Leadership skills refer to your ability to mentor others, train new hires, and guide teams. An aptitude for leadership is one of the top essential qualities that companies seek in individuals when it comes to taking on more responsibility and upward mobility.
Leadership takes on many forms and people with strong leadership characteristics can be found in all sorts of different organizations – and they don’t need to be the CEO – or even close to that level. Those with leadership qualities have a knack for envisioning what could be and/or grasping opportunities when they see them.
How leadership impacts organizations?
Leaders are more inclined to be willing to take risks, which could lead to positive growth. It’s hard to “level up” in business (or any mission really…) if you’re not willing to absorb some level of risk. Strong leadership envisions the future and how they want to shape their organizations to reach their fullest potential. It doesn’t stop there, because good leaders understand it’s the people who collectively make organizations succeed – so they inspire and motivate people to help them see what’s possible.
Unfortunately, as visionary as a leader might be, if they don’t possess the right soft skills, it can prove to be detrimental to an organization. Recent research by Gallup found 15% of employees are “actively disengaged.” In organizations where employees are disengaged, there’s bound to be lower productivity, high employee turnover, and overall poor morale. As a result, the organization is likely going to experience a decline in profitability.
In a nutshell, it’s important for all organizations to have effective leadership; if not, the results can be disastrous because if employees are unhappy, ultimately, this is bound to trickle down to customers, clients, or other stakeholders.
How leadership impacts team performance?
Good leaders will motivate people to do the best they can, and perhaps even stretch their limits. They’re highly collaborative, which can have a positive impact on team performance. Attributes effective leaders possess include the ability to influence others, exude trust, encourage innovation (e.g. take risks), value ethics and integrity, and be decisive. Strong leaders also can effectively balance hard truths with optimism, meaning they realize not everything will result in success, but there are lessons learned from failures that can aid in reaching future successes.
Even those not in positions of authority can exhibit managerial or leadership tendencies and positively influence team performance. However, there are others who can create a negative environment and the cohesion of a team. For example, individuals who are micro-managers, break trust, or make unethical decisions which can significantly hurt team dynamics.
What is the difference between leadership and Management Style?
The question of how leadership differs from management isn’t exactly clear-cut, as both are often positions of authority. A leader typically serves in the role of manager, but managers aren’t always leaders. And others have no position of authority at all, but display leadership qualities within the role they serve.
For those in positions of authority, the line between leadership and management is fine, but there are some distinct differences that separate the two. Most notably is how a person seeks to take control or handle a situation.
For instance, managers are highly focused on specific areas, such as productivity and efficiency; their days are spent planning, facilitating, and counting value. They tend to follow a plan and stick to it until resolution or completion. At the end of the day, if they can effectively meet goals and expectations, they feel successful.
Leaders, on the other hand, also do all these things, but they do so with an eye towards potential opportunities. Meeting goals and expectations is a minimum, but leaders want more. Inspiration is a tool they use, and often. As they go about their duties, they set a good example for others and use their skills to motivate and influence fellow team members. Rather than strictly delegate tasks, they’ll set expectations and let their teams lead themselves through a project or solution.
One way to look at it is that managers with poor leadership abilities are reactive to situations that crop up during the course of a workday. However, leaders are proactive and are more likely to instinctively seek solutions before a problem even emerges.
Can leadership be developed?
Not everyone is born a leader. According to statistics published by Zippia, a mere 10% of people are natural leaders, and another 20% “show some qualities of basic managerial talent that can be cultivated into high-quality leadership”. For most people, leadership isn’t something you are simply born with; leadership skills, like any other skill, can be developed over time if the individual has the drive and determination to do so.
Becoming a strong leader, or even an effective one, doesn’t happen overnight. It is a process that requires you to continuously evaluate yourself, including your strengths, weaknesses (and ability to address them), communicative skills, and how you collaborate with others. Smart and visionary companies invest in leadership development because, without it, new managers struggle in their roles, which can lead to instilling poor leadership styles just to get through each day.
Providing your people with support, resources, and guidance can help them become the strong leaders they can be, helping them to be more engaged and passing this on to the team members they lead. Without good leaders, an organization is going to have a hard time with succession planning, won’t attract top talent and, in the end, will lose out to competitors.
Most leaders instinctively inspire and motivate. Generally, when other people come to you for advice or to solicit ideas, this is a strong sign you’re developing into a good leader. This means people look up to you and value your opinions. However, this status is usually cultivated over time, it’s not something that necessarily comes easily.
What leadership style is Richard Branson?
Sir Richard Branson is the founder of the Virgin Group, one of the world’s best-known brands. Widely praised for his innovative ideas and aptitude for leadership, Branson doesn’t neatly fit into a specific leadership category; however, he’s generally considered as a mix of transformational, participative, and democratic leadership styles. He’s visionary and doesn’t micromanage his teams or set stringent guidelines – he sets a goal and lets them work through the logistics to reach success – and provides guidance when consulted. His approach is to allow people to learn from their mistakes and encourage them to be innovative. The organizational culture in his companies isn’t rooted in a hierarchical structure. Instead, Sir Branson’s philosophy is to maintain a flat organizational structure.
How Impro can help your organization develop strong leaders?
At Impro, it’s our goal to help your organization’s members be the best they can be. If you’d like to learn more about the strategies you can use to foster leadership, our coaches can help! Our coaching and leadership program is personalized and tailored to help you achieve your goals – Impro’s methodology of self reflection and self coaching takes just 5 minutes a day.
To learn more about Impro, visit our website or schedule a meeting with one of our Coaching Specialists. We’re happy to talk to you and answer any questions.
Source: https://emeritus.org/blog/how-to-develop-leadership-skills-in-employees-insights-and-strategies/
