When it comes to a leadership hack, effective leaders know that people respond to emotion. You can convey emotion to the people around you very effectively if you understand what works and doesn’t work. This allows you to communicate your message instead of making people feel like you are saying something that doesn’t make sense. For example, when you lead by example, your actions speak louder than any words.

Being an excellent leader also means understanding that your impact on others is only as great as how you treat them. That means you need to be a good listener. Leaders learn to listen not only to what their followers think but also to what their critics think. If you don’t hear what other people think, you will never learn from them. As great as the best leadership hacks are, they can never hope to gain the respect of the other person unless they understand what’s being said to them.

If you can understand the psyche of the people you deal with, you’ll understand why they do what they do. This allows you to eliminate the problem before it even starts. In order to be a good leader, you must be willing to put yourself in situations where you might have to make hard decisions. And you must be able to pull out of them when the pressure becomes too much for you. As human beings, we always need a little extra push to get us to change our ways.

The best leaders are not the ones who do the most work but the ones who do the most outstanding work. If you can find a way to make your work exemplary, your followers will likely follow you. Leaders who can set an example by working hard and being true to themselves will inspire others to do the same. They will feel that they can achieve just as much if they do as well. Being yourself is good, but when you become a “leader,” you have to add extra “attention-getting” qualities to your persona. Otherwise, people won’t be excited about following you.

Finally, you must work to constantly improve yourself. Never stop trying to learn new techniques and strategies. As you grow as a professional and employee, you’ll learn how to become even more effective. When you do, your influence will grow as well, and you will be able to inspire, lead and help others as well.