Developing Your Leadership Skills to Boost Your Potential and Your Influence
The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority. ~ Ken Blanchard
It takes hard work, courage and taking risks to be a leader. You have to be able to find solutions to problems and make things better while not falling apart yourself. Being a leader means being a role model for people to follow and doing things that will help the community, your employees or even the world be improved.
The job of a good leader is to help others do their best by demonstrating specific attitudes, behaviors and skills that inspire and guide others to follow you.
Leadership has changed a great deal in the past few years. In the past leadership was viewed as you being the expert and everyone following you. Leaders of today not only build their business but create products and services that help improve the world, or at least a small portion of the world. For example, Steve Jobs built the Apple empire where the products are used worldwide. The same for Mark Zuckerberg and his social network, Facebook. He led the company to become the network that connects nearly 2 billion people worldwide.
"We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face ... we must do that which we think we cannot." - Eleanor Roosevelt
Leadership requires courage, confidence and communication. A good leader is passionate and committed, with a strong positive attitude.
Being a leader is different from being a manager. Managers make sure the day to day things are being taken care of. Leadership is more about being confident, setting good examples and being a good listener. Leadership skills are not just for the the workplace. Your personal and social life also benefits from having good leadership skills.
In this blog I’ll look at what makes a good leader and why leadership skills are necessary in every area of your life. Then we’ll move on the why the old way of leading is not longer the best way to be a leader. Next, we delve into how to develop your leadership skills along with the common mistakes you might make and how to fix them.
Let’s get started.
5 Features of A Good Leader
Before we talk about why leadership skills are important in life, you need to know what makes a good leader. There are many characteristics of a good leader. Here we look at 5 of the top features.
Strong communication skills.
Being an effective communicator is necessary to be a good leader. You need to be able to convey to your team or others what your vision is so they can carry it out. Being able to describe what you want done helps your team efforts in moving forward. You also need to have an open-door policy where you are accessible to discuss openly what is happening between you and others, your team members or anything going on in your business.
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." - Bernard Baruch
Self Confidence.
Being self-confident is the foundation in anything, but especially in leadership skills. Leaders have followers and if you doubt your own skills and competence, no one will follow you. People look for leaders who believe in themselves and their abilities.
“Self-confidence is the fundamental basis from which leadership grows. Trying to teach leadership without first building confidence is like building a house on a foundation of sand. It may have a nice coat of paint, but it is ultimately shaky at best.” Francisco Dao, leadership strategist for INC.com
Self-confident leaders possess other skills like decision-making, good communication and courage.
A Positive Attitude.
A positive attitude can be contagious. When you lead with a happy and positive attitude, people tend to work harder and are happier themselves. People don’t want to follow someone who is negative and only sees the problems. Leadership means motivating and inspiring your followers in a positive way.
Good Decision-making skills.
Leaders will be faced with many decisions. Some will be small while others will have an impact on many others. Leaders trust in their decisions and stand by them.
"Trust yourself--you know more than you think you do." - Benjamin Spock
Strong Morals.
People with strong morals have good leadership abilities. They are accountable for their actions, have humility and honest integrity. Moral leaders are more likeable and will have more followers because of it. They don’t make excuses, lie or brag about what they have accomplished.
Moral leaders share the spotlight of their successes with those who helped them. They are honest and follow through on what they say they will do. They have courage and face their fears. To be a leader with strong morals repeat the affirmation of I gain power when I share power with others. And put it into practice.
"Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear." - Mark Twain
Why Leadership Skills are Important in Life
Now we are going to look at why leadership skills are an important part of everyday life.
It’s not something we really think about but having good leadership skills is important in every part of our life. Leadership skills are needed when we are going through challenges and difficulties. They are necessary when we need to solve problems or make decisions.
Leadership skills play a role in how we raise our kids, deal with taking care of elderly parents and how we manage our money. As parents, for instance we want to raise our kids to be confident, well-adjusted adults. In order to do that, we must first have the leadership skills that will inspire them to follow our example.
"Man, often becomes what he believes himself to be. If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it. On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning." - Mahatama Gandhi
How leadership works in different areas of life
“Positivity, confidence, and persistence are key in life, so never give up on yourself.” Khalid
Career. Good leadership skills help you advance your career, go after the career you want and while doing so, inspire others to follow you. Skills like having humility, good communication skills and integrity all go hand in hand in pursuing a satisfying career.
Why Traditional Leadership Fails
Traditional leadership models, also known as Authoritative/Directive leadership, is a management style that’s been used for many years.
The definition of an authoritative leadership style, according to Wikipedia (source), is exemplified when a leader dictates policies and procedures, decides what goals are to be achieved, and directs and controls all activities without any meaningful participation by the subordinates. Such a leader has full control of the team, leaving low autonomy within the group.
This type of total control is outdated and often leaves employees feeling like they’re opinions don’t matter, they are being led by a dictatorship and feel resentment.
Traditional leadership is:
Controlled
Dominates without interaction
Independently sets policies and procedures
Has one-way communication
Are often poor listeners and problem solvers
This type of leadership fails in todays business world. It doesn’t allow room for constructive feedback, creative thinking and innovation. Employees might feel like they don’t have any input and are powerless to change things. The success or failure of the business/project depends on the managers knowledge and expertise. And finally, it limits the growth of employees with experience, making them potentially look for work elsewhere.
Instead, a newer type of leadership that allows for more flexibility, inspiring workers and sharing control and responsibility of projects while trusting workers to work independently without being micromanaged.
Developing your leadership skills
"Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy." - Norman Vincent Peale
The skills you need to be a successful leader (or individual), is more than just having the natural talent to be a leader. Many of the skills can be developed and honed with time and practice. Simple practices you can do in your everyday life will help you build leadership abilities.
Learn to listen and communicate.
Listening is an essential skill of being a good leader. Put away your phone or other gadget, look others in the eye and really listen to what they are saying. Nod and communicate with them in a way the other person knows you are really listening and understand them.
Communicating and listening can be tough, especially with certain people in your personal life. Learning this skill even when it’s difficult builds your leadership skills and helps you relate to other people.
Get involved with causes you care about.
Raise your hand when an opportunity to lead others becomes available. Volunteering is a great way to learn leadership skills that might include strategic planning, interviewing others, and learning procedures and processes.
Be more intentional in making decisions in your personal life.
Thinking about what you’re doing and deciding if it’s the best choice, whether it’s in your relationships, finances, or some other area of your life, builds skills that are necessary for leaders. Being more mindful in your actions and decisions, helps you develop a strong sense of identity making us a better leader not only in our own lives but in the lives of others as well.
Have a diverse group of people with varied life experiences and backgrounds in your life.
Become involved in community organizations, church or other groups to meet people with different experiences and ideas than your own. This can expand your way of thinking and teach you to learn to value the opinions of all.
Take responsibility for your own actions.
Did you forget to do something important for someone? Own up to it and make amends. Don’t make excuses for your actions. Follow through when you give your word. Don’t lie and procrastinate.
Another thing you can do daily is to begin saying affirmations that help you build your leadership skills. Here are a few examples to get you started:
My story inspires others to change
I set trends and think outside the box that others follow.
I shape my own future. What I believe, I become.
I am an outstanding, confident leader
I lead others by being a good example
I inspire and motivate others to reach their goals
I do the difficult and challenging tasks with strength and resolve.
Everyday actions from paying your bills on time to treating others with respect are lessons to learn in building your leadership skills.
Do This Next
Now that you’ve discovered what leadership is and how it effects every aspect of your life it’s time to begin developing the skills to be a good leader. It takes hard work, responsibility and working on building your skills daily to become a good (or better leader).
Leadership is a skill that begins early. We learn how to be humble, have confidence and to care about others as children and young adults. We’re taught to be responsible and honest as well.
Later, we learn that leadership skills are necessary in every area of our lives. We use them in raising kids, success at our careers, in job hunting and as volunteers.
To have good leadership skills you must continually work on improving yourself. Learn how to communicate better by taking classes on it. Become more creative by practicing your creative thinking skills.
Become self-confident in your abilities. One way to do this is to repeat affirmations like “I am confident in my abilities.”
Leadership isn’t about being a manager. It’s about setting a good example, guiding and helping others and inspiring others to do their best.
In my mentoring and coaching most of the time we come back to one of these points. In my coaching MOVE UP! I focus on leadership: the soft skills, the mindset and the practical techniques to lead with ease, confidence and fun. Click here if you want to join the course to get the most recent information. Here is a link to book a discovery session with me to find out if I am the right coach for you.
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