Are You Ready to be the Ship’s Captain? What Are the Main Leadership Skills You Need to Succeed?

When one thinks of a leader, they envisage a commanding presence; an individual capable of inspiring and motivating a team. When a leader walks into a room, everyone notices. They don’t just bark out commands; they lead by example.

This is a guide to discover what skills you should learn to help you land a leadership job.

What is Leadership?

Contrary to what you may assume, leadership doesn’t depend on a person’s position in a company or their seniority. There are plenty of senior executives lacking in leadership skills. It also isn’t a case of possessing certain attributes such as bravery and charisma. It isn’t even a question of being a manager!

Leadership is about having a vision while inspiring and motivating others to help you achieve it. Leadership is the ability to alter the setting so that everyone feels as if they are capable of pitching in to solve a problem. People ‘follow’ a leader because he/she offers them something; be it hope or opportunity.

What Makes a Good Leader?

A good leader will do the following:

• Have complete faith in their beliefs and show passion in what they do. This, in turn, will motivate and inspire others.
• Make a difficult decision when necessary.
• Earn the respect of the team with actions as well as words. A good leader doesn’t bully or cajole, they show empathy.
• Know the strengths and weaknesses of their team.
• Understand that people are the key to any success.
• Possess the ability to push others beyond their perceived capabilities.
• Focus on helping the team.

List of Leadership Skills?

While it is better to learn how to identify skills, here is a list of skills required by any leader:

• Communication: A leader knows how to clearly and concisely explain things to a team. You must master several types of communication skills including speaking to a group, one-to-one discussions, and phone, email, and social media.
• Delegation: Alex Ferguson is one of the greatest managers in football history. He ruled with an iron fist, but when age began catching up with him, he delegated many of his responsibilities to others and continued to achieve success. Far from being a sign of weakness, delegation is the sign of an excellent leader. You must know how to prioritise tasks, set expectations, and accept feedback from your team.
• Positivity: Negativity spreads like a virus in the workplace, but positivity can do the same with the right leader. Research shows that happy employees work longer hours and are far more productive.
• Creativity: Good leaders know they must think outside the box for solutions on occasion. If you show your team that you can creatively solve problems, they will be impressed and follow your example.
• Responsibility: As a leader, you must accept responsibility for success and failure. If you make mistakes, it is important to learn from them and show your team that it is possible to bounce back from failure stronger than before.

Examples of Leadership Skills For a CV

It isn’t enough to merely write the above leadership skills on a CV; you must provide specific examples of how you used your skills for the benefit of your team and company. When considering the skills, you want to add, ask yourself “What did I do?” and “How did I do it?”

For example, you can say that you:

• Coached your team to adapt to a new business strategy. Make sure you include specifics about the strategy, especially if you are the person who came up with it.
• Organised meetings, teambuilding activities, collaborations with other firms, and seminars.
• Successfully adapted to specific changes and steered your team through a tough spell caused by unforeseen circumstances.

In your CV, use words associated with leadership such as campaign, advocate, assemble, enlist, coach, guide, lead, delegate, and mentor.

Above all, highlight your communication and interpersonal skills because that is often the difference between a good and bad leader. A failure to communicate with superiors and subordinates means an inability to meet a company’s goals.

How to Improve Leadership Skills

If you are loaded with technical skills, you are likely to get quite far in any organisation, but you are unlikely to make it to the top without ‘soft’ skills such as leadership. Here are a few things you can do to develop effective leadership skills:

Show Initiative

Typically, employees are assigned tasks because they have shown themselves to be adept when it comes to those specific responsibilities. Your goal should be to take on additional projects outside of your job description to prove that you are capable of handling far more than your title warrants.

Critical Thinking

Work on your analytical skills! A leader can see potential problems before they even occur. They also learn about possible opportunities and take advantage of them for their team and the company.

Learn to Listen

Without adequate listening skills, you are unable to get feedback from others, nor will you understand the mood within a team. Listening effectively involves maintaining eye contact, steering clear of distractions, and analysing body language and gestures to see what people are really saying.

Discover How to Motivate

A real leader knows how to influence people positively. If your colleagues lose ambition or passion, you must learn to motivate and energise them. Sometimes, a person will lose interest in their job due to personal issues. A good leader knows how to encourage individuals to talk about their problems. By opening up, they have taken the first big step towards finding a solution.

Career development is dependent on learning and showing great leadership skills. In the modern era, being a successful leader depends on influence rather than authority. Consider the actions you can take to become more influential. If you are already in a leadership role, think about ways in which you can influence those around you.

Finally, you must learn to recognise the value of all team members and encourage others to learn from them. Even as a leader, you can also learn from someone who specialises in a certain area.

Skills Related Articles

• How to identify your skills
• Analytical skills
• Communication Skills
• Interpersonal Skills
• Leadership Skills
• Personal skills
• Soft Skills
• Technical Skills
• 5 soft skills employers want