What are the Six Most Important Skills of Leadership and Management?
What are the six most important skills of leadership and management?
The six most important skills every leader needs to provide are:
- Clear vision for a better future. Goal focus.
- Clear, accurate and persuasive communication skills.
- Planning, organising and prioritisation skills.
- Conflict management and negotiation skills.
- Positive attitude based upon self-control, self-confidence, self-awareness, and self-determination.
- Inspire a positive mental attitude in the minds of others.
1. Clear vision for a better future. Goal focus.
Leaders lead people towards a vision of a better future. Or at least, they should.
If the leader lacks vision, then they fail in their primary duty.
All great leaders are great because they offer their followers a clear vision for a better future.
If you aspire to be a leader, then ask yourself, "What is my vision for a better future?"
To lead you need a vision.
2. Clear, accurate and persuasive communication skills.
Leaders must have followers, and in order to induce people to follow, many leaders have mastered the art of oratory.
Leaders are terrific communicators.
They may have opposite styles, but both President trump and President Obama, are both Masters of Communication. In a strange way, so is Boris Johnson, whereas Theresa May did not have the gift of leadership communication.
3. Planning, organising and prioritisation skills.
In order to deliver the vision, a leader needs to develop plans capable of achieving them.
Planning, strategy and tactics, organising and prioritisation are also on our list of skills for the aspiring leader and manager.
4. Conflict management and negotiation skills.
Within the team conflict will inevitably arise. The leader must resolve internal relationships.
Lincoln said, "A divided house cannot stand".
So, leaders are often good negotiators and can to win people round to their way of thinking.
5. Positive attitude based upon self-control, self-confidence, self-awareness, and self-determination.
Before leaders can lead anyone, they must first master their own emotions. They must develop a source of confidence, motivation and belief, within themselves.
Leaders do not need outside agencies to give them motivation; their locus of control is inside their own head.
Plato said, "the greatest victory is over oneself".
6. Inspire a positive mental attitude in the minds of others.
Lastly, we come to the most immediately visible attribute of leadership, the ability to affect others.
All leaders affect others, by means of their words, their actions, their appearance, their voice tone and their body language. They hypnotise their followers into believing in the vision and in the leader.
Many leaders have had an almost hypnotic effect on their followers and that can lead to terrible outcomes, such as war; or alternatively, leaders can take the world to better outcomes, such as in the case of Florence Nightingale.
Leadership and management is a complicated skill set, with many subset parts. If you want to be a better leader, enrol on our special two day leadership skills training course, where you will learn many of the secrets.
Definition: leadership skill
In business management, a leadership skill is an ability that lets a person guide a group to reach set goals. It turns ideas into action, shapes strong teamwork, wins willing support and lifts results. If any of these features is missing, the ability is not a true leadership skill.
Show CG4D Definition
- Shapes and shares a clear direction
- Influences people to act by choice, not force
- Plans and orders tasks and resources
- Raises team output and spirit
Article Summary
Great leaders blend six core leadership skills: they set a clear vision, speak with power, plan and order work, settle conflict fast, master their own mood, and lift team spirit. LinkedIn shows 75% of UK firms now rank these abilities top because they boost output and loyalty.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some questions that frequently get asked about this topic during our training sessions.
Why is a clear vision the first leadership skill?
How do strong communication skills help a leader?
What is the link between planning and goal achievement?
How can a manager resolve team conflict quickly?
Why does self-control boost a leader’s positive attitude?
How does inspiring others differ from simple motivation?
Which of the six leadership skills should I build first?
Thought of something that's not been answered? Ask Us Today!
Did You Know: Key Statistics
LinkedIn Learning's 2024 Workplace Learning Report shows 75% of UK organisations rank leadership and management skills as their top learning priority. Gallup's 2023 State of the Global Workplace study finds teams with managers who set clear goals see 17% higher productivity.About the Author: Chris Farmer
Chris Farmer is the founder of the Corporate Coach Group and has many years' experience in training leaders and managers, in both the public and private sectors, to achieve their organisational goals, especially during tough economic times. He is also well aware of the disciplines and problems associated with running a business.
Over the years, Chris has designed and delivered thousands of training programmes and has coached and motivated many management teams, groups and individuals. His training programmes are both structured and clear, designed to help delegates organise their thinking and, wherever necessary, to improve their techniques and skills.
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Further Reading in Leadership and Management
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The Top Ten Leadership Skills
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Three Essential Questions for Leaders and Managers
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The Skills of Leadership
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Essential Leadership Skills
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