Episode 38: Top 8 Leadership Skills

This podcast will give you the foundations  to become a better leader.

Leadership is all about influence. And leadership starts with living life on your terms – writing your own rules.

You might be thinking of leadership in the capacity of a company or a big group.

But actually, leadership is both a skill and a personal character strength.

And really, the first person you must be able to to lead is yourself. You need to be able to influence your own thoughts feelings and actions and results before you can do the same on a bigger scale.

When you learn the skills and techniques of being a leader in your own life, you are better equipped to lead and influence others.

And it’s important that uses power for good and not evil.

If we ignore all the leadership jargon for a moment and ask, what makes a good leader?

There are three things.

A good leader is someone who:

1. Encourages their followers
2. Empowers their followers, and
3. Energizes their followers.

Building on that, there are several traits that make good leaders.

1. You are self-aware

This means you have social intelligence and emotional intelligence. You take the time to be mindful of your thoughts, feelings and actions and are aware of the impact they may have on others.

It also means you ask for feedback, not to justify or validate your behaviour, but to calibrate your behaviour via different perspectives.

2. You are transparent in your relationships

This means you wear your values on your sleeve and behave in a way that is aligned with your moral and ethical compass.

Being transparent means your intentions are clear.  Having strong values is great; your ability to demonstrate them is as important.

3. Balanced interactions

This means you use active listening and listen at least as often as you speak, which indicate respect for and interest in the other person.

4. Ethical behaviour

Following through and doing what you say you will do may seem like being productive, but it also conveys reliability, dependability and trust. Accountability is an important leadership trait to develop.

It means that you are firm but fair. This implies that you’re able to set boundaries and it also implies that you’re levelheaded and using judgement wisely. Both of these things are measures of emotional balance and emotional intelligence. And you can only have emotional balance intelligence emotional well-being as it were if you are able to manage your thoughts.

5. Trustworthiness

If you treat others with respect, and are accountable to yourself and others, it creates an immense amount of trust and respect.

6. Supportiveness

Giving appreciation and support to your followers conveys empathy and compassion. It makes you approachable, reliable and helpful.

7. Empowerment

This is sometimes the hardest trait for a leader. Empowerment is the ability to give your followers freedom and choice – letting them come up with their own answers.

8. Action-oriented

I would say a final important skill is your ability to take action. Afterall, leadership is all about inspiring action. It’s so wonderful to have skills and knowledge and capacity to lead, but it’s another to put things into play that will make a difference in your life and in the world..