Essential Leadership Competencies
If you’re a manager, you know that management is not always fun. There are many key leadership competencies to be aware of in this field – and most of them have to do with leadership. Not everyone is born a leader; in fact, few are. Most of us must learn how to develop leadership qualities throughout life. We learn competency by trial and fail, trial and fail, trial and fail until we’re where we want to be.
Showing competency as a leader is essential. If we don’t work on our skillset and polish it properly, we won’t be successful managers. But as with anything, leadership can be learned and should be practised. Here are some of the key leadership competencies you should become aware of as a manager.
1. Integrity
The most important leadership quality you should develop is integrity. Without integrity, your character’s stability will be questioned. And as a leader, that’s the last thing you want to happen. Integrity means doing what is right and moral, regardless of who is watching you. As an integral leader, you’ll always choose to right action over the wrong one, no matter the circumstances.
This tells a lot about your character and ability to distinguish right from wrong. It also shows that you’re capable of living by your values, thus holding your organization altogether when harder times will come. Integrity also means being able to recognize when you’re wrong and admitting that you are mistaken. Honesty is the first core value you should choose as a leader – and the most important one.
2. Communication
Communication is the second leadership competency you should be working on. A leader must always enable mutual conversations and open communication gates between employees. If you are unable to do that on your own, how do you expect others to respect your demands? Practice what you preach.
As an assignment writing service leader, I can vouch for the fact that asking for feedback is a must. Be open to receiving information that might challenge you! Ask your team to deliver their tasks in a timely manner but do it gently. Be a respectable leader, not a fierce boss.
Be open to others’ perspectives and create a relaxed environment at the office. Open all the possible communication channels. Give and be open to receiving.
3. Discipline
While integrity and communication are important, self-discipline is also highly essential. If you don’t possess this quality, chances are you won’t get any work done. So, understand how your decisions affect others and only engage in actions that benefit your team. Prioritise your workload and be open to suggestions. Use your energy in a pro-active manner and try to grow each day. Become even better at time management to improve your chances of success.
4. Collaboration
If you want to bring value to others through leadership, be a team player. You cannot do everything individually and expect joined results. Learn to collaborate and ensure that you’re using your teamwork skills properly. First, learn about your strengths and weaknesses and evaluate yourself thoroughly. Then actively contribute to projects that are not your own in order to practice your teamwork abilities.
Adapt, change, listen carefully, and give others the chance to prove their point. Learn how to actively listen to someone. Don’t listen to reply, listen to understand. Engage everyone in your team in the project creation process. Be willing to change your point of view if you’re mistaken.
5. Conflict Management
As a leader, you should learn how to manage conflict. Do not run away from this responsibility, even if it’s tempting, it is, after all, an essential leadership competency to master. It is your job to keep your team together at all times. With so many different people working so many jobs in so many areas of the company, you’ll inevitably have to deal with conflicts.
Learn how to help release tension between employees and offer the right advice at the right time. Make sure that you are aware of all the issues between team players in your company and solve them in due time. Don’t let conflicts escalate to the highest degree – that’s when you won’t be able to stop them anymore, suggests Assignment Geek leader, John McConkie.
6. Problem-Solving
As a leader, your job is not only to manage conflicts but also to solve problems. You must use your creativity and innovative skills to do so. When issues arise, you must be able to solve them properly and in due time. Your experience is therefore crucial to this matter. If you don’t have that much experience, start building it up. Use your logical skills to solve various problems within the company. Learn from your mistakes!
7. Trust
You must trust your employees and your employees must trust you. There’s no other way around this. This is the most important thing I’ve learned as an assignment writer. Companies operate on trustworthiness between these two parties, so ensure that it also exists in your firm. The more trusting you are, the more trust you’ll receive back. So, create trust by offering trust.
8. Initiative
Last but not least, a leader should have initiative. Successful leaders look for unmet needs and meet them. They volunteer on projects to teach employees new tricks. Exceed the requirements of the company and tackle any problem that might appear in their way. They take initiative and solve problems without expecting others to do it for them. They take responsibility!
Final Thoughts on Leadership Competencies
Learning how to become a better, more competent leader is not difficult once you learn the steps to get there. However, awareness of leadership competencies is important. So, look to develop integrity, trustworthiness, problem-solving abilities, initiative, conflict management, and collaboration skills. Don’t forget to take responsibility for your actions. Good luck!
Action: For even more useful content on leadership, check out our ultimate guide on Leadership Skills.
