Developing
Good Leadership Skills
Most people know good leadership skills when they see them. They have a gut feeling about leadership but most have a hard time defining what those skills really are. It also helps to know what leadership is NOT. The fundamental assumption of this site is that by learning more about what good leadership skills are and learning ways to practice and develop these, anyone who is willing to learn can become a better leader. But you have to genuinely like people and want to work with them closely. You have to practice your leadership skills and be open to learning. The importance of developing better leadership skills cannot be overemphasized. The success of any organization, department, or group in which you hold a leadership role is largely based on your performance and that of your fellow leaders in your leadership roles. Your level of leadership skill is determined partly by what you say and do, but it goes much deeper than that, too. It’s determined by who you are as a person (your values and attitudes that you may think are hidden), the “real you.” It may surprise you that “who you are” at a basic level is generally pretty obvious to others. Who you are shows in your behavior and your attitudes. Even when your intentions are good, others may may not understand that. Learning good leadership skills will help you better demonstrate the good intentions that you have within you, especially if you follow our
sample list of leadership skills.
Leadership vs. Expertise
Leadership is not built on knowing more about “the WORK” than anyone else. No matter what your work is—whether selling insurance, serving food, operating a machine, teaching children, playing a musical instrument, or anything else you can name—being good at the work does not make you a leader. Being good at the work makes you an expert.An expert is not the same as a leader. An expert is a go-to person concerning the job tasks. An expert CAN also be a leader but often is NOT. People who are expert in the work to be done are often promoted to leadership because of their expertise. Expertise is an important quality, but it requires a completely different set of skills than leadership. And a good leader is often not an expert in the work and does not need to be. Leaders lead those who are experts in the work by providing direction and motivation. Leadership is about getting people motivated and achieving goals. In addition, your own individual success in life is also largely dependent on the level of leadership skills you acquire. Anything you do in life, from your career to personal relationships, is positively impacted by improving your leadership skills. If you have few of these skills, you will always be limited in what you can accomplish. But you can learn, and you can do better.
Bottom Line on Leadership
Many organizations confuse expertise and leadership skill. They are different things, both important but requiring different skills.Like any other human relationship (marriage, friendship, family), leadership is not easy to do well or to do consistently. It’s not easy to be the boss or the group chairperson, a fact that you may not have fully appreciated until you became one. But I know you can learn good leadership skills. I’ve helped many others become better leaders. You can learn to do leadership better than you do now—IF you really want to.
Begin your leadership improvement by checking out our free leadership training material. Right-click here to download this PDF file.
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