All companies have standards for what they expect from a leader. Most offer basic leadership training that guides you on how to be company oriented. A great leader has skills that can be applied at work or in other situations.
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There are basically 2 types of leaders: a natural born leader and a trained leader. Which one is the better leader? That depends on the personality that is leading but both need to have skills to make them great.
The natural born leader find that leadership roles and skills come naturally without putting a lot of effort and time in perfecting these skills. Some don’t pursue a leadership role but are looked at by others as being a leader. People naturally gravitate to follow this person and are easily trusted because they are people oriented verses company authoritative.
The trained leader is trained for the leadership role and sometimes takes the human factor out and replaces it with the authoritative role. This type of leader needs to be trained not only in leadership skills but also in people skills so that they can gain trust and make good decisions for the team as a whole. A trained leader normally would have pursued the role to advance within the company.
So what makes a leader great? Here are the top 5 skills that every leader needs to have to be a great leader:
- Trust – Without trust, you have nothing. Building a trusting relationship with your team is the key. Just like in personal relationships, people need to trust that what you say is accurate and true. They also need to trust your motives for example, are you doing things for the better of the team or are you just trying to move up the ladder of success? This makes a huge difference because if you are only looking out for yourself and not what is best for the team, then you loose both trust and respect.
- Inspire – A great leader will not only lead by example, but will inspire others to do and be their best. Each team member has a contributing role so it is a leader’s job to make sure that the right people are in the right roles to promote personal growth within. Talk to each individual to find out how they want to grow within the company. If a leader doesn’t know or care about what inspires people then maybe the leader is in the wrong role.
- Communication – A great leader keeps an open line of communication within the team. If people feel like they cannot talk to you or that you don’t have time for them, then you get left out on what is really going on within your team. How can you fix what you don’t know is broken? Just like listening. If you are talking that means you’re not listening. Remember that communication is a give and take relationship between you and your team so you want to keep it open.
- Fairness – This is a skill that comes from your ethical and moral values. A great leader doesn’t have to struggle with being fair because most companies have policies and procedures that outline exactly how to handle workplace situations. The leader only has to make sure that no matter who or what, that they treat each individual by the same rules. You can’t bend the rules for one and not another. You can’t pick the same people every time or it becomes either favoritism or harassment depending on the situation. If something is beyond the rule book then that is when human resources gets involved.
- Teamwork – A great leader not only leads the team but builds a great team. Engaging a team to help set team goals gives individuals a sense of ownership and responsibility. Having team meetings to discuss changes or concerns helps the team grow together and opens the lines of communication. Challenge your team as a team to come up with ideas to solve problems or to make improvements in the area. Teamwork gets everyone involved and engaged, including the leader.
Other leadership skills that are helpful include: decision making, problem solving, vision, management, planning, organization, delegating, responsible and accountable. There are so many skills a leader should have but it is up to the individual to want to grow these skills. Experience and time will show how great a leader truly is.
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