Building and leading high-performance teams through strong effective leadership is not achieved by chance. Technical skills can only take you so far, what you really need in order to climb the success ladder, are leadership skills. With the exception of the few who are born great leaders, the majority of us need to nurture the right set of skills to be able to lead well. The focus of this post is to show you what to look at to improve your leadership skills, and we start by listing down some of the primary traits that are key.
1. Be Likeable
Most employees complain of a grumpy boss and the lack of a positive work environment. The boss being not likable has also been identified as one of the major factors for people to consider switching jobs. Being likeable is therefore, integral in the corporate environment. Appreciate people’s efforts, have a sense of humour, offer advice as needed – your employees should see you as someone they want to learn from.
2. Listening Effectively
For a leader, one of the most important skills is listening. You won’t be able to get feedback from the employees without listening skills. However, be mindful of the non-verbal communication as well. To determine what people really mean, you should be able to read gestures and body language well.
3. Dealing with Difficult People
Disciplining your team members when they are not doing well is tricky. Resolve the problem while it’s still fresh. Speak to the responsible person alone. Even if you do reprimand them in private, do not humiliate them in public. Give them a chance to explain, and by all means avoid, getting petty and personal.
4. Integrity
Integrity is one of the qualities you need to work upon if you want to improve as a leader. Whether or not something is in your personal best interests, should be an irrelevant factor if it doesn’t reflect integrity as a leader; you need to be a role model for your workforce.
The standard of successful leadership has shifted from exerting authority to influencing people. Think about actions you can take to be more influential if you want to improve your leadership skills.
Want to learn more about leadership?
Come along to our next workshop on Thursday July 13th at the Cromwell Hotel, Stevenage SG1 3AZ, from 5 pm – 7 pm. Check out the link to reserve your place:
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