Leadership skills: what can't be missing in a good leader?

Leaders are not always born ready, after all, leadership skills must be learned and improved every day.

What makes a good leader? Active voice? No, leadership skills!

You must have heard many times that a good leader is one who never suffers from objections, since he has the utmost respect from his team.

However, it is important to say that this view is somewhat old-fashioned, after all, over time the concepts of leadership have undergone some changes.

The main one is that the leader does not work alone, nor should he be the only reference for his team. In fact, a good manager is one who provides conditions and training so that each talent in the group can achieve autonomy and stand out.

So if having a commanding voice isn’t enough to lead, what is? Simple: leadership skills.

Note that we speak in the plural, so simply having an active voice or a serious profile that commands respect (and by respect we mean the silence of the team) is not enough.

This is because what really makes a good leader is the ability to manage a team in an organized, respectful way and with maximum performance, which requires a lot of preparation.

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5 essential leadership skills for the job market

Many people aspire to leadership positions thinking only about power that this brings, but the truth is that being a leader is not about that.

In fact, exercising power with a focus on achieving one's own desires and following projects with a single vision goes against the concept of leadership, as there is no joint work.

We began this material by talking about a good leader taking on a greater share of the responsibilities and a smaller share of the achievements. From this, it is possible to see that this position does not usually come with any particular prominence.

A good team manager is one who can extract talent, collaboration and ideas from the group that contribute to the success of the project.

To achieve this result, some leadership skills are necessary, and that is exactly what we will talk about now.

1. Feedback skills

Making mistakes when providing feedback is one of the main causes of conflict and lack of team engagement.

And sometimes the manager believes he is providing good feedback, but he did so in a way that led the employee to believe that his work was incorrect or insufficient.

I once read a story about a professional who started looking for a job right after receiving periodic feedback. In his opinion, the company was dissatisfied with his work, because the manager only pointed out areas for improvement.

“Giving constructive feedback is not just a skill, it is an art that involves empathy, clarity and a genuine desire to help others grow.”

It turns out that this was not the team leader's intention, and in fact, he really liked the professional's work, he just didn't realize that talking only about points for improvement, without any praise, would give a negative impression.

So, this example demonstrates how the leader must be responsible for providing correct feedback, as inadequate communication can harm interpretation, which directly impacts team performance.

2. Active listening – the most important leadership skill

In lectures for leaders, it is common to hear the phrase “a good leader is not the one who talks the most, but the one who listens the best”.

This sentence makes sense if we remember the last part of the idea we have been discussing since the beginning (“a leader should own a smaller part of the results”), which actually means that a good manager should not be a protagonist.

Therefore, the only way to leave this sense of protagonist aside is through developing active listening skills.

This is because this skill allows you to listen to, value and follow up on the ideas and opinions of other talents on the team.

This makes it easier to develop talents, value them and encourage them to become independent and stand out.

Among leadership skills, this is perhaps the most important of all.

3. Conflict management

Wanting to be a leader without being prepared for conflicts is a fanciful idea, after all, no matter how good the manager is, disagreements are common in teamwork.

That said, among leadership skills, conflict management is very important, as it ensures that the team remains united and functional.

And, anyone who believes that a good leader is one who has better political skills or is a good guy is mistaken.

In fact, these attitudes often increase unhealthy competition within the team, and sweep problems under the rug instead of solving them.

“True leadership is revealed in the ability to transform conflicts into opportunities for growth and mutual understanding.”

Therefore, the recommendation is that you seek training for this type of resolution, and do not shy away from experience, after all, this is the only way to fully develop the skill.

4. Organization and commitment to deadlines

Although there are many professionals with this profile, a good leader is not one who does practically all the work alone and treats the team as mere assistants.

In fact, an excellent manager is one who offers each employee the opportunity to carry out their work autonomously, and takes on the organization and deadline management role.

Understand that in this model the manager is not taking on everything, and allows the team to develop skills, responsibility and move forward on their own.

But for this to really work, a good leader must act to ensure that processes function in an organized manner and within the stipulated deadlines.

This is because, when it comes to leadership skills, it is the manager who should be in the position of assistance, not the employee.

5. Talent recognition

If you want to be a manager because you believe that you do the job better than everyone else, or that you deserve more than the entire team, it's worth reconsidering that idea.

This is because a leader who only believes in his own talent and only values his own competence ends up acting like a boss in practice, as he has enormous difficulty in providing development for the team.

“Recognizing talent is the ability to see potential where others see only the ordinary, valuing the unique skills that each individual brings to the team.”

So, among leadership skills, talent recognition is something that should be part of the profile and way of working.

We are not saying that a leader should not prioritize their own evolution, or that they should devalue their own skills to elevate others.

But remember that the manager's role is to elevate the team and value talents, not to make them work for themselves and for personal goals.

Finally, now that you know the main leadership skills, seek to train them to ensure a sharp profile for the job market!

This may interest you: Market Analysis: How to Identify Business Opportunities (oadministrador.com).

Roberta August 30, 2024

Career