Building Core Leadership Competence
- Jun 7
- 2 min read
By Olivia Parks
Owner of Professional Organizer New Orleans
My name is Olivia Parks, and I own a professional home organizing company in New Orleans. I manage a team of organizers who go into clients’ homes every day, helping them declutter and organize areas of their homes, so every day, I’m in a position where I have to lead my team, handle whatever comes up, and make sure everything runs smoothly for both my team and my clients.
For me, strong leadership really comes down to how you handle your team and day-to-day situations. One of the biggest things is hiring the right team. Skills can always be taught, but things like attitude, reliability, and how someone treats others matter a lot more. When you have team members who actually care about their work, everything runs better.
Trust is another big part of it. Once you have a solid team, you have to trust them to do their job. It’s easy to want to stay in control of everything, especially if you started out doing it all yourself, but that usually just slows things down. Letting your team take ownership and handle things on their own helps them grow and become more confident in their work, and makes the whole project run smoother.
Communication is also huge. Your team is always watching how you respond, especially when something doesn’t go as planned. And in a service business like mine, things come up all the time. Whether it’s a client situation or something that needs to be adjusted mid-project, staying calm and handling it the right way really sets the tone.
Patience is a big part of it too. Not everything is going to go perfectly, and that’s okay. Whether it’s a small mistake or something that didn’t go as planned on a project, taking the time to talk it through with your team instead of jumping to conclusions or reacting right away makes a big difference.
When it comes to women developing strategic thinking skills, I really think it just comes from experience. The more situations you go through, the more you start to notice what works and what doesn’t. You learn as you go. It’s really just about being involved, making decisions, and adjusting along the way, and over time, you'll make smarter decisions and get better at handling situations.
The habits that strengthen leadership effectiveness come down to being present, staying involved in what’s going on with your team, handling situations the right way, and being someone they feel comfortable coming to. It’s also about being consistent. The way you show up every day and handle situations sets the standard for your team. Taking the time to acknowledge and reward great work also goes a long way and keeps your team motivated.
At the end of the day, leadership isn’t about having all the answers and doing everything perfectly, as that’s unrealistic. It’s really just about how you show up, how you treat your team, and how you handle things when they don’t go as planned. That’s what builds real trust between you and your team.
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