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DEVELOPING LEADERSHIP SKILLS
Leaders progress in their careers more than followers, but you neednt be a natural leader. Leadership, to a great extent, can be developed, learned and perfected. These are the essential skills of leadership:
Good Communication
Being Articulate
The Ability to Think On Your Feet
Humour
Flexibility
Integrity
Compelling Presence
Empathy.
Dont worry if one or two of these skills seem to be unattainable in your case. By excelling in the rest of them you can compensate those areas in which you are naturally weaker.
Getting information
A great leader rests a big part of his or her leadership in the way they manage to obtain information from the people they lead. When receiving information, you may be watching for a variety of clues to gather meaning: not only verbal or written information, but nonverbal behavior as well. If you are not careful, facts will be forgotten or distorted. This is because both the individual sending and the person receiving the information may unintentionally obscure the message. To encourage good communication, you need to encourage others to speak freely.
Show interest by leaning forward, paying attention, nodding in agreement, taking notes, and so forth.
Greet new ideas with interest.
Give the individual your undivided attention.
Maintain eye contact.
Use the individual's name.
Smile, relax, and be friendly
Information received may have to be recalled at a later time. There are many different ways to store and retrieve information. Today, we naturally think of computers as a means for storing and retrieving information. The medium is not as important as what your write and how you store the information. You can employ a variety of methods to help you remember details, including note-taking, repeating back, memorization, and mnemonic devices.
Providing information to the ones you lead
This is a crucial skill for any leader. You need to:
Speak clearly.
Use language that everyone understands.
Vary your tone and pace.
Move from the general to the specific.
Use visuals (charts, maps. and diagrams).
Eyeball the listener.
Encourage two-way flow. Don't pass judgement on the question or the questioner. Use feedback and reflective listening to keep your verbal and non-verbal communication in sync. Take notes of the main ideas and review your notes soon afterwards to make sure they continue to make sense.
Understanding the group you lead
Recognize understanding the needs and characteristics of group members as a major technique for building group unity and identity. Recognize and differentiate between values, norms, needs, and characteristics. Gain knowledge of the relationship between planning activities, group performance, and individual needs and characteristics. It is essential that we first understand ourselves and our own needs and characteristics. Only then can we know and understand other people's. This understanding hopefully come naturally as we mature, creeping over us like ivy winding about a tree. By directly exploring and encouraging discovery of these personality traits, we can accelerate the maturing of a leader, adding fertilizer to the ivy and tree.
Knowledge of individual needs and characteristics is very important for every member of a group. As any group forms, an informal assessment of members' characteristics and needs always takes place. This competency brings the process out of the closet and uses it to everyone's advantage. Members volunteer their own needs and characteristics in an open, trusting environment via specific learning activities and exercises. Everyone is accepted and their individual differences are valued, for the differences contribute to an environment calculated to encourage growth.
Knowing the groups needs
Given knowledge of a member's needs, the group can have a powerful impact as it assists individuals in fulfilling their needs. A group leader who strives to respond to individual needs will subsequently earn considerable loyalty and commitment from group members. Members can continue to contribute under very stressful and trying circumstances, beyond their own estimation of their capacity, if they are given specific, positive feedback.
Learning the group members personal characteristics
These are individual signs of who we are. Someone may value competition, need physical recreation and be characterized as an athlete. Characteristics are the obvious landmarks others judge us by (sometimes accurately, sometimes not). "He's shallow--he never talks about anything but girls and football." "She's an idealist-always working for one cause or another, never giving up."
Knowing individual characteristics, a group can tailor its efforts and activities to take advantage of member's given talents and interests. A volleyball match might be held after the work is done to satisfy several athletes. More but shorter breaks might be scheduled for the same kind of person who gets restless sitting for long periods.
Controlling the group
The coordination of individual efforts for collective purpose is externally and internally controlled--by the leader and each individual herself. Setting the Example is a personal, internal manner of control that we hope others will model (when it's positive and appropriate).
The leader sets the example by doing what he expects others to do:
Doing his own job well.
Following instructions with little or no supervision.
Trying his hardest.
Behaving maturely.
Showing a positive attitude.
Control is most often an overt behavior of the leader. There are specific actions a leader can take to exert influence over a group. The leader in a group deploys the people in his patrol in a manner to promote control, breaking up destructive cliques, to encourage greater participation, etc. He stands at certain times to maintain or assert control. He counsels an individual to help him "set a better example."
Recognizing achievement
Give individuals feedback preferably while they are completing the task, or at least when they are done. Observing them while they work is helpful because:
They can avoid rework, that is, fixing what when wrong. Catch mistakes early.
The task will be accomlished more quickly.
Give particular attention to those who are doing well. Publically praise those who are on track.
One of the most powerful actions you can take to control the group is to publically praise individuals when they contribute to either getting the job done or keeping the group together. If you've ever been around a small child--and we were all one at some point in our lives--you might recall how much they love praise. You can heap praise on a small child until you think you`re going to embarrass them, lay it on thick with a trowel, until you just know they're going to tell you to stop--and they never do. They just soak it up. As adults, we love prasie no less, but were embarrased to admit it. Our sense of self-worth, whether positive or negative, often gets in the way of allowing others to give us compliments.
Remember that not only are the members of your group watching you, but make it a point to watch them. Try standing back, lean against a tree, and watch what they do. They will appreciate the confidence you show in them when you don't stand over their shoulders.
When someone does something right, go up and, in a sincere and loving manner, tell them. Don't do it if it's not from your heart--your phoniness will show right through and you'll lose their respect. But do it sincerely and you'll not only earn their respect, you'll gain their loyalty, even perhaps over time their love.
Watch out for those who need assistance. Give them feedback privately. If several members are off target, or if the group as a whole is headed in the wrong direction, don't point fingers, don't blame, and don't criticise. If appropriate, call a halt to the task and bring the group together for a quick evaluation/counselling session. (You'll tell them, "Let's take a short break and evaluate how things are going." What you'll be doing is counselling with them on how they can improve.)
Under certain circumstances, the leader or group may chose to select someone whose specific task is to positively influence and control the group.
Being respectful
The leader gives instructions in an appropriate tone and manner. He or she speaks distinctly without sounding "bossy." Instructions during the job are kept to a minimum. People are told as much as they want or need to know. Encourage individual initiative and let people make significant contributions.
Properly representing the group
Under any circumstances, to faithfully represent the group, you must:
Fully understand the nature of the problem.
Know how the decision (if any) was reached and be able to communicate it to others.
Accurately and responsibly communicate from and back to the original group.
Realize that other groups may derive their entire picture of another group through you, the representative. You must be consistent, possess integrity, and be fair to all parties.
Representing the Group is more an art than an exact science. When the requirement to represent a group regarding a specific issue is known beforehand, then the entire representation issue is much more manageable. It's an issue requiring decision-making skill.
Taking a leadership training course will help you to develop these skills to your maximum potential, and this will have sure impact on your career.
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