Being a leader is AWESOME.

As a leader, you make a big difference in our community. You help those around you, you inspire others, and you learn valuable skills that will carry you into all aspects of your life.

Being a leader is also HARD.

As they say, with great power comes great responsibility. There are times you may face conflict with other leaders. You may catch criticism and judgement for the choices you make. It can be demanding, and you may struggle with balancing it all out.

We asked our wonderful team of ambassadors to share their wisdom on how to be a successful leader!!

A Great Leader Is Someone Who...

✔️ Focuses on things that they are passionate about

✔️ Communicates openly with teammates

✔️ Is honest

✔️ Encourages others and recognises their strengths

✔️ Works as a team player

✔️ Is good at time management

✔️ Knows how and when to say NO

✔️ Listens to everyone to try to find common ground on which you can agree or agree to disagree.

Top Tips On Being A Leader

✔️ It is better to only commit to things that you want to do and that make you feel happy. Taking on more than you can handle can lead to burnout and unhappiness. One team led well is better than 2 teams led only to part of their potential.

✔️ When you have a difficult situation, stop. Do not react and follow your first impulse. Maybe sleep on it overnight or talk about it with a mentor. It is often a much smaller reaction after you have had time to process the info and the response is often more appropriate and less confrontational.

✔️ When you are giving someone feedback, remember to use the sandwich feedback method. Positive, constructive criticism, positive.

✔️ Prioritise life outside 7Cups first, 7Cups needs to fit into your life not the other way around.

Pacing Yourself & Self Care

✔️ Recognise that you cannot do everything, it is not your responsibility to cover every single task here. It is ok for something not to have a leader right now or to be put on hold.

✔️ Prioritize your tasks. What needs to be done today, tomorrow and what can wait till next week.

✔️ Regularly check in with yourself on what projects & roles you currently have on 7 Cups and check that you are still enjoying them all. It can be useful to keep this on a google sheet and go through it with a mentor too.

✔️ Check in with yourself on how much time are you spending on 7 Cups. Are you still managing to do everything else you need to do? Are you still having days where you are away from 7 Cups altogether?

✔️ Delegate tasks to your team members depending on their strengths. Make use of your resources.

✔️ Allow others choice of doing tasks that you do not have to do, and then fill in the gaps you are able to.

✔️ Learn to say no. Boundaries are crucial in good leadership.

✔️ When the Help Wanted alert comes out, maybe you need to scan it or maybe not read it unless you have more spare time on your hands.

✔️ When someone asks for help, tell them you will consider it over the next couple days and get back to them when you have had the chance to process whether you have the time, ability, and if you want to work on that project or not, etc.

✔️ Make sure you are doing projects here because you want to and it is making you feel better, not just because someone has to do it.

✔️ Focus on the positive rather than what is wrong. If you cannot see anything positive then go for the neutral. How am I breathing, what am I aware of in the room I am in right now. Mindfulness can take us to a place where we can focus on something other than our perceived observations of what is broken and focus on what is happening now.

Who can support me as a leader?

✔️ It is great to have another leader on the team that you can talk to. If you do not have that, another leader or group of leaders is helpful. Having a buddy is important at all levels. It helps in clarifying situations and it erases some of the isolation and sense of burden that leadership roles can entail.

✔️ The leader of your team like Track Ambassador, CMLs, Moderators, Verifying Team, Quality Coaching, Support Group.

✔️ Sometimes I reach out to people posting in the forums with similar interests and they can at least be someone I can talk to about something positive.

How to become a leader?

✔️ Find your passion and work to accomplish goals related to that. Essentially, be a leader, and the title will come with time.

✔️ Accept new challenges. If youve expressed an interest in a leadership role, and you are asked to pilot a new project or given a task, thats a good sign! This means you are being considered for the role, but we want to see how you will handle or approach the new role.

✔️ Always remember that you are representing 7 Cups as an organization. It is important to behave like a role model and within the values of a good leader at all times, no matter what roles & responsibilities you may currently have.

✔️ Know your limits. You dont need to take on every single thing that is handed to you, and we will have more confidence in you as a leader if you establish boundaries and self-care routines.

✔️ Believe in yourself and enjoy

Do you have any other questions on being a leader, further tips or concerns? Please share them below and one of our amazing ambassadors will be happy to help.