“Leaders aren’t born, they are made.” Vince Lombardi
Leadership is a skill and not a talent. What’s the difference? A talent is an inborn special ability while a skill is an expertise which is acquired through learning and practice. This means we all have the capability to be leaders, if we are willing to learn. But how does one learn to be a leader? And how do we teach someone to be a leader? While there are many critical skills that leaders must know and use on a daily basis, the list below contains just a few of the key skills necessary to be a great leader.
- Effective Communication—No matter the industry or the level of leadership someone achieves, communication is always a necessary foundational leadership skill. Our current and future leaders must know how to communicate in a diverse and busy workplace. Verbal, written and remote communication are all important in today’s environment. This begins with a focus on listening skills. Active listeners better leverage their teams, discover greater success, and have less conflict.
- Self-Awareness – Focusing on what you do well, and where you can improve is often the first step in becoming an effective leader. Understanding Emotional Intelligence is just one of the many effective ways for someone to take an introspective learning journey to discover more about themselves.
- Inspiring Others – Leadership is more than just coaching or telling someone what they are doing right, or wrong. It is about empowering, motivating, and inspiring them to continuously do their best and find ways to make the team, and company, successful.
- Financial Acumen —Leaders at all levels need to understand how their team can both positively and negatively impact the company’s financial results. Increasing leader’s financial acumen helps them understand how their decisions and actions impact the company’s bottom line.
- Stay Organized – We aren’t talking about a tidy desk, although that may help. Staying ahead of deadlines, being on time for meetings, and ending meetings on time. Since so much of today’s work revolves around email, keeping on top of your inbox and answering emails in a timely manner. Organization skills take practice and bad habits can be broken.
- Be a Doer—Leadership includes “doing” before someone can instruct others. Leaders need to understand the day-to-day aspects of what their team does so they can properly manage and adjust when presented with obstacles or constraints.
Developing leadership training, specific to our client’s business, is one of Orgwide’s favorite types of learning! It’s often most effective with a hybrid learning solution of customized articles, eLearning, instructor-led sessions featuring group discussions, and on-the-job exercises. Give us a call to see how we can help you give your leaders the skills they need to lead their teams, and drive your company’s success.