Leading a growing 21st-century company isn’t for the faint of heart. Chief Executive Officers (or CEOs) and top-tier executives must be ready to navigate operational challenges on a regular basis. Economic conditions and regulatory issues can also present obstacles to the best-laid business plans.
Daniel Shin is the founder and co-CEO of PortOne Global, a rapidly expanding payments orchestrator in the Asian market. As a serial entrepreneur known for his collaborative management style, Daniel Shin emphasized the importance of effective leadership. He also detailed multiple proven strategies that can help leaders truly excel in their industries.
5 Things Effective Leaders Bring to the Table
A highly effective leader can help an organization stand out in its industry rather than fall by the wayside. Here, Daniel Shin highlights five reasons why an accomplished leader’s guidance is worth its weight in gold.
A Clear Vision for the Company’s Future
A resourceful leader has both a macro and micro view of the company’s future. First, they embrace the big-picture vision that will help the business excel in the industry. This vision includes (at least) one major goal the company plans to accomplish.
Daniel Shin notes that a skilled leader can express this vision in an inspirational way. By motivating others to share in the journey, the visionary leader can help to focus participants’ energy on achieving the objective(s). Then, the leader can work with the executive team to determine the steps required to reach the goal(s).
Constructive Two-Way Communication
An accomplished leader delivers clear, concise communication to their team and (where necessary) to the entire company. They provide guidance that enables teams and departments to function and accomplish their preset goals.
Concurrently, an effective leader encourages two-way communication. Regardless of an individual’s company status, they are invited to express their viewpoints on the issues at hand. This acceptance of diverse opinions helps to cultivate a positive work environment.
The propensity for Creativity and Collaboration
A transformative leader can help to change the work environment for the better. When the leader fosters a culture of respect and trust, employees feel more valued and appreciated. Team members feel that they’re more than “a cog in the wheel.” In turn, this often improves their morale.
When team members feel more optimistic about their jobs, creativity and a collaborative mindset tend to naturally occur. Together, these attributes encourage employees to take on (and accomplish) challenging projects while often experiencing personal and professional growth.
Focus on Efficiency and Productivity
A motivational leader can often help to boost team members’ workplace productivity. When employees feel their contributions are important to the company’s growth, they display a stronger work ethic.
Not surprisingly, a solid work ethic often results in higher productivity. Employees also want to perform the work more efficiently. Finally, team leaders who capitalize on everyone’s strengths, and who assign ambitious (and achievable) goals, set the stage for success.
Ability To Attract Top-Tier Talent
An effective leader will help to inspire a company’s employees to excel in their jobs. They will form collaborative groups that accomplish big goals and help to move the company forward. In the process, they will experience breakthroughs and push their own boundaries.
As might be expected, this attitude of excellence will attract other top-tier professionals. Workers seeking challenges and corresponding rewards will likely gravitate to the company. Over time, this influx of talent helps to raise the bar for the entire firm, enabling it to improve its industry standing.
Daniel Shin Details Key Strategies for More Effective Leadership
Dynamic, effective leadership doesn’t just happen on its own. Daniel Shin discusses multiple ways CEOs and executives can develop the suite of attributes that help them to excel in their company and industry.
Possess High Emotional Intelligence
Dynamic leaders often possess a generous amount of emotional intelligence. They are always receptive to new ideas and innovative ways of solving problems. These leaders recognize that every team member has distinctive talents along with perspectives drawn from personal experiences.
When energized team members are invited to join a brainstorming session, the free flow of creative ideas often results in out-of-the-box solutions. Big breakthroughs can also happen in these sessions.
Learn How to Prioritize and Delegate
Every business day, leaders are bombarded with an avalanche of issues that call for their attention. Some of these problems are seemingly urgent, spurring the CEO or executive to immediately devote time and resources toward solving them.
While the leaders focus on “urgent” problems, however, they risk ignoring issues that are truly important in the moment. When these issues have timelines and other associates depend on the problems’ resolution, the entire initiative can stall until the leader refocuses their attention on it.
Effective leaders have mastered the effortless delivery of the word “No.” They have learned to put these secondary tasks on the sidelines or delegate them to another qualified associate. Then, the leader can focus on key tasks that will benefit the company at the highest level.
Prioritization Brings Three Key Benefits
By prioritizing the tasks only the leader can handle, and delegating other projects to qualified team members, the leader can more effectively manage their time. This approach pays off in three ways.
Timely Project Completion
By keeping the business’ objectives in mind, the leader can prioritize tasks that align with these goals. The leader diverts resources to these projects so they can be completed on time.
Better Team Alignment
Prioritizing goals helps to focus the team’s efforts, which ensures that they’re progressing down the same path. Leaders who don’t prioritize team goals essentially leave team members adrift, where they’ll likely spend time on unproductive tasks.
Reduced Burnout Risks
By deciding which tasks to prioritize, leaders (and team members) feel less pressured to complete every task immediately. This strategy enables everyone involved to focus on the most time-sensitive functions along with those that will most benefit the company.
Daniel Shin’s Insights on Productivity
As a serial entrepreneur with several thriving companies, Daniel Shin has many demands on his time. He has mastered the art of being productive rather than constantly busy with non-priority projects.
“I believe productivity is about having a command over where to spend your time…My typical day used to be bogged down with calls and meetings. That led to a schedule that stressed quantity over quality, leaving many decisions to be made without due time and thinking.
“These days, I try to think hard each day about what is most important and what is the priority. Focusing on a few decisions that are key, and punting the rest, is significantly more effective than doing everything in an average way,” Daniel Shin concluded.
Work with a Dynamic, Trustworthy Team
An exceptional leader often surrounds themselves with a talented, dedicated team. First, the leader respects the talents and professional skills each person brings to the table. Next, the leader cultivates an atmosphere of trust, mutual respect, and camaraderie.
With these dynamics in place, the leader can inspire team members to achieve “out of the box” solutions to challenging problems. Throughout the process, team members (including the leader) are accountable for their performance.
How Daniel Shin Brings His Ideas to Life
Entrepreneur Daniel Shin recognizes that working with an exceptional team is key to achieving bold, audacious goals. “Bringing ideas to life is ultimately execution, and execution is done effectively when it is a result of teamwork with people you trust.
“As a result, I try to focus on surrounding myself with a team that is just as passionate and excited about execution as I am. When the right people are in the room with you, ideas naturally come to life without much friction,” Daniel Shin emphasized.
Play Frequent Hooky from the Office
In today’s highly digital landscape, working from the office is no longer a prerequisite for achieving important goals. In fact, an office setting’s noise and distractions can be counterproductive to one’s productivity. Entrepreneur Daniel Shin has discovered a solution that increases his effectiveness as a leader.
“Counterintuitively, I actually make it a habit to work outside the office often. Really gives me the opportunity to think and zone in on what I believe in. Then, when I go back to the office and meet people, I can debate with higher conviction and give energy to colleagues when necessary,” he remarked.
Take Time to Smell the Roses
Highly focused CEOs and executives often put a strong emphasis on goal achievement. They typically work long hours to accomplish company objectives, and many are also very bent on moving up the professional ladder.
However, maintaining this hard-driving mindset for the long term has its costs. Family and personal relationships can suffer, and leaders can experience higher stress and perhaps even physical ailments.
3 Benefits of Better Work-Life Balance
Leaders who re-evaluate their work-life balance often realize that changes are in order. They’ll receive at least three concrete benefits from this reallocation of resources.
Enhanced Physical and Mental Health
Leaders who prioritize a better work-life balance often adopt healthier lifestyle habits. A healthier diet, sufficient restful sleep, and regular exercise all contribute to better physical and mental health. When leaders take time to improve their health habits, they can better handle the physical and mental aspects of workplace challenges.
Higher Creativity and Productivity
A leader with improved work-life balance will likely notice that their creativity soars. They will find it easier to advance bold ideas and develop solutions to challenging problems. Their productivity will likely improve as well.
More Satisfying Personal Relationships
When leaders take better care of their health and have more time for themselves, their relationships often flourish. They can often enjoy more quality time with their families and friends. At work, these leaders can get to know their colleagues better, establishing a good foundation for mutually beneficial collaborations.
Daniel Shin’s Work-Life Balance Insights
Daniel Shin’s thriving business ventures have supported his professional growth and financial success. At this stage of his career, however, he recognizes that achieving goals at breakneck speed is not necessarily the answer. He shares insights on his work-life balance evolution.
“Life’s not all about getting to the finish line, but also how you ran the race, and the impact you had on others along the way. I found myself getting more and more result-focused as the years passed, and I’d like to tell myself that there is more to life. Take the time to have lots of fun along the way.
“Money is not important. I believe to run the marathon well, you must be focused on building something great and having the money follow. Too many people focus on making money and that deters you from the path to greatness you were on previously,” Daniel Shin emphasized. Today, he continues to focus on making PortOne Global the premier payments orchestrator in the rapidly growing Asian market.
Disclaimer: This article contains sponsored marketing content.
This article is originally published on June 22, 2023.
