There is a famous saying by Harold S. Geneen, “Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and in actions”. Leadership is more about a person’s approach and deeds than words and feats. Effective leadership stems from active communication, confidence, ability to make decisions, and teamwork. A leader knows what he/she wants and is competent enough to convey his/her ideas, thoughts, and knowledge efficaciously. He/she is always sure enough of his/her abilities, smart enough to take risks and skilled enough to handle a situation deftly, no matter how big the odds are. Hard work, integrity, adaptability, planning, communication, conviction, dedication, and patience are the cornerstones of a leader. A leader guides, trains, fosters unity, and inspires team or organization towards excellence. Leaders are not always born, but made! Imbibing a few key traits of a leader can help you bring out the leader in you. With vision, management and hard work, you can acquire the skills of a leader. Remember, practice makes a man perfect. With hard work, sincerity, and determination, you too can be a good leader. To know more about effective leadership skills, read on.
Skills For Effective Leadership
Communication
Effective communication is the key skill of any good leader. Communication is very important in motivating people to give their best. Poor communication can trigger misunderstandings, disrupt relationships, and stall the growth of an organization. Hence, it is important to have good communication skills. In that way, you can convince others and inspire them to work efficiently.
Persuasion
Adaptation and flexibility are other important traits of a leader. A leader needs to be skillful enough to handle all kind of situations—favorable or adverse. He/she needs to accept changes and accept it as a better chance.
Decision Making
Decision-making is one skill that defines a leader. A leader should be intelligent enough to understand if information is substantial or insignificant and then decide accordingly. He/she must not make a decision in haste or even procrastinate because doing so might complicate the matter and obstruct growth. A leader must be determined and should not shy away from making firm decisions.
Team Work
‘United we stand, divided we fall.’ This is one saying that stands especially true for humans. No one single person can do all work alone, and hence, we need a team. A team consists of multiple people with different skill set. A leader realizes the potential of members and makes them come together and work efficiently towards a single goal. A leader should know how to form a team and keep his team members motivated. For effective leadership, you need to know when to be a leader and when to be a learner or a follower.
Scheduling
Effective leadership requires proper scheduling. One needs to make certain statements or hypotheses about the future and take steps towards achieving that. Plans are crucial for the achievements of goals. Therefore, a leader needs to focus on strategic plans.
Relationships
Building relationships is also the part of competent leadership. Relationships grows from better interpersonal communication in a group. If a leader deals with personal issues of the team members apart from the professional issues, it adds advantage for being a great leader. You must care for the emotions and feelings of others then only you can be successful.
Reliability
A good leader needs to motivate his team to meet their goals. He/she must be honest, trustworthy and sincere towards the work and the organization. Effective leadership can be judged on the level of reliability.
Inspiration
For effective leadership, inspiration is very important. It is easy to feel demoralized at times. A good leader always motivate and stimulate his/her team members to perform. This can be easily done by organizing a team-building exercise or by some other recreational activity.
These few skill sets can boost effective leadership. All you need is self-belief, honesty, confidence and diligence to lead!
