Six Leadership Skills That Can Be Developed

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Leadership skills that can be developed

Were you born a leader? Have you been told you are you charismatic and outgoing? If you believe there must be more to it than that, you are correct. Leadership skills that can be developed are more common than a lot of people think.

“Leaders aren’t born, they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that’s the price we’ll have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal.”

Vince Lombardi

Leadership can be defined as the art of motivating people to act toward achieving a common goal. Leadership skills can be developed by analyzing strengths, weaknesses, and creating development plans.

What are Leadership Skills That Can Be Developed?

Leaders in any organization and at all levels need a tool chest full of skills to manage daily activities and the surprises that land on their desks. There are skills that are regarded as higher priority than others that can be developed. Consequently, we will review these six in more detail.

1. Be a Motivator

You need to inspire your team through enthusiasm and passion. You’ll find your team loves when you provide positive feedback on a job well done.

“Success is never an accident; it’s always a result of goal-oriented, diligent actions.”

Debasish Mridha

Your team will also find it motivating to understand the vision, mission, and values of the company as well as your department. Additionally, by aligning daily activities, and celebrating the successes of achievement, you increase their engagement and motivation.

Studies of employee engagement over the years are very telling. Research indicates that leaders who provide regular feedback on employee performance have teams that are more passionate, higher performing and more motivated. Employees who have leaders who show them how their jobs impact results also positively impacts motivation.

Additionally, investing in team resources, such as development, increases not only motivation, but also results and long-term company and personal growth. As you become a stronger motivator you will find that you’re also gaining greater results from your team.

2. Drive Results

Being a passionate leader that creates motivation is a start but as a leader you must also be able to drive results.

“Success is never an accident; it’s always a result of goal-oriented, diligent actions.”

Debasish Mridha

Setting goals is step one. You have to have a clear target in order to hit it. Even more importantly, you have to be able to articulate the direction to your team. This will help everyone work towards the same end.

Creating a plan to achieve those goals is the next step and a critical activity. You want to outline the process to get where you are going. Set milestones and smart goals along the path to measure success.

This will also enable you to create a communication strategy and to celebrate milestones. Everyone likes to see their progress recognized and it’s a great opportunity to capitalize on your momentum.

3. Be Trustworthy

“The glue that holds all relationships together–including the relationship between the leader and the led–is trust, and trust is based on integrity.”

Brian Tracy

There are key components in building trust. They are relationship building, transparency, and integrity. Since these are key skills in building trust, let’s dive into each aspect in a bit more detail.

Build Relationships

Often building relationships is left to chance because we think “oh, I’m a people person”, or “I’m the leader and they will automatically listen and trust me”.

If only. All leaders should be consciously competent about building relationships.

It is crucial for you to be available to your team and to others. Do you have an open-door policy? Do you make people feel comfortable approaching you? Give them your full attention when they speak?

President Clinton was a great example in relationship building. He made every person he met feel like they were the only person in the room. He made eye contact, actively listened, and engaged in conversation with them.

The leader’s ability to provide not only positive but re-directive feedback is essential in building a relationship. Employees need specific, behavioral feedback to grow and develop.

Your employees will feel more valued when you spend time developing them. Assisting people improve in their jobs increases their engagement, drives results, and makes them feel like a valued part of your team.

During discussions focus on being open, honest, and specific when giving developmental feedback to your employees. They will end up trusting you more.

Be Transparent

A fundamental component of trust and relationship building is transparency.

What is transparency to a manager/leader? If you are transparent, you are being open and honest with your communications and feedback. You should be honest when communicating operational results or changes. You should also try to deliver difficult messages clearly and with empathy.

We have all seen communications or heard leaders deliver change messages. We know the other shoe will drop because they were not telling us the entire story. That lack of transparency creates distrust.

As a leader, find a way to deliver the entire message keeping in mind the employee impact and interpretation. Be emotionally in tune and craft your communication accordingly.

4. Mature Your Communication Skills

“The art of communication is the language of leadership.”

James Humes

Embedded in all leadership skills is the art of communication. You should be able to deliver a message at all levels of the organization and in different settings.

There are four actions in communication worth noting due to their potential impact:

  • Aligning company vision, mission and values in communication strategies. Leveraging company values during communication drives consistency and employee engagement.
  • Being emotionally intelligent when developing communication strategies and delivering feedback. Understanding how people will be impacted and how they will perceive information will drive a leader to craft a more strategic communication.
  • Using active listening skills in one-on-one interactions and during meetings to build relationships. Don’t just think about what you want to say. You really need to listen and hear what others are telling you.
  • Being proficient at delivering difficult feedback. It can be an art in itself to deliver feedback in a way that others appreciate. Taking the time to convey the information in a way that will be well received makes it easier for you and the member of your team.

5. Develop a Strategic Skillset

Being a strategic leader means that you set goals, create development action plans, execute, and align resources to those plans. Often times leaders stop at this point.

True strategic leaders also evaluate progress at milestones, then adapt and change their plans if necessary. You should not only use internal and external data daily in their decision making, but enable their employees to do the same.

“Leaders need to provide strategy and direction and to give employees tools that enable them to gather information and insight from around the world. Leaders shouldn’t try and make every decision.”

Bill Gates

The final step in the process is to evaluate the outcomes of your goals. Its a good time to learn and to make enhancements for future. You can use a SWOT analysis to identify strengths and gaps.

A SWOT analysis reviews the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of an aspect of your business. You can assign a team to document what went well, and what needs to change for the future. Its a great example of how to be strategic in evaluating your business.

6. Develop Unassailable Coaching Skills

“Winning companies win because they have good leaders who nurture the development of other leaders at all levels of the organization.”

Noel Tichy

Embedded in building relationships, being strategic, and communication is coaching and development.

Coaches develop individuals by assessing strengths and opportunities then crafting plans to grow these skills. Development Action Plans can be used to focus individuals on specific skill development and to align resources to develop these skills.

You should consistently meet with your employees to review their progress on milestones, provide feedback on strengths and opportunities.

Some resources to check out:

How to Develop Leadership Skills

Just as leaders develop plans and provide resources in coaching their team, they can use similar plans to develop their leadership skills. How do leaders develop their skills?

“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.”

John F. Kennedy

A leadership development process will incorporate the following:

Leaders that are strategic, passionate and disciplined about their development will breed the same passion and discipline in their teams.

Wrapping up the Leadership Skills that Can Be Developed

“The most dangerous leadership myth is that leaders are born — that there is a genetic factor to leadership. This myth asserts that people simply either have certain charismatic qualities or not. That’s nonsense; in fact, the opposite is true. Leaders are made rather than born.”

Warren G. Bennis

In conclusion, leadership skills, varied as they are, can be developed. Communication, team development, strategic thought, and planning are woven through these skill sets. As a leader you must be disciplined and process oriented. As you lead by example those around you will elevate as well.

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