Have you every wondered what makes someone a leader? Is it that they have people reporting to them in a work setting? Is it someone who is elected to a position? Do you consider yourself a leader? Chances are, if you don’t, you probably should.
Leadership is many things, but one thing I have seen time and time again throughout my life is that many people think they need a title or people reporting to them to be a leader. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Everyone has the ability and circumstance to lead; albeit in different ways. It might be a situation with friend or family, maybe on a church board, or just in helping to organize an even for your local school. Knowing that you will at some point in your life, be asked to lead, are you prepared to serve in that role?
Leadership skills are crucial in success at the top of any organization or at the heart of any initiative. Without leadership, that organization or initiative will flounder and be unable to reach its full potential…success. The best leaders have skills to influence, mold, and guide people to work towards a common goal effectively.
Most of us don’t start with great leadership skills and experience. It’s not something that is born into us. Leaders are made over the course of thousands of interactions and through trial and error. Sometimes this occurs in a very informal way, just by overseeing a group project, and other times this is done through something more formal, like seminars, school, on-the-job experiences. And many times, it is a combination of all of these things.
To help you develop leadership skills, this article will discuss three prominent skills that every leader should strive for.
There are numerous skills and traits that are beneficial and necessary for leaders. Here are three that you can focus on to get started.
Communication
Leaders need to communicate with their team members and the people they are leading, both verbally and in writing. Communication means being clear about what needs to get accomplished, how it is going to get accomplished, and most importantly why it is important to accomplish it. The ‘why’ is important in order to receive buy-in from those that you are working with and will help as you move forward with the ‘how’.
Communication skills make leadership possible because if a leader cannot effectively communicate with his or her team, then leadership becomes virtually impossible. If your team doesn’t understand the what, how, and why, they will not be equipped for success. Leaders must be able to communicate expectations for everyone involved in whatever project or idea is in progress.
Motivation
A great leader also needs the ability to motivate their team. Great leaders need to inspire and encourage others for the team or organization to do well. If you achieve the things listed in ‘Communication’ above, it will make motivating your team easy, because if they understand the ‘what’ and are fully bought in to the ‘how’ and ‘why’ they will already be motivated to achieve success.
That internal motivation that they feel, also called intrinsic motivation, comes from them being invested in the success of what needs to be done. It is the feeling of fulfillment that they get from completing the task, reaching the goal, support their team, or helping their organization.
While intrinsic motivation is, in my opinion, the best kind of motivation you do have options to help motivate your team yourself. This type of motivation, called extrinsic motivation, happens when a reward is offered for reaching the goal. In school, this might be a good grade, a pizza party, or less homework. In the workplace, this could be a bonus, a pay raise, or even something as simple as allowing individuals to leave early if they finish their work before others.
Every team is different depending on the goal, and every team member may be motivated differently. As the leader, it is up to you to determine how to accomplish that for each person to ensure the team works together for the success of the project, initiative, or organization as a whole.
Planning and Organization
Communicating effectively to your team and motivating everyone to reach their goals is only half the battle for a leader. The ability to plan and organize a project is a leadership skill that can make or break the team.
Planning requires an individual to anticipate potential obstacles before they happen to create strategies for dealing with them and the resources needed at hand if they do occur.
Once a plan is in place, leaders must use their organizational skills to put all the pieces into place.
Organization is more than just having a calendar and keeping on top of deadlines; it is also about delegating tasks to team members and organizing any necessary resources for a project.
Leadership skills are necessary for every manager. Skills such as communication, motivation, and planning & organization can be critical to your success as a leader.
As you read this blog message, did you start to identify specific things in your own career and life? I encourage you to take this opportunity, to audit your leadership abilities and identify which skills you have and how you can improve. The leadership skills that you are lacking may be holding you or your team back from achieving success.