The age old cliché of ‘Great
leaders are born not made’ is
thrown around a lot in many
walks of life, whether you are
talking about the manager at
work or the captain of your
football team. Leadership skills
are all so important in everyday
life.
Personally, I don’t buy into this. I
think that anybody can put their
mind to being a great leader: it is
all down to motivating yourself
individually and being willing to
continually improve yourself.
Possessing these top ten traits of
successful leaders and putting
them into practice on a regular
basis will make people not only
look up to you as a manager, but
also as a leader.
Here are the leadership skills:
1. Inspire Action
Admittedly the ability to inspire
action is a skill that does take
time and practice. Make sure the
vision that you have is realistic
and set suitable targets that
follow the SMART acronym: make
sure the targets are specific,
measurable, attainable, realistic
and timely.
2. Be Optimistic
Optimism flows from the top
down – working with people who
are doom and gloom dampens
the mood for everyone. Try and
deal with negative employees
effectively, make them share
your vision and try to convey
this passion you have. Don’t be
too persistent; make them see the
benefits of being more positive.
3. Be There
An effective leader is there for
their staff and does not berate
them for their mistakes. The
people who work for you are
only human – it is how they
learn from their mistakes that
matter . Be truthful with your
employees and be someone who
they can trust. This trust will
then be reciprocated and it will
make for a lot better working
environment.
4. Communicate
Clearly
Two-way communication is an
absolute essential element for a
leader who possess true
leadership skills –make sure
meetings you have with your
staff mean something.
Continually review the progress
of your staff and in turn listen to
any concerns that they may have.
Constantly express the goals and
targets that the organisation has
to ensure that the people in your
organisation know what they are
working towards.
5. Be Decisive
Not stuttering or flinching when
having to make a big decision is
the sign of a quality leader – take
risks when necessary but do not
be reckless. Your behaviour is
mirrored in your staff so being
reckless with risks can be
disastrous if all members of your
workforce are doing this. Make
informed decisions and do the
appropriate research and gather
the information that is necessary.
6. Know Your Organisation.
You should live and breathe the
organisation you work for. I
know it has been previously
mentioned but you should always
be working towards the aims and
objectives that the company has
in place. As a leader it is your job
to create an effective strategy that
is adaptable to change and fits in
with your employees.
7. Continue Improvement Yourself.
because you are a manager
does not mean you are the end
product when it comes to
personal progression. In my
opinion the learning curve never
ends. They say that knowledge is
power so if your employee’s see
that you are always improving
yourself, they will follow suit
and it will encourage them to
keep learning. Always
communicate to your employees
that training is always available
to them should they want to
improve, and this should be
allocated within the budget.
Leadership skills no matter how
good will teach you that you
always have room to grow.
8.Act With Integrity
I cannot stress how important
trust is in the workplace. You
spend weeks of your life
surrounded by the same people
and if there is no trust there then
it will be difficult to operate
successfully. If you can be
trusted and operate in a morally
correct fashion then it is a lot
easier for your workforce to look
up to you.
9. Have Empathy
We all experience different
emotions at work and it’s vital
for an effective leader to
recognise the emotions that their
team are going through. Has
someone just closed a big deal ?
Then congratulate them. Is
someone not hitting their
targets? Then encourage them.
Knowing you are there for them
regardless is an ideal trait for a
true leader.
10. Be Committed
Mucking in with the team and
getting your hands dirty shows a
real leading-from-the-front
attitude. Asking your team to
work late to achieve the company
goals while you leave early
shows a total lack of togetherness
that you will want to achieve.
If you are self-motivated enough
then you are more than capable
of becoming more of an effective
leader . Be personable so your
staff can relate to you and follow
the above traits and I guarantee
that you will see an all-round
improved performance in
yourself and in the people you
are responsible for.
Can you add any more to this
list? I would love to hear your
thoughts on quality leadership
skills.
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