Leadership Skills

Making the Most of Your Leadership Abilities

Great leaders have much in common: competence, character, and an ability to connect with their counterparts. By cultivating the following traits, you can greatly enhance your leadership capabilities and achieve greater success in management.

Character.

• Treat others the way you would want to be treated.
• Strong moral underpinnings inspire trust and confidence.

Authenticity.

• Be genuine.
• Make sure your actions and words are aligned with your core values.
• Guard against doing and saying things intended just to attract attention.
• Don't make changes just to put your fingerprints on things.

Vision.

• Look ahead and develop a compelling vision of the future.
• Be guided by your vision of what it is you want to accomplish.

Optimism.

• Stay positive and upbeat. People follow easier when convinced that success is at hand.
• Exude confidence in your own abilities and those around you.

Planning.

• Know where you are going and how to get there.
• Constantly evaluate alternatives and resources.
• Plan constantly and meticulously.

Communication.

• Articulate your vision clearly and repeatedly and spell out your plan of action.
• Show confidence in a positive outcome.
• Keep those around you armed with feedback on where they stand, and what they have to do to achieve their goals.
• Listen attentively so you are in tune with your team and your environment.
• Know your friends and enemies; keep malcontents close to win their support.

Humility.

• Lead by example; pitch in and do the work.
• Never ask anyone to do anything that you wouldn't, couldn't or haven't done.

Courage.

• Remain true to your core principles, values and vision.

Flexibility.

• Be prepared to revaluate your plan and shift when necessary.
• Agility is the key to success.

Enjoyment.

• Maintain morale.
• Use humor and other diversions to relieve tension.

Diversity.

• Broaden your cultural and social horizons.
• Learn to see things from different perspectives.
• Venture in new directions, seize fresh opportunities and learn additional skills.

Empathy.

• Cultivate a sense of compassion and responsibility for others.

Winning Attitude.

• Develop and stick to a routine that fosters an environment of security and productivity.
• Look for ways to create small victories that will lead to larger ones.
• Create a sense of accomplishment.

Continuous Improvement.

• Learn from mistakes, the ones you make and those made by others.
• Don't let failure paralyze you.
• Develop ways to improve yourself and those around you.

Empowerment.

• Surround yourself with people who have the skills you lack but that share your passion and vision. Then challenge them to live up to their capabilities.
• Have high expectations; people tend to work hard to live up to them.
• Load your team with the responsibility, authority and resources to do the job.
• Stand behind them when they make mistakes.

Responsibility.

• Take responsibility for your actions; don't make excuses.
• Accept the responsibility when things go wrong and learn from it.

Praise.

• Give credit publicly to others when things go right.
• Never take credit for someone else’s contribution.