February 22, 2021 ︱By: Elizabeth Williams
The management team is the foundation of a successful PR company. Without strong leadership and communication, most companies would fall under. As a college student, you should start learning how to become a better leader.
Here are some tips on how to improve your leadership skills.
1. Delegation
A person in a leadership position needs to know how to delegate. One person in a team can’t do all of the work on their own. It’s just inefficient and can result in burnout. This is where your delegation comes in. Determine what tasks need to be done, assign them to your members along with deadlines, and then make sure to check in with them along the way.
You can start practicing this skill by volunteering to be the head of any group project. Then you can begin to practice delegating tasks to your group members. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t also be doing your share of the work. Delegate some tasks, but not everything. You also want to lead by example, but more on that later.
2. Get Involved
It might go without saying, but the best way to gain leadership skills is to get involved and volunteer yourself for leadership positions. For example, you could apply to become an account executive in Titan Public Relations, CSUF PRSSA’s student-run PR firm, or run for a position on our Executive Board.
However, if those kinds of positions sound intimidating, start smaller. It doesn’t even have to be PR related. Take charge by starting a study group with some of your classmates, or by creating a book club and designating meeting times on Discord. The important thing is that you make progress!
3. Lead by example
A great leader has good ethics. They don’t just dictate all of the work to their team members. When you’re in charge, you don’t want to assign any task that you wouldn’t be willing to do yourself. This means you want to be reliable and consistent. When your team sees you working hard and doing your best, they will likely be compelled to do the same. And remember, you’re supposed to be the backbone of your team, so if you aren’t being consistent, it’s likely that your team will follow suit.
To elaborate more on this concept, if you want someone to listen to you more, make sure you are a good listener. If you want your team to try their best, make sure you’re also giving it your all. You can also try this at your work. If you ask a coworker to do something, make sure you can return the favor. It earns respect and appreciation.
Conclusion
Being a leader is something that you’re going to have to get good at if you want to make it far in the PR industry. If you ever want to be in charge of your own client or even your own agency one day, you need to put yourself out there and hone your ability to take charge. To that end, it’s best that you sharpen those leadership skills now, while you’re still in college, rather than later, when your job depends on you.
