.
15. Take Time Off Tech
Personal connection is still important. When figuring out how to be successful, you know you can’t do it solely through technology. Take time off the apps and tools, so you can communicate face-to-face with the individuals in your company as well as socialize with your family and friends.
The proper use and understanding of technology tend to be the most neglected leadership skill. As a modern leader, you want to stay updated with the latest trends all the time. That’s why knowing various tech tips and using the right modern technology, as well as, developing time-management and productivity skills are the keys to becoming a successful leader.
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