What are leadership skills? 15 skills every leader should know

Effective leadership skills include clear communication, strategic thinking, and empathy to guide teams to success. Discover the top 15 skills every leader needs to inspire and manage effectively.

By Douglas Wade, Attorney

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Table of Contents

1. What leadership skills make someone a leader?

2. Top 15 leadership skills

3. How can one become a successful leader and what leadership skills make someone such?

4. Examples of successful leaders from the real world

What leadership skills make someone a leader?

The qualities and aptitudes people exhibit that support process supervision, initiative direction, and goal-achievement coaching are known as leadership skills.

Having strong leadership skills is crucial for enabling executives to carefully consider the mission and objectives of their company and to deploy resources in a way that best fulfills those decisions. The capacity for effective delegation, inspiration, and communication are all important traits of a good leader. Honesty, self-assurance, dedication, and inventiveness are other important leadership skills.

IT executives frequently need to be multi-talented. Not only should they possess strategic planning abilities, but their ability to lead should also focus on disaster recovery, risk management, regulation, and other facets of data management.

Top 15 leadership skills

A person needs specific abilities to inspire and guide their subordinates towards achievement in order to serve as a successful leader.

The list of fifteen top leadership skills is as follows:

1. Clear communication: A capable and effective leader can clearly and concisely explain various tasks to the group with different communication methods like phone calls, letters, emails, chat rooms, videos, and social media. The proactive leader does not waste time in the trials of complex concepts and puts everything straightforwardly and concisely.

2. Empathy: Those who are empathetic leaders grasp the essence of the ability to identify and put themselves into another person’s shoes as the fundamental of empathetic leadership. Through empathy, leaders who are able to grasp their workers’ feelings will be more likely to come up with solutions to the issues faced. This trait gives the managers a pool of efficient personnel.

3. Strategic reasoning: Due to their responsibility for tough decision-making, leaders require the ability to think strategically and critically. An organization can be guided toward its objectives by the well-considered and objectively examined actions made by a great leader.

4. Creativity: An innovative and creative leader has the ability to generate fresh concepts and encourage innovation in others. For instance, a good leader will constantly thank and praise staff members for their original ideas.

5. Positivity: The positive energy that a strong leader instills in the workplace inspires and motivates workers to do more. By treating the team with consideration, decency, understanding, and respect, one can foster positivity.

6. Flexibility: The most effective leaders push themselves and rapidly adjust to shifting work environments. They can improvise and solve problems on the spot, and they wear several hats. Along with encouraging team involvement, a good leader remains open to receiving helpful criticism from the group.

7. Resolution of conflicts: Not only can a strong leader prevent disputes in the office, but they may also be swiftly and effectively resolved. The leader maintains composure and makes thoughtful decisions while addressing disputes.

8. Time Management: Being able to assign tasks, prioritize responsibilities, set realistic goals, and multitask is an important skill for managers. By establishing SMART objectives for both themselves & their staff members, effective leaders put time management principles into practice.

9. Reliability: When it comes to keeping promises and completing tasks on time, a good leader is trustworthy and dependable. As a result, the group is inspired to respect the leader’s choices and emulate them.

10. Mentorship: The most effective managers are those who are constantly willing to guide and instruct their staff members. They work very hard to use motivation, clarity, positive reinforcement, and rewarding accomplishments to ensure the team’s success.

11. Recognizing Talent: Competencies and Talent that can be developed in the work environment are quickly identified by great leaders. Nor do they hesitate to recognize the skills and accomplishments of their workers.

12. Responsibility: A leader bears the responsibility for the triumph or downfall of a group. As a result, leaders need to be responsible for what they do and prepared to accept responsibility for errors that occur. As opposed to raising fingers and assigning blame, great leaders accept accountability and come up with plans for improvement.

13. Organization: Having good organizational abilities is essential for leadership roles. A proficient leader is capable of managing multiple tasks, allocating sufficient time for each, setting priorities, and guaranteeing timely completion of all initiatives.

14. Delegation: At times, leaders may find it challenging to relinquish their enthusiasm for projects. That being said, a strong leader assigns tasks in accordance with the needs of the task at hand, taking into account each worker’s abilities and essential skills. Staff members feel appreciated, trusted, and respected, which promotes developing relationships within the group.

15. Feedback: Leaders who are effective never pass up the chance to provide their team members constructive criticism for their work. Employees are unable to assess their performance and identify areas for improvement in the absence of feedback.

How can one become a successful leader and what leadership skills make someone such?

Being a leader is a learned behavior with numerous characteristics. 38% to over half of newly appointed leaders underperform within the initial eighteen months, according to a Center for Creative Leadership study.

Anybody can be motivated to improve as a leader by observing these leadership skills:

1. Good values: Being a good leader requires being sincere and dedicated to the position, as well as constantly keeping in mind that the principles they promote are reflected in their team. A competent leader respects everybody and their viewpoints.

2. Vision: Since a leader’s primary responsibility is to unite a group of individuals behind a common goal, one cannot be a successful leader without developing a clear vision for both present and future progress. A great leader isn’t scared to challenge the status quo and push the limits of what their intelligence can do.

3. Creativity: Effective leaders must think creatively because it helps them to transform obstacles into opportunities. A vibrant workplace full of creative and fresh concepts and problem-solving methods is the result of creativity and leadership working together. Any company can gain a competitive advantage from this.

4. Humility combined with confidence: A leader lacking the self-confidence to take action cannot accomplish ambitious goals on their own. Developing self-assurance as a leader takes time. To improve self-awareness and self-appreciation, for example, those who want to be good leaders might begin by making a daily list of five qualities they find admirable in themselves. A successful leader should be self-assured, but they should also be able to see the positive qualities in others and keep their eyes on their goals as opposed to on themselves.

5. Interpersonal skills: Soft skills and active listening play a major role in a leader’s success. In addition to listening well, a leader must establish an environment that encourages task delegation, candid communication, and quick settlement of conflicts. Projects and teams as a whole can collaborate and share the same vision for goal achievement when a leader has strong interpersonal skills.

6. Places an emphasis on lifelong learning: Successful executives should constantly pick up new skills in order to stay abreast of developments in their field. A successful leader assesses their leadership abilities for areas that need improvement in addition to participating in ongoing education to advance their professional path. For instance, a leader who wants to strengthen their communication abilities can enroll in a leadership program that emphasizes communication.

7. Developing admirers: People follow an accomplished leader. A leader can effectively assist staff members in achieving their career objectives by providing them with knowledge, resources, abilities, and chances for professional growth. Leaders can gain their staff members’ trust by demonstrating concern and empathy.

Examples of successful leaders from the real world

A person may think of Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, or Indra Nooyi while considering the best business executives of history, and they may question how they achieved success. Most individuals can learn the talents necessary for becoming leaders even though they weren’t born with them.

Here are some real-life instances of well-known leaders and their approaches to leadership:

1. Former PepsiCo CEO and chairman Indra Nooyi

Leading with vision in business is Indra Nooyi. She demonstrates the Five Cs of effective leadership, which are clear, complete, cohesive, concrete, and concise. In her opinion, lacking effective communication abilities might overshadow other leadership attributes. Pursuing formal instruction to better her speaking abilities, Indra herself adopted this motto. At PepsiCo, she additionally opted to run a blog where she posted updates and frequently engaged with her staff. This demonstrates that one of the main components of her success and something she values greatly is communication.

“Effective leadership skills are even more difficult to define. However, you are an excellent leader if you can persuade others to follow you wherever you go.” – Indra Nooyi

2. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is a software developer, investor, and business magnate. He adheres to the notion that hard work pays off and feels that success is not something that happens quickly. His enthusiasm and passion for programming produced the programming language BASIC, IBM’s MS-DOS, and ultimately the introduction of Microsoft. Being a transformational leader, he is always growing and inspires his team members to be equally creative. His love of programming continually motivates him to pursue his long-term goals of success.

“Leaders of the future century will be those that enable others.” – Bill Gates

3. Apple Inc’s CEO Tim Cook

Currently serving as Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook is an engineer, leader, and business executive. He leads with a democratic approach that allows all employees to play a part in the organization’s success. His leadership has caused the market shares of Apple to increase, and it may be attributed to his transparency, open communication, and sharing style.

“When you believe that you are headed in the correct path, your work becomes more meaningful.” – Tim Cook

4. General Motors CEO Mary Barra

After being appointed chairman and chief executive officer of General Motors (2014), Mary Barra—an accomplished businesswoman—became the first female head of a well-known automaker in the United States. Because of her ability to give credit where credit is deserved, Barra’s style of management empowers her staff. Her exceptional leadership abilities include navigating through many difficulties and emergencies, such as the Switchgate incident, which resulted in over 100 fatalities due to an ignition switch fault in GM vehicles.

“It is crucial to be in the company of individuals who will confront you and point out your errors.” – Mary Barra

5. Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz

Starbucks gained global recognition and credibility under Howard Schultz’s leadership. By fostering his team members’ personal development as well as their ability to function as a cohesive unit to accomplish goals, he models the transformational approach of leadership. His three greatest virtues are honesty, trustworthiness, and respect. He makes sure that every employee in the organization exemplifies these qualities.

“Executives in business cannot be just spectators.” – Howard Schultz.

Hands-on leadership means getting involved and guiding your team through their tasks and challenges. Good leadership is built on innovation and creativity. Find out why creative leadership is so important in work and what leadership skills creative leaders most often have.

Have a quick question? We answered nearly 2000 FAQs.

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