Top 10 leadership skills required for a leadership position

Leadership skills and qualities take the business to new heights. To gain a leadership position one must acquire potential leadership skills and traits.

Find out the 10 top leadership skills required to become a successful leader. 

Introduction

“Born leader” is an expression that we often hear. Although some leadership qualities are indeed inbuilt like a good sense of humor and charisma.

However, not every leader is born with leadership qualities. It can be developed with the proper guidance and up-skilling.

People across the globe admire leaders. We look up to leadership skills and qualities. Today, effective leadership skills are highly in-demand soft skills demanded in the job market. Appropriate leadership qualities are what it takes to get a leadership position. Leading a team requires certain skill sets with different leadership styles.

There is no correct way to lead the team in certain situations effectively. It requires the right leadership skills and qualities to deserve a leadership position in organizations.

There are various leadership qualities and skills essential to become an effective leader. Some common leadership traits are pivotal to gain a leadership position.

Let's explore 10 leadership skills and qualities that are essential to be a good leader

Strong communication skills

Effective leaders have good listening and speaking skills. Listening skills reflect respect towards teammates and show value to their opinions and ideas. It is one of the most essential qualities of a good leader.

Emotional intelligence

EI (Emotional Intelligence) is considered as the ability to identify and evaluate one’s own emotions and others. It involves five main components as per Psychologists Daniel Goleman: self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, motivation, and social skills. Good leadership trait includes self-awareness which is required to take calculated risks and build healthy relationships.

Integrity

Integrity is considered as the core leadership quality. It is essential to operate business organizations successfully. A leader must stay firm on their beliefs and inspire others with their principles.

Decision-making skill

Effective leadership involves good decision-making skills to undertake the right decisions for the organization. They must have the skills to analyze the situation and take decisions accordingly. Decisive power is one of the most common, yet powerful leadership skills.

Innovation and creativity

Innovation and creativity is also an essential trait of a good leader. New and innovative ideas take the business forward and motivate other team members with thought-provoking ideas.

Self-confidence

Self-confidence is essential for leaders to believe in their leadership qualities and competencies. A good leader must have self-esteem and self-assurance to lead the team effectively. It enables the leader to take risks and achieve the organization's goals as a whole.

Futuristic vision

A good leader has foresight with a forward-looking approach. In other words, they must have a futuristic vision. In today’s highly competitive and ever-changing business environment, this leadership trait is essential to stay ahead of the competition.

Fair Attitude

Good leaders must have an unbiased attitude towards the team members. Biases within a team negatively impact the leaders to achieve greater heights. An effective leader creates a positive team culture with equal opportunities without unfairness or biases.

Delegation of responsibility

A leader must have the potential to recognize people’s abilities and delegate responsibility accordingly. It is an essential leadership quality to maximize the productivity and performance of the team. It also involves understanding the abilities and skills of teammates and utilizing them to accomplish a particular goal.

Problem-solving skills

An effective leader must have the skill to analyze a problem and find a relevant solution to overcome them. This leadership skill is essential to identify a problem beforehand and solve the issue to eliminate barriers.

In a business setting, many companies fail to sustain themselves in the long run due to ineffective leadership. Strong leadership qualities take the business forward and help it sustain itself in the market.

Top leaders like Elon Musk and Steve Jobs have strong leadership qualities with foresight which helps them sustain their position. Their effective leadership styles and approaches have taken their company forward and given a new dimension in the business world.

Thus, to become an effective leader one must possess effective leadership qualities and traits which take the business forward. Leadership skills can be harnessed and developed by taking management courses and guidance from experts. Implementing the right leadership style based on a given scenario is of paramount importance.

Why it's important to implement the right leadership style?

In order to be an effective leader, one must adopt a leadership style that aligns with their personality and organizational goals.

There are mainly 3 types of leadership styles and approaches:

Authoritarian leadership

Authoritarian leadership is considered a “Command-and-control” approach. This type of leader takes little involvement of the peers and undertakes decisions on their own. This leadership style is appropriate only in business settings where team members require direct and constant supervision. This approach is most suitable in industries that require prompt business decisions and leave little room for error. For example construction, military, and manufacturing.

Democratic leadership

Democratic leadership is considered a “Participatory approach”. The leader takes inputs from all team members to undertake decisions. The leader encourages the team members to participate and discuss a particular problem or situation. Sharing knowledge and information is often encouraged in the team. The key element of this type of leadership is collective thinking, unity, and independence.

Laissez-Faire leadership

This type of leadership is self-explanatory. Laissez-faire leaders have a high level of trust and confidence in the team members. The team members do not require constant supervision or excessive guidance to complete the desired task. They utilize their own creativity and abilities to complete the required task for the attainment of a common goal.

Key highlights

• To gain a leadership position, you must have the necessary leadership skills, well-aligned with leadership styles.
• Leaders play an important role in the organization, hence to gain a leadership position one must have a good relationship with other employees in the organization.
• It is essential to identify inner leadership potential and continue to harness leadership qualities to become a good leader.