Leadership Skills Can Be Honed. Here's How
Leadership is the process through which a person persuades others to achieve a goal. It steers an organization in a more unified and coherent direction. Leaders use their leadership behaviors, such as attitudes, values, morals, integrity, competence, and abilities, to execute tasks.
There are different types of leadership:
- Authoritarian
- Autocratic
- Democratic
- laissez-faire
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Leadership skills vary from situation to situation and from group to group. Several Leadership development programs in India aim to train potential individuals. The idea is to sharpen their leadership skills and shape them according to a corporate setup.
An organization expects a leader to manage his team strategically. Thus a future leader needs to imbibe this skill in him for improved functioning.
XLRI strategic management focuses on social skills, academic brilliance, and attitudes.
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How can you improve your leadership skills?
Leadership skill is an innate skill that one can hone if one desires to. Modified and accurate skills are compulsory to lead a team or run an organization. Age, Gender, Caste, and creed should not restrict true potentials.
Often employees exit an organization due to a lack of proper guidance and support. Team members report grievances against their leaders and desires to change the team. Why does this happen?
You can be a knowledgeable and experienced person but not necessarily a good leader. If you want to overcome the obstacles, here are some tips stated below:
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1. Choosing leadership style
You need to understand the organizational setting that you will lead. All work setups are not equal. Some are highly formal, some are semi-formal. Your subordinates will expect a leadership style from you which is at par with the business setup. Some places require an authoritarian style; some need the leader to be understanding yet firm (democratic style).
2. Effective listening and communication
Whether you set strategies or address concerns, you need to be a good listener first. Subordinates favor leaders who listen and communicate effectively. Leadership development programs in India highly focus on enhancing communication skills.
3. Discipline
Discipline is the main ingredient of every accomplished leader. Every leader should maintain punctuality, trust, honesty, and organized work pattern. Subordinates will only function effectively when the leader is disciplined and maintains that in the work area.
4. Empathy
Empathy is a core component present in every human individual. Some are more empathetic, and some are less. Optimal empathy can lead to miraculous outcomes. For example- a compassionate team leader will have more hard-working subordinates working for him.
5. Flexibility
No one appreciates a rigid leader. Employees and subordinates always look forward to some kind of flexibility, be it in work hours or work patterns. They like when their leader appreciates their input in work. Flexibility, in turn, enhances various attributes in workplaces such as motivation, interest, and less exhaustion.
6. Consistency
Impressive results come from a consistent level of quality. When your constant acts and habits are layered atop one another, you will reach excellence. Leaders develop strong teams by inspiring their employees to achieve at a high level every day.
7. Ability to acknowledge strengths and weaknesses
Your abilities have unquestionably placed you in a position of authority. Play according to your strengths so that you can focus on what you do best and assist your company as it moves forward. The most effective leaders recognize their flaws and work to overcome them.
8. Firm Emotional control
Emotions should not have any power over you. You should be the one in charge of your feelings. Thus gaining emotional stability can cause frustration or liberation. As a leader, you should not let emotions get the better of you. Therefore emotion regulation is also an essential part of strategic management. XLRI strategic management training program highly emphasizes this aspect.
9. Decision-making mechanism
You don't want to dither while making important decisions, but you also don't want to dash and make rash choices. This can contribute to you placing your job on the line where their success is endangered. As a result, you'll want to be sure you consider both the advantages and disadvantages of the options you're considering before making a final selection.
10. Ability to encourage
Positive criticisms work like magic! Leaders who provide concrete feedback and positive criticism are always looked up to. When presented with a problem, your team's motivation is what propels them to excellence. That is the time when a team requires its leaders’ encouragement.
11. Delegation
A leader needs to know how to balance personal and professional life efficiently. He should have the training to delegate work among his team members equally. A team does not appreciate a leader who does not provide equal opportunity to perform.
According to Indeed’s survey, 55 percent of employers believe that asking about leadership abilities during an interview is the most accurate way to assess a candidate's capacity to succeed in a post.
As you gain experience as a leader, you'll likely use various processes and strategies to satisfy your employer's goals and the needs of the people who report to you. You may use a variety of leadership styles to be able to function efficiently.
By familiarizing oneself with each of these forms of leadership, one may be able to identify areas where you can enhance or broaden your management style. One can also think of alternate ways to lead that would be more beneficial to your main goal.
Related : Important Stages of Strategic Management Process
Conclusion
Investing in the development of a few good leaders can make a significant difference in your corporation's growth and innovation. A diverse set of leaders can infuse new ideas and enthusiasm into any organization, ensuring that your business is in strong hands when today's executives step down.
Coaching new leaders, on the other hand, can be difficult and costly. Leadership development programs in India offer a cost-effective and precise training program for potential candidates.
XLRI strategic management courses cover a dynamic aspect of leadership skill-building. If you want to see yourself in the position of a team leader for starters, enroll now!
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