What is leadership skill?
Leadership skills are an essential component in positioning executives to make thoughtful decisions about their organization's mission and goals, and properly allocate resources to achieve those directives. Valuable leadership skills include the ability to delegate, inspire and communicate effectively. As a leader, you need to be able to clearly and succinctly explain to your employees everything from organizational goals to specific tasks. Leaders must master all forms of communication, including one-on-one, departmental, and full-staff conversations, as well as communication via the phone, email, and social media. A large part of communication involves listening. Therefore, leaders should establish a steady flow of communication between themselves and their staff or team members, either through an open-door policy or regular conversations with workers. Leaders should make themselves regularly available to discuss issues and concerns with employees. Leaders need to inspire their workers to go the extra mile for their organizations; just paying a fair salary to employees is typically not enough inspiration (although it is important too). There are a number of ways to motivate your workers: you may build employee self-esteem through recognition and rewards, or by giving employees new responsibilities to increase their investment in the company. Leaders who try to take on too many tasks by themselves will struggle to get anything done. These leaders often fear that delegating tasks is a sign of weakness, when in fact it is a sign of a strong leader. A positive attitude can go a long way in an office. You should be able to laugh at yourself when something doesn't go quite as planned; this helps create a happy and healthy work environment, even during busy, stressful periods. Employees need to be able to feel comfortable coming to their manager or leader with questions and concerns. It is important for you to demonstrate your integrity – employees will only trust leaders they respect. Mishaps and last-minute changes always occur at work. Leaders need to be flexible, accepting whatever changes come their way. Employees will appreciate your ability to accept changes in stride and creatively problem solve. A leader is responsible for both the successes and failures of his or her team. Therefore, you need to be willing to accept blame when something does not go correctly.
What does good leadership look like?
Great leadership is the ability to always bring out the best in others, through leading by example, coaching, being accessible and making smart courageous decisions that steer others whilst letting them learn. Leaders are only as great as the positive impact they have on other people - past, present and future. “A great leader posses a clear vision, is courageous, has integrity, honesty, humility and clear focus. Great leaders help people reach their goals, are not afraid to hire people that might be better than them and take pride in the accomplishments of those they help along the way.” Many experts across countless leadership books and articles agree on certain principles required for leading a team to greatness, but when it comes down to it, the most important factor is whether or not the leader is getting the job done. My philosophies on leadership have evolved over time through research, experiences in combat as a Navy SEAL and from my successes and failures running my own businesses. I believe that the best leaders are passionate about developing the emerging leaders around them, they constantly work to improve their emotional intelligence and know that a strong team culture is the foundation for accomplishing the mission. They are in a perpetual state of preparation and embrace the inevitable changes their businesses will face.
How do leaders think?
To be an effective leader, you need to think like a leader. Successful leaders tend to share habits of thought that set them apart. While these patterns have many elements, they're grounded in an understanding of the power of thought. Everything we think, like everything we do, has consequences. Successful leaders tend to share habits of thought that set them apart. While these patterns have many elements, they're grounded in an understanding of the power of thought. Everything we think, like everything we do, has consequences. Positive thoughts grow into positive attitudes that in turn grow into positive outcomes--and negative thoughts do the same in the other direction. As the saying goes, we become what we think. While most people express their hopes and aspirations in terms like "I hope I get" or "I want to do," successful leaders understand that it's we before I and us before me. Their team, the people they lead, are at the forefront. Problems are real, and they warrant our attention, but they don't go away without solutions. Knowing things aren't working is a good first step but nothing more. Great leaders understand that focusing on problems brings more problems but focusing on solutions opens up opportunities. Most people think of success as something to be achieved as an individual, believing that if something good happens it's because they made it happen. Successful leaders understand that the diverse strengths of a team are much more likely to create and maintain success. Their key belief: together we can do great things. Most of us are at least somewhat preoccupied with wanting recognition for our hard work and a job well done. Successful leaders are usually going in the opposite direction, constantly looking for new opportunities to acknowledge those who have done the hard work. They care more about giving recognition than receiving it.
What a leader should do?
Leaders help themselves and others to do the right things. They set direction, build an inspiring vision, and create something new. Yet, while leaders set the direction, they must also use management skills to guide their people to the right destination, in a smooth and efficient way. Leadership can be hard to define and it means different things to different people. In the transformational leadership model, leaders set direction and help themselves and others to do the right thing to move forward. To do this they create an inspiring vision, and then motivate and inspire others to reach that vision.
Why do I want to be a leader?
Having a mission for your team or organization is the best reason there is for wanting to be a leader. The best leaders put most of their time and energy into helping other people be more successful, by making connections, giving feedback, and providing the resources they need. Leadership is a good fit for you. Money is nice, no argument. And many of the highest paid positions come with a leadership role. But if all you want is a bigger paycheck, you're on the wrong track. You'll spend too much time fretting over why your direct reports aren't doing what you want to properly enjoy your wealth. There are a lot of other roles out there--consultants, educators, speakers--where you can use your skills and be well paid without being responsible for what anyone else does. Rake in the green stuff and keep your peace of mind at the same time. Power means making the difficult decisions. Power means being the one to determine when employees are fired or laid off. It means disappointing and upsetting people on a regular basis. Sound like fun? It isn't. Being a leader can come with some nice perks. People tend to be polite to you. You might get the nicer room at the hotel or, depending on your company, the bigger office. But if you're like most good leaders you'll spend little of your time luxuriating in these fringe benefits, and a lot of it worrying about the results you're trying to achieve. It's less fun than it looks. A few years ago I was struck by a vision: A banner with the ASJA (American Society of Journalists and Authors) logo across the entrance of the Javits Center in Manhattan, and several thousand people attending the ASJA conference inside.
What is the best way to solve a leadership problem?
They anticipate the unexpected and utilize the strengths of their people to assure the strategy leads to a sustainable solution. Never shoot from the hip when problem solving. Avoid guessing. Take enough time to step back and assess the situation and the opportunities that each problem represents. Leaders who lack this wisdom approach problems with linear vision – thus only seeing the problem that lies directly in front of them and blocking the possibilities that lie within the problem. As such, they never see the totality of what the problem represents; that it can actually serve as an enabler to improve existing best practices, protocols and standard operating procedures for growing and competing in the marketplace. A leader must never view a problem as a distraction, but rather as a strategic enabler for continuous improvement and opportunities previously unseen. Problem solving requires transparent communication where everyone’s concerns and points of view are freely expressed. I’ve seen one too many times how difficult it is to get to the root of the matter in a timely manner when people do not speak-up.
