Know the skills and competencies required for a leader to be effective and successful

R. Neena Rajdev

Leadership is influencing people to get things done to a standard and quality above their norm. And doing it willingly.

Simply defined, management is controlling people and getting them to do things, while leadership is influencing people to do things willingly.

Management is organized along hierarchical positions and authority. One’s position as a manager, supervisor, etc gives the person the authority to accomplish certain tasks and objectives in the organisation. This however does not make one a leader. It simply makes the person a boss. Leadership differs in that it makes the subordinates want to achieve high goals.

Leadership is not about position. People in position of authority are not all leaders.

People who are not good leaders are found in positions of authority. They may be there because-:-They are most senior.-They are better political manuovers.-They are in good books of the power that be.

“A skill is “an acquired talent that a persondevelops related to a specific task”

Nahavandi (2000)

A skill can be defined as "an ability which can be developed, not necessarily inborn, and which is manifested in performance, not merely potential“

Katz (1955)

Leadership skills are those skills which a leader must possess to enable him/her influence and inspire the followers to attain desired objectives and goals.

Leadership skills are acquired through learning, observing and imitating other successful leaders.

An Effective leader should have the following skills:-- Personal skill- Communication skill- Thinking skill- Delegating skill- Decision making skill

Personal skill A leader must have the ability to

motivate and influence himself first. He has to impress himself before he is able to impress others.

He must focus on self mastery, self management and self direction. He has to have self discipline. He practices the skills required until they become habits.

Thinking skill A skillful leader recognizes the desired

condition and plans the strategies to reach the goals. He is aware of the tools that he needs to accomplish his mission. He is also able to identify and understand problems, think through them and see the big picture.

He learns from his experience and assigns meanings to the ideas and understanding. He looks for what works and explore more possibilities. He then charts the process of his actions.

Communication skill A leader should know how to send and

receive information of data effectively. He must be an active listener and have good oral, writing, and presentation skills

Delegating skill A leader delegates a certain amount of his

power to act or make decisions. He believes in getting other people involved and empowering their growth. He provides clear information and expectations.

He makes the person understands the result the person has to produce. The person who receives the authority is someone capable and motivated to get the job done.

Delegating skill (contd) Once he has delegated the task, he

offers his assistance, opinions and receives feedback. He avoids the need to have control.

A responsible leader is aware that he gains his leadership skills from the knowledge of other leaders. He then transfers his skills to others and trains them to become skilled leaders.

Decision making skill One of the important leadership skills is

the ability to make decisions. A leader has to think and act fast. He must have the courage to make decisions even if it involves taking some risks. The more right decisions he makes, the better he becomes in making more.

Competence can be defined as the ability of an individual to perform a task using his/her knowledge, education, skills, and experience.

Herringer (2002)

Competencies are the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that the individuals presently have that allow them to perform their jobs.

Competencies can be thought of as the state or quality of being well qualified to perform a task.

Competencies are probably most closely related to abilities.

A person gains competency through education, training, experience, or natural abilities.

The seven key leadership competencies are:

Influencing others Fostering Accountability Building Positive Working Relationship Coaching for Improvement Communicating Effectively Working Effectively Building a High Performing Team

Influencing others A Leader must have the ability to get

others to act in the desired way. He has the ability to win respect from those who must be influenced, and to build mutual respect.

He will give directions and expectations in an appropriate way to influence others to act, and he is also open to ideas and listen actively to others.

Fostering Accountability A Leader establishes in their team members

a commitment to achieving results by building a culture of accountability. He models this with his behaviour, displaying accountability by his actions.

He promotes accountability and hold each Team Member personally responsible for their area. He reacts to deadline and targets with positive or corrective feedback.

Building Positive Working Relationship A Leader actively builds a network of positive

working relationships, both internally with other department & colleagues, and externally with clients.

He takes responsibility for ensuring that a relationship is positive and effective, that it works well for both parties. A Leader actively seeks to demonstrate respect for self and respect for others.

Coaching for Improvement A Leader develops the potential of every

Team Member and ensures that they are achieving the desired performance. He works with each to ensure each is contributing positively to the team dynamic.

He reads others - to appreciate their strengths, areas for development, personality style, learning style and motivators.

Communicating Effectively A Leader PLANS how to communicate,

identifying the objectives, the method, the structure etc. He reviews the outcome of the communication and they learn from this. He uses different forms of communication effectively, the right channel for the given task.

Working Effectively A successful Leader plans his own

workload, prioritising key tasks and ensuring the appropriate allocation of time and effort to achieve the required results.

He organises and structures, building good working processes, systems and habits so that they can effectively achieve their objectives, goals and targets.

Building a High Performing Team The Leader organises the team and build

good team processes. He communicates well to the team, about- the business, the team purpose, progress on goal achievement etc.

He gives feedback, celebrate goal achievement and motivate to improve. He challenges and encourages the team to improve, find new ways of doing things and to develop the desired competencies and team values.

Shared Vision Agreed Accountability & Responsibility Sense of Ownership and creating

synergyism Setting an example at top