What makes a great leader? Have you ever just been around someone that seems to radiate leadership effortlessly, actively guiding and receiving respect from those around them, sometimes without doing much at all? Leadership is an attitude and a precedent that you set on a day to day basis, and not something that is only on display during meetings or when the time is appropriate. Leadership skills are fostered over the course of years in managing positions. Some are better than others, and some really have to work in order to appropriately foster those skills. Some of the skills and traits that an excellent leader should possess include:
Being an Employees’ Manager
Part of being a great leader is being able to get your team behind you. Truly great leaders have teams behind them that believe in their abilities, and have their back. You have to foster relationships with your employees by standing up for them when they are right, giving them the opportunity to work to their strengths, and treating them with respect on a day to day basis. Management that treats employees as subordinates only, and don’t get to know them on a more personal level can never truly be great leaders.
Using Resources Appropriately
Your employees can tell when you’re out of the loop. When you aren’t up to date on the newest system or work flow changes, your employees notice. When you aren’t using your employees to their fullest advantage skill wise and using them in the right positions based on those skills, they take note. Being aware of your surroundings and using resources appropriately shows that you make competent decisions and keep yourself in tune with the day to day operations of the employees that you manage.
Be Open About Yourself
Too often people have a preconceived notion regarding how a leader acts. They have this idea of a stalwart and stern leader that speaks in facts and orders. Don’t let that get in the way. People appreciate bosses that are willing to be themselves and be personable much more than they do the stern boss types. Joke around with your employees. Laugh and don’t be afraid to have fun. Let them know what your hobbies are, how you like to spend your free time and what your career ambitions are.
Honesty
No one likes to deal with a manager that constantly beats around the bush, particularly when delivering bad news. It is always best to be honest, especially when delivering bad news. Being straight forward about why a decision was made and explaining your (or the company’s) end of the argument can help them to understand the other sides argument and can help to foster respect from those that you have to deliver the news to.
Develop Your Own Skills
Too often as we climb the corporate ladder we begin to lose sight of how important the development of our working skills might be. There is nothing that helps to foster respect like a manager sitting down with those that work under them and proving that they are still able to do the job well.
Leadership skills are a set of skills that are fostered over the course of a career. Some individuals are born naturally inclined with these skills. Others have to work to build those skills. No matter which group you fall into – it is important that you know what kind of leader you want to be and really work on the skills that you are lacking in order to improve.
Providing a purpose
The most important skill of a leader, however, is to be able to provide a purpose, a sense, for the efforts which all others of the team or group provide. A purpose for the work, for the existence of the company, for the project at hand and so on. Credibly providing the “reason why”, a sense of direction, of urgency and of certainty and conviction, especially during ambiguous times, is a clear and critical leadership skill.
http://mindofmarco.com/what-makes-a-great-leader-traits-to-foster-as-your-career-grows/