Good Leadership Skills Used by High Performance Leaders
Good leadership skills are a must if you want to rise through the corporate ladder. Unfortunately you won't find one definitive list that has all the answers. The reality is what works in one organization, in one time and place, may well not work in another.
Having said that ... if you are focused on developing a workplace that hums with energy and have team that is engaged and and performs at peak levels then read on! In many high performance, high energy workplaces there are a series of good leadership skills that seem to pop up time after time. These are:
Competence. This doesn't mean that you need to be competent in the work that your people do (simply having an understanding of what they do and how they do it is sufficient). A good leader brings out the best in others, enabling them to believe that what they do makes a difference, is meaningful, and helps them to remain focused on delivering terrific results to the business.
Supportive. You will get the best out of your team if you are supportive of them. Leaders who destructively criticize their people will not gain their support, or more importantly their full co-operation. When people don't trust or like you they will avoid interacting with you. Consequently performance will diminish and you'll struggle to get the results you want for your team.
Acknowledge & Share Contribution. Acknowledge and praise team members when they come up with good ideas and improvements. Never steel their glory for yourself. It is mean and small minded and will kill anyone's potential for future contribution and growth.
The Art of Anticipation is also a fundamental part of your good leadership skills. Understanding the big picture and stepping above the day to day so that you are proactive rather than reactive is critical. A crisis driven leader is painful to work with. People hate nothing more than being put on an endless round of fire fighting. It is unproductive and soul destroying.
Keep Confidences. This is possibly the simplest of your good leadership skills and the one most often abused and overlooked. People must be 100% confident that you never gossip and that you are always supportive of people/teams who are not present.
Dependability is another important part of what makes a good leader, and again this relates to both your team members and your employer. Your team needs to know that you mean what you say and that you will back it up. Your more senior leaders want to be able to trust that you will deliver on your promises. The best leaders are
Inspirational. Being able to inspire your staff is a rare gift, and is a huge part of what distinguishes good from great leaders. Your people are your engine room, and if you can inspire them to greater deeds and to knuckle down when the going gets tough, you will enhance your own kudos quite substantially.
About the Author
Use the free leadership self assessment ( http://www.leadership-and-motivation-training.com/leadership-self-assessment.html )"Manager to Breakthrough Leader" to identify your areas of strength and weaknesses. Join Shelley Holmes ... and the community of Breakthrough Leaders at the Align-Lead-Inspire Club who are using the 250+ resources that are getting people to work with a spring in their step and setting them up for the success they desire
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