How you lead your community creates a big impact on people’s lives. It determines the feel of your community, helps you retain your residents, and allows your community to function like a well-oiled machine. Leadership skills aren’t a once-and-done thing, and your leadership will constantly progress and evolve. Becoming a better leader for your community takes work, but we at OccupancySolutions.com want to let you in on what you can do to ensure your community leadership is always improving.

First and foremost, a great leader is a disciplined leader. A leader who allows their leadership skills to slip isn’t a leader who is going to continuously hone their skills. Discipline should be shown in your work-life balance, how you approach community management, how you approach your team, and how you approach yourself. Discipline is contagious, and leading by example as a disciplined leader can naturally lead to a more disciplined and dedicated staff.

Leadership isn’t strictly about leading—it’s also about following. A leader who is too rigid in their leadership may feel threatened when others question their decisions or come up with ideas of their own, which can lead to unnecessary conflicts and missed solutions that may be better than their own. A strong and open leader is a leader who can lead but isn’t afraid to know when to follow.

This leads us to the next important leadership skill: listening. A leader will do a lot of talking, but they should be prepared to practice open listening as well. In a leadership position, you are the first line of communication for your residents, and you’ll be managing teams of individuals with different concerns, ideas, and ways of thinking. In order to best please your residents and make the most of the talent you have on your staff, open and true listening is crucial. This type of listening isn’t listening to speak but listening to truly hear what your residents or team members are trying to communicate to you.

At OccupancySolutions.com, we want to help you strengthen your leadership skills and continued progression as a leader. If you’re wondering how you can improve your community leadership skills, contact us at OccupancySolutions.com today.