Good Leadership Skills

Over the years many of you have sent me delightful emails and one frequently asked question is along the lines of "Is there a list of good leadership skills I should have?" And that's a bit tricky to answer. Because leadership skills can be a little situation dependent and each individual has different strengths that can enable him or her to shine.

For example, in the list below you'll see strategic thinking ... and yet one of the very best leaders I ever worked for wasn't known for the depth of his thinking!

Certainly he too realized this wasn't his strength and so surrounded himself with great people who were. What he was absolutely brilliant at was inspiring people to believe in the vision and believe in the importance of their specific role to the entire team being successful.

Having said all of that, I decided to review the criteria used in Performance Evaluation Programs (of just under 20 companies that I have worked with in the past few years).

So the list below contains the recurring set of traits, characteristics and qualities of good leadership skills that these organizations looked for in their leaders.

As we discussed in the Skills Analysis page, please do not expect to excel in all these leadership qualities and characteristics.

→ Firstly, it's impossible,
→ Secondly, you'll place too much stress on yourself, and
→ Thirdly, throughout time leaders with a wide variety of skills and characteristics have thrived.

Think of leaders like Richard Branson, Condalisa Rice, Winston Churchill, Oprah Winfrey, Donald Trump, Nelson Mandela, Mother Theresa ... all very different leaders ... all very successful and all of whom may very well failed as leaders if they had been put in each others situation.

Writing up a list of good leadership skills is easy. Defining when to make best use of the skills, to what degree and how ... well that takes intuition and experience.

Good Leadership Skills List
The Qualities & Characteristics Often Looked For By Organizations

THINKING Strategic - big picture - thinking Looking for problems Solving problems analytically Innovating through creativity Making decisions Judgment even under uncertainty	DEVELOPING OTHERS Appraising performance Coaching and mentoring Establishing learning climates Guiding reflection Offering and asking for assistance Preparing others for change
MANAGING Time Meetings and discussions Projects and priorities Finances and budgets Hiring and staffing Leveraging technology Disseminating information	COMMUNICATING Writing Presenting Public Speaking Actively Listening Clarifying Messages Giving Feedback Receiving Feedback
DEVELOPING TEAMS Understanding group development Fostering team building Utilizing diversity Debriefing experience Celebrating success Handling team changes Planning for input Delegating work tasks	DEVELOPING SELF Caring for personal needs Balancing work and life Being self-directed and self-motivated Showing self-awareness Emotional intelligence Planning own performance improvements Having solid boundaries Improving interaction with others Values and principle driven
CHANGE Dealing with ambiguity Coping with complexity Identifying global and local trends Being a catalyst for change Willingness to take sensible risks	LEADING Flexing style Resolving conflicts Dealing with difficult people effectively Working from service perspective Interpreting the vision Setting new directions Planning strategy Leading by example

Phew ... it's a pretty long list of good leadership skills. So be wise and do as suggested by the latest research into successful leaders. (Read Now Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham) - pick from the list above those things that are your strengths (and that you love to do) and develop them more. Then create systems and strategies to overcome your weaknesses.

At the Align-Lead-Inspire club you can you can discover whether you are in a job, career or calling using your strengths and take the self-assessment.