WHAT ARE KEY LEADERSHIP SKILLS TO POSSESS

Great leaders don’t rise to the top by happy accident. Rather, these leaders hone a very specific set of leadership skills that contribute to their own success (and the success of others) such as growing a business, streamlining business operations, or motivating people to work smarter toward common goals.

What are leadership skills in every accomplished leader’s toolbox? If you’re wondering what those key leadership ingredients are so you can apply them in your own workplace, take a look at this list.

1. Communication: Experts estimate that poor top-down communication costs companies $9.3 billion, or $26,000 per employee. Visionaries must successfully communicate ideas, action plans and expectations to achieve tangible results. A good leader lets team members know his or her goals and priorities up-front, and trusts employees to tackle them.

2. Confidence: For others to have confidence in a leader, that leader must have confidence in his or herself. One study found that 70 percent of employees who lack confidence in the abilities of senior leadership aren’t fully engaged in their work. Confidence portrays strength and conviction, and—combined with proven results—can encourage both trust and employee motivation.

3. Honesty: According to leadership experts Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner, honesty is the most important trait of effective leaders. Transparency and honesty models good character, and instills trust and respect among teammates. Alternatively, a lack of honesty can prevent goals from being met and cause an entire team to be negatively affected.

4. Relationship building: Roxi Hewertson, CEO of Highland Consulting Group, blames one of the reasons 40 percent of new executives fail within the first 18 months as a lack of emphasis on relationship building. A savvy leader is able to network and build relationships both internally and externally, nurturing positive relationships with key stakeholders. In turn, these stakeholders (such as other employees, managers, board members, clients and industry leaders) will be more apt to support leadership to achieve goals.

5. Influence: More than half of Millennials define leadership as “empowering others to succeed.” The ability to influence, inspire and motivate others is an important quality for excellent leadership.

6. Passion: Executive coach Nozomi Morgan claims that passionate employees “take the biggest risks, step up to the plate, and help make the biggest leaps forward within teams, companies, and organizations.” Therefore, good leaders must possess a strong vision for their own future and the future of a company, infecting others with their own passion to effect change.

These six core leadership skills differentiate a good leader from a great one, which can in turn positively impact a business in several ways.

According to one study, “extraordinary” leaders can more than double an organization’s profits, versus leaders who are simply “good.” Another study found that quality of leadership has a direct impact on employee commitment and satisfaction.

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LEADERSHIP QUOTES

“...I submit to you that leaders will never be more or less than their soldiers’ evaluation of them. This is the true efficiency report. From most of your troops you can expect courage to match your courage, guts to match your guts, endurance to match your endurance, motivation to match your motivation, esprit to match your esprit, a desire for achievement to match your desire for achievement. You can expect a love of God, a love of country and a love of duty and they won’t mind the heat if you sweat with them, and they won’t mind the cold if you shiver with them.” “You see, you don’t accept the troops, they were there first. They accept you And when they do, you’ll know. They won’t beat drums, wave flags, or carry you off the drill field on their shoulders, but you’ll know. You see, your orders will appoint you to command. No orders, letters, no insignia of rank can appoint you as a leader. Leadership is an intangible thing. Leadership is developed within yourselves and you’ll get stronger as you go.” ––Author Unknown

“If any of my sons are ever called upon to serve their country in time of war, I hope they will have a squad leader like I have. A true soldier, he’s tough and demanding yet always fair. He cares about his squad. He sets high standards and demands that we meet them. He tells us what we do good and encourages us to keep our stuff straight. And he tells us what’s screwed up and how to fix it. He knows as much about us and our families as is humanly possible. He truly cares. We trust him and are confident in his ability to lead us in combat. If he says ’follow me’—we will not hesitate. That’s what leadership is all about.” ––An anonymous SP4 1984

Unknown Source: “Leadership can be defined in numerous ways, but probably the simplest definition is that leadership in any unit revolves around the ability of the person in charge to move a group of people, as a team, in the direction of a common goal. All of the terminology and concepts that have been used to describe successful leaders and successful leadership are built into this definition. These include, but are not limited to: caring, cohesion, teamwork, good training, good maintenance, esprit de corps, communication, loyalty, mutual confidence and respect, good judgment, decisiveness, and the list goes no. The bottom line is that a leader, in order to be successful by any definition, needs to have the necessary skills to create an environment in which subordinates have confidence in their abilities and their equipment, mutual respect for each other and for the leader and will respond immediately, as a team, then the leader specifies a mission.” “Every soldier is a leader regardless of his rank or position. His attitude, opinions, desires and deportment mold the approach to mission taken by those above him and his subordinates. It is the summation of this leadership by ’every soldier’ that makes our Army a winner.”