Effective Leadership Skills

Knowing your areas of weakness does not make you weak; on the contrary, it allows you to delegate to others who have those abilities, in order to achieve the common goal. Rather than clinging to the false belief that they can do it all, great leaders hire people who complement, rather than supplement, their skills. Working on your areas of weaknesses will improve your leadership ability and recognizing them makes you more human.

If you really want to know what people think, just ask them. You may receive feedback that you are not listening or showing appreciation as well as you could be. If you have established an environment of honest and open communication, you should be able to ask about your good qualities and the areas you need to improve on. Your staff will appreciate your effort.

Being perceptive can also help a leader be more effective in knowing the needs of the team. Some teams value trust over creativity; others prefer a clear communicator to a great organizer. Building a strong team is easier when you know the values and goals of each individual, as well as what they need from you as their leader.

Here are a few of the qualities and traits of great leaders that you can learn and practice:

☛ Self-assessment

☛ Sharp perception

☛ Responsive to the group's needs

☛ Knowing the organization

Effective leaders know the organization's overall purpose and goals, and the agreed-upon strategies to achieve these goals; they also know how their team fits into the big picture, and the part they play in helping the organization grow and thrive. Full knowledge of your organization inside and out is vital to becoming an effective leader.

Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.

Research shows that the top thing that employees want from their leaders is integrity. Be honest, fair, candid and forthright, and treat everyone in the same way that you yourself would want to be treated.

We all want to work with and for people who lift us up into the clouds instead of dragging us down into the mud. Make sure to seek out the positives in your people, helping them overcome their own feelings of self-doubt and spreading optimism throughout your organization.

Highly effective leaders know deep down inside that they and their team can accomplish anything they set their minds to. Failure is not an option. Tentative leaders make for tentative employees. If you're confident, your people will be too.

A team depends on its leader to tell them where they are going, why they are going, and how they are going to get there. People are more motivated when a leader articulates his or her vision for a project or for the organization, along with the steps or goals needed to achieve it.

Try to paint a vision of the future that inspires your people to do whatever it takes to get there. The best leaders also clear away the organizational roadblocks that constrain employees' natural creativity and initiative, unleashing a tremendous amount of energy in the process.

Putting together strong teams that work well is another trait of great leaders. The opposite is also true. If a team is weak and dysfunctional, it is generally a failure in leadership.

You can learn how to assess risk and run scenarios that will help you make better decisions. Great leaders take the right risks at the right time.

Good communication skills are required at every level of business, but leaders must possess outstanding communication skills. Luckily, this is a skill that can be learned.

A great leader is able to be direct and assertive without coming off as overly pushy or aggressive.

Inspiring others is the mark of an effective leader. Motivation is best done by example and guidance, not by issuing commands.

For people to do their very best work, they need an organizational environment that supports them by making it safe to take risks, to tell the truth, and to speak up without being punished for doing so. Support your employees by creating this kind of environment, and it will facilitate their progress toward attaining your organization's goals.

One of the most basic duties of any leader is to make decisions. Highly effective leaders are not afraid to be decisive and to make tough calls quickly when circumstances require it. Once you have all the information you need to make an informed decision, then do not hesitate make it. And once you make a decision, then stick with it unless there is a particularly compelling reason for you to change it.

☛ Inspire action

☛ Be optimistic

☛ Have integrity

☛ Support and facilitate your team

☛ Have confidence

☛ Communicate

☛ Be decisive

Here are some effective leadership skills:

☛ Communication

☛ Motivating team

☛ Team building

☛ Risk taking

☛ Vision and goal setting