3 Leadership Skills That Are Typically Ignored

Leadership Is Needed For Success

It’s generally accepted that for any business to succeed and grow, it requires an effective and forward looking senior leadership group.  Yet certain aspects of leadership are frequently not  fully recognized, and this can prove damaging.

If your company goal is to have a more effective senior leader group, it’s critical that you develop all of the necessary attributes for this goal to be achieved.  In this article we’ll be discussing a few very important leadership skills that are usually ignored or overlooked.

Effective Listening Makes The Difference

Listening is a vital skill to develop if you are a leader.  A leader who does all the talking is often unaware of what’s happening around him.  Others may appear to quickly agree with such leaders, but will likely resent not being given an opportunity to express their opinions or objections.  If leaders tend to communicate without inviting people to respond, those individuals may think their perspectives or concerns don’t matter.  And if they don’t think they’re part of the process, engagement and morale can suffer.

Another problem with not being a good listener is that you can become out of touch with very important issues that create dissatisfaction in the rank and file.  You’ll find that people are much more cooperative and helpful when you show a real interest in what they have to say.  A leader can’t always do what everybody asks, but you can learn what’s on their minds and think it over.

“In today’s high-tech, high-speed, high-stress world, communication is more important then ever, yet we seem to devote less and less time to really listening to one another. Genuine listening has become a rare gift—the gift of time. It helps build relationships, solve problems, ensure understanding, resolve conflicts, and improve accuracy.” 
10 Steps To Effective Listening

Being Decisive

Leaders must have the ability to make choices, even when it’s tough to do so.  You may opt to make decisions using your gut feeling, or by collecting all the pertinent information available.  If you can combine these two, that will often create much better outcomes.  Some leaders tend to be highly intuitive when making decisions, and this can make it more challenging to communicate with clarity.  Leaders who tend to deliver impromptu decisions often provide unnecessary details and go off on tangents.

While making decisions without any careful consideration of others could be a mistake, so is indecisiveness.  Someone who delays when it’s time to make a decision is likely to look weak and confused.  Leaders that appear self-confident and decisive are a huge part of this.  Yet deciding too soon could also be a mistake, so you must make every effort to get as many facts in front of you as possible before coming to any conclusions.

“You can make more effective decisions when you know what the key elements are.  When you make important decisions, there are a few key factors to keep in mind.”  5 Elements Of An Effective Decision Making Process

Get To Know Your Team And How They Function

Leaders should make an effort to learn as much as possible about the men and women they work with.  Aside from their skills and experience, you must know something about them individually also.  This makes it easier for you to build rapport with everybody, and to gain a good sense of who is suitable for which objective.  If you want to develop a cohesive team around you, you must show an interest in your people.  No one desires to be seen as just a cog in the machine, so ensure you treat everyone equally and as individuals.  When you know your staff very well, you can actually make the most of each and every person’s strengths and avoid having their shortcomings create problems.

But the first step in becoming a more effective leader is understanding yourself better; you will then be able to direct, delegate, motivate and develop others more successfully if you also understand their priorities.  To maximize satisfaction and productivity, it’s important to consider how effective your approach may be with individuals whose priorities may differ from your own.  If you can build an atmosphere that addresses their unique needs and preferences so that they can do their best work, you will have a major impact on the motivation of the people you lead.  You can’t motivate people; they have to motivate themselves.  But as the leader, you can create an environment where it’s easy for people to find their own natural motivation.  Support your team members long-term professional growth by providing resources, environments and opportunities that capitalize on their potential.  You will be most effective as a leader if you can help them identify and build on their strengths, rather than trying to fix their weaknesses.

When communicating with your team, it’s important to deliver a rational, structured message.  Some leaders have trouble translating their great ideas into a personal context.  Others struggle to stay on topic or fail to relay the most important points.  When your team does not understand your vision, how can you expect them to get on board?  Clearly communicate and explain the reasoning after you think the message through all the way to the end and take all the individuals on your team into consideration.

“So before you start changing processes, adding efficiencies, and whipping the department into shape, it’s vital that you spend some time getting to know your team members.”  3 Way To Get To Know Your Direct Reports

Little Things Make Big Differences

There are quite a few characteristics that great leaders should have, and the above are a few of the ones that are frequently overlooked.  You have your own style, naturally, and this will influence your style of leadership.  Some leadership characteristics, however, are universal, and if they are not exhibited it ends up hurting the entire business.