The workplace across many industries is a lot different than older generations are used to. In a technological-heavy world that’s dominated by the internet, it’s transformed the business into a hybrid working environment for most. There are also businesses that now operate fully remotely and this in itself presents a load of new challenges. So here we are with 10 essential leadership skills & practices to improve your experience and help you to become a great leader.
For leaders in the workplace, whether it be business owners, supervisors, or senior management, there are a number of skills that they need in order to be successful. After all, a well-managed team or workforce is going to make a considerable impact on the company’s growth and success rate.
In this guide, we’ll look at some of the core skills needed for leaders in the workplace to thrive and inspire their fellow colleagues to work hard and excel in their roles. Creating the right work environment is also very important for too, especially to provide employees with workplace satisfaction.
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How are leaders influential in the workplace?
Many businesses struggle to keep their employees engaged or fail to appreciate their efforts within the workplace, despite it being easy enough to do so.
Leaders are influential in the workplace in many ways, with 79% of employees quitting after inadequate appreciation from their managers. Those that lead are influential not only due to their position in the business but the knowledge and guidance they can share with colleagues who need it. There are many benefits to having effective leadership in the workplace.
They create respect and appreciation
Employees need to be valued, regardless of their position because ultimately, every employee is integral to the company’s success. Without that value, they’re more likely to look elsewhere for that appreciation.
From understanding their workload capacity to rewarding their latest efforts on projects they’ve been working on, it’s all beneficial to employee satisfaction.
Encourages a positive working environment
A positive working environment is one that thrives but it’s so easy to create one that many of your employees dislike. A leader that can build an environment that’s positive and that colleagues want to work in, is a great sign of leadership within the organization.
It’s also another contribution to employees that may have otherwise walked away from the company. With 85% of employees experiencing some kind of conflict, it’s important to be proactive in bringing that positivity to the workplace.
10 core skills leaders need for the business
Whether you’re a leader within the business or you know someone who needs guidance on how to be a better leader, here are ten core skills that are beneficial to help improve the workplace.
1. A willingness to adapt.
Leaders, many of those in today’s working environment needs to be able to adapt. We’ve already seen the impact that the pandemic has had on the workplace, especially with so many still working from home or shifting between home and the office.
Adapting to new environments or new ways of working is important for any leader looking to excel in their position. Adaptability is something that’s extremely critical as a leader, especially as things can change within the business often and an unwillingness to change can set the company back from going further.
2. Flexibility for your employee’s needs and wants.
Having flexibility within the role of a leader is useful, especially when it comes to the needs and wants of your employees. It’s useful to remind yourself that everyone has a life outside of the workplace and therefore, flexibility on those occasions where they need to work from home or have time off is key to workplace satisfaction.
If an employee feels like they can’t ask for time off or flexibility to work from home in situations that require it, they’re likely not happy within the workplace. Not only that but the relationship between the leader and his employees can be damaged as a result.
3. Being organized and delivering with attention to detail
Being organized is something that you need to have as a leader, especially when you’re going to be pulled from all directions. That and attention to detail is important, something that all your employees should have as a skill.
When it comes to training your staff or hiring the best employees for the business, TestGorilla’s attention to detail test can be helpful to understand how attentive employees can be when it comes to their daily tasks.
As a leader, it’s something that you yourself can benefit from practicing and making sure you’re setting yourself up with a schedule to organize your day-to-day management.
4. An excellent listener rather than being a good speaker.
Being a good listener is just as important as being a good speaker. Yes, there will be times when talking is required but that shouldn’t mean you overlook the need to listen to your employees.
Proactiveness when it comes to listening is needed whether that’s getting the employee’s input in a meeting to being an ear for their concerns. A leader is more than someone who just leads and needs to be a confidant in some ways for the employee. Being approachable is important to building a working relationship.
5. Providing transparency.
As a leader, transparency is one that’s needed. From sharing information at the right time to providing honesty in your intentions. Keeping your team or workforce within the loop of what’s going on where possible is key.
Having honesty and transparency as a leader is likely going to influence the rest of the team positively. Creating that environment where being truthful is greatly appreciated is something that you want to have. Lying and deceit is never going to promote a good working environment and it’s going to damage a lot of relationships as a result.
6. Using the right applicant tracking system for the best hires
As a leader, you’re going to need to make new hires for your time or workforce from time to time. With the responsibility of a leader, you may need to be integral to the process of hiring top talent for the business.
With that in mind, it’s useful to learn how an applicant tracking system can help your hiring process. Whether it’s an upcoming recruitment drive or for use in the future, building a quality team of employees is key.
7. Confidence in one’s ability to lead.
One of the personal skills that need development when becoming a leader is confidence in one’s ability to lead. There are some that are born to lead and others that need to improve their skillset to become effective leaders in their workplace.
Confidence is a big one when it comes to leading a workforce, regardless of how many you’re managing. If you don’t sound convincing or your actions show you don’t know what you’re doing, it can lead to a lack of faith in you as a leader.
Building your confidence can take time and it’s something that will only come from a belief in yourself and experience as a leader. An eagerness to learn and improve is useful!
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8. Delegating efficiently and fairly.
Dishing out the responsibilities and tasks efficiently is essential when you have some employees that are going to try and slack off where they can. Delegating is a skill that not every leader manages to do very easily. Some are used to doing certain things a certain way and letting go of that control might be harder than first thought.
In leadership, being able to balance the workloads of your team is critical to keeping them happy. There are also certain team members that may be able to take more on than others.
9. A good communicator to all employees.
Communication within a business is necessary across the board. For leaders, communicating regularly with every employee is important. It’s good for keeping informed on how they’re progressing in their work and understanding what might be beneficial for the employee to have in order to improve their work quality.
There are many ways that you can introduce more effective communication. This could be in the form of one-to-one meetings or setting up regular check-in’s via your shared communication platforms.
10. Delivering objectives and goals with an OKR template
Finally, as a leader, you’ll likely have certain pressures from stakeholders or as a business owner to deliver on objectives and goals that will build company success.
Leapsome’s OKR template is a great resource to utilize when creating these objectives and goals as a company. They make for a great reference point when you’re feeling stagnant as a business or within your team’s progress.
Become a leader of tomorrow with these must-have skills
The position of a leader is one that constantly needs to be learning and improving upon their experience. A leader is someone that is looked up to and that is relied on to help keep things moving. Whether you’re training managers for leadership or you’ve become a leader yourself, these tips should certainly help you become a better one in the future.
Author Bio: Freelance writer for many clients across multiple industries. Natalie has two years of copywriting experience. Natalie has a wide range of experience copywriting web pages for businesses across many industries. She’s also an owner of two blog websites and a Youtube content creator.
