Leadership by definition means leading others, whether people or organizations, so no leaders can exist without followers. It can also be explained as a way to direct, guide, and influence behavior and work toward the accomplishment of a specific goal under given circumstances. This means that skills in leading and managing people are absolutely crucial for effective leaders to reach their final destination.

For effective leadership, communication, having a vision, strategic thinking, the capability of building a team, and empathy/motivation are the basic skills you need to grow to get the chequered position.

Communication 

This is perhaps THE  MOST  important skill, which will encompass all others, needed to be a good leader. Anybody who can articulate his / her ideas or messages with clarity will have the capability to influence stakeholders whether they are team members, peers, bosses, or even shareholders. Active listening, giving feedback, speaking in public, and holding difficult conversations are part of effective communication. These people can therefore influence, people (s), and organizations to work for a common objective easily.

Vision

A clear and compelling vision is essential for inspiring and guiding a team toward a common goal.

A vision is an inspirational statement of an emotional future of a company or group. Vision describes the basic human emotion that the founder(s) intend to be experienced by the people the organization interacts with- internally and externally. A clear vision binds the team together to a common objective. It is the responsibility of the leader to articulate the vision statement in a way that is clearly understandable to all concerned, right from the bottom to the highest hierarchy in the organization

Strategic Thinking 

Strategic thinking focuses on finding and developing unique opportunities to create value for the organization. It is a thinking process used by individuals to solve a problem or a set of problems under current circumstances. This includes careful and deliberate anticipation of threats, vulnerabilities to guard against, and opportunities to pursue. Strategic thinking and analysis lead to a clear set of goals, plans, and new ideas required to survive and thrive in a competitive, changing environment. It requires research, analytical thinking, innovation, problem-solving skills, communication, and leadership skills along with decisiveness.

Team Building

People management is key to effective leadership; knowledge and skills are attainable, however managing people is a great gift to have, especially when teams are large and diverse with a multi-lingual / cultural mix. Good teams will have increased communication which means better understanding within the team,  collectively identifying problems, and facing challenges together. A good team is more than half the battle won by a leader.

Empathy / Motivation

This is another great skill to hone or possess to be an effective leader. One has to keep the team motivated in order to get their best under any given circumstance. In addition, leaders need to be empathetic with all team members – empathy means being able to understand the needs of others which requires an awareness of other people’s feelings. In the context of leadership, it means you have to consider the emotional impact of someone’s work and motivate accordingly.

While these are the main areas of focus, leadership includes other principles as well like empowerment, adaptability, integrity (sub-set of teambuilding ), continuous learning, decision-making abilities, and resilience. Mostly all these skills need to be practiced to sharpen them, of which the most important are people & strong communication skills which go a long way in shaping the future of a leader.

As usual, feel free to your comments!