Effective leadership skills
Whether you are the leaders of a team, a company, a department, or just yourself, having the ability to inspire, motivate and move people to action is essential. What makes a good leader is widely debated. It is evident that the ability to lead effectively depends on a number of key skills, but also that different leaders have very different character traits and styles. Leadership is about intelligence because no one right way to lead in all circumstances, here, intelligence plays an important role to lead and direct people towards the desired direction, and one of the main characteristics of a good leader is their ability to adapt to the changing situations. Ability to think on different viewpoints and flexibility in opinions could make the leader a team player. If intelligence is the capacity to compatible with changing circumstances, leadership would be the same.
Which skills do make a strong leader? Or what are the essential qualities of a leader? This article only looks into the general skills that could make a difference between leaders and ordinary people. To some degree, the capability for great leadership is inborn. Though, learning how to be a more effective leader is within everyone’s grasp – whether you lead many teams, an entire company or just one staff member. The qualities such as problem-solving, critical thinking and decision-making are the major skills that make the leader stand out from the group.
However, a business leader and political leader have some differences in some parts. For example, a political leader makes an image of a “free service provider” and he takes respect from the followers, whereas a business leader has directed his/her team members towards the allocated tasks as a “paid service provider” with “knowledge and commanding capacity”. So, leadership needs adapting capacities and observational thinking, whether you are a political leader, religious leader or a business leader, you should have some definite behavior traits, without these traits or general character, your acquiring skills couldn’t help you to develop leadership qualities or skills.
What are leadership skills?
To organize other people for getting a common goal, you have to use some skills that are innate or acquired; these skills are called leadership skills. Whether you’re leading a project, or in a management position leadership skill requires you to inspire others to finish a series of tasks, often according to a schedule. Leadership is not just one skill but rather an integration of numerous different skills working together. The following are some examples of skills that make a great leader include:
1. Active listening
2. Patience
3. Empathy
4. Reliability
5. Dependability
6. Positivity
7. Observation
8. Creativity
9. Negotiation skills
10. Communication
11. Effective feedback
12. Team building
13. Flexibility
14. Adventuring
15. Sweet wording
16. Teach and train
17. Commanding skills
This is only a partial list; you can add more things that you have noticed in good leaders. Good leaders are the limelight any country or any organization. In business, they can help build strong teams within a business and ensure projects, initiatives or other wok functions are performed successfully. Because the skills of a leader involve multiple interpersonal and communication skills, anyone can work out and refine their leadership abilities.
Most people have seen the results of both successful and unsuccessful leaders in the profession. Good leaders increase employee engagement, support a progressive environment and help eliminate hindrances for their team. Good leadership is also contagious, motivating coworkers to apply positive leadership traits in their own work. This could only be done by creating an excellent rapport with the colleagues. Here is a list of essential leadership skills that may prove valuable to anyone applying for work or looking to progress in a career:
Decision-making skills
Good leaders are those who can make decisions speedily with the information they have. Effective decision-making comes with time and involvement. As you become more acquainted with your specific industry, you’ll be capable to make decisions earlier, even when you don’t have all of the required information. Decisiveness is seen as a valuable leadership skill because it can help move projects along faster and increase efficiency. There are many things that characterize good decision making: data you gathered, timing, judgment, justification, insight and experience, name a few. Evaluating critical qualities of leaders often raises much debate. Decision making is arguably near the very top of the list. The many qualities that result in excellent decision making appear to contain some intangibles, such as wisdom, knowledge, intuition, and understanding. But it is vital to consider that this leadership trait as a learned quality as well as an innate one.
Integrity
The term integrity have reflects the ethical side of a leader. If a leader loses his reliability, there will be dropout of the followers. Integrity is often seen as just faithfulness or righteousness but in many cases, it also means having and standing by a set of solid values. Honesty in the workplace often means being able to make virtuous choices and helping the company maintain a progressive image. All organizations look to hire workers who have a strong sense of truthfulness. When a leader seems to be pseudo or a “quack” the entire goodwill he has made, will be melted. So, the leader should be a role-model, either in politics or in business.
Problem-solving
Why do leaders are most admired by the people even though they are not directly act upon the life of the people? You get the answer when you deeply analyze your life because once in a while you have thought that your life problems will be tackled by the good leaders. Whether in work place or in nation’s level, people will like the guys that they have problem-solving skills. So, leadership is all about problem-solving.
Great leaders are skilled at problem-solving issues that arise on the job. Effective problem solving often necessitates remaining calm and identifying a step-by-step solution. Problem-solving skills can aid leaders to make fast decisions, resolve complications with their team and outside teams equally, and ensure projects are finished on time, according to the conditions.
Team-building or relationship building
Leadership requires the ability to build and retain a strong and collaborative team of individuals working toward the same goal. Team building needs other leadership qualities, like effective communication skills and conflict resolution. People will obey you when you show empathy and conflict resolution skills. They think you are the right person to solve their confusions and problems. So, they will recognize you as their leader automatically. This theory will work out in the workplace as well. Essentially, leaders are liable to take individual problems and are listened them to solve their personal problems; this will bring them together as a cohesive team.
Dependability
Dependability means that a leader can be relied upon not only to perform one’s duties and responsibilities in a proper manner and with the integrity, but in so doing constructing the trust and accountability that result. A leader makes and keeps obligations, has the discipline to evade procrastination, and puts forth a full effort to finish a task. The strong relationships built by a dependable leader create a spirited team that is able to work through complications that may arise.
Ability to teach and guide
One of the skills that differentiate leadership from many other competencies is the ability to teach and guide. Mentoring needs excellent knowledge or up-to-date wisdom that may lead to the organization’s success. Often, this skill needs that leaders think less about themselves and more about how to make their team as a whole successful. If you are giving innovative ideas to your business and team, they will put you on the place of a mentor.
How to improve your leadership skills
You can apply good leadership skills in any role, at any level. For instance, showing up on time to meetings and turning in work on schedule shows dependability. Offering help and coaching to less experienced colleagues is also an example of leadership. If it appears suitable, you might consider seeking out leadership roles to improve and practice your leadership skills. Before you practice your skills, first of all, you have to assess your strength and weakness. Self-assessment is essential for improving your leadership skills.
Identify your leadership styles
When you are using different leadership styles on different occasions, identify which leadership style can help you to get maximum results.
Goleman’s leadership styles
♦ Forced, or commanding – ‘do as I say’
♦ Authoritative – ‘come with me’
♦ Affiliative – ‘people come first’
♦ Democratic – ‘what do you think?’
♦ Coaching – ‘try it and see’
These styles depend on traits that are dominant in one’s character
Participate in leadership training workshops or courses
According to behaviorism, leadership is a learned quality. So if you want to improve your leadership skills, it is better to join leadership courses and workshops.
Find a guide
The best way to acquire is by studying under those you respect most. If possible, ask a leader you respect to guide you on a weekly or monthly basis. They can support you set goals toward becoming a better leader by increasing skills and using them.
When you practice these leadership skills, you can become more effective at any stage of your growth. There are opportunities to understand leadership qualities, through keen observation and study you can become a good leader in both your personal and professional life.
