Top Ten Leadership Skills

What would you put in a top ten list of leadership skills?

Drawing on:

• Leadership theory
• Staff surveys & Questionnaires
• My own experiences of being a leader
• My own experiences of have been led and been part of many teams

My Top Ten (in alphabetical order) are:
1. Act assertively
2. Communication
3. Critical Reflective Learning
4. Feedback - Giving & receiving
5. Forward thinking / Strategic planning
6. Know your self
7. Know your team
8. Manage team performance
9. Provide vision & Direction
10. Transformational Leadership

There are many contradictory theories, models and books examining whether leaders are born or made. Trait theorists Carlyle and Galton argued than great leaders had traits or characteristics that were unique to them and could not be developed or learned.

After questioning over 600 managers, Kouzes and Posner defined 10 key leadership qualities as:

1. Honest

2. Forward looking

3. Inspirational

4. Competent

5. Fair minded

6. Supportive

7. Broad minded

8. Intelligent

9. Straight forward

10. Dependable

These 10 qualities were used to develop their Leadership Challenge Model

Ralph Stogdill looked at this notion another way in that leadership qualities are difficult to define - the ‘je ne sais quoi’ factor.

For me leaders learn by:

• ‘Mirroring’ behaviors they have seen others use

• Learning by ‘trial and error’

• Picking it up ‘on the job’

• Moving from transactional to transformational practice

If you like to learn more I have a free full sized ebook at http://bookboon.com/en/business-ebooks/career/top-ten-leadership-skills-book-1

Intrapersonal Communication

The Power of  Intrapersonal Conversation 

In simple terms this defines the conversation you have with yourself. This can be 'in your head' or out loud.

Ruesch and Bateson say "dialogue is the foundation for all discourse"


Types of Intrapersonal Conversation:

• Day dreaming 
• Nocturnal dreaming 
• Meditation 
• Putting thoughts onto paper (or electronic form)
• Gesticulating to yourself whilst undertaking inner dialogue 
• Talking out loud
• Conversation between parts of your own body I.e. I'm hungry

The benefits of intrapersonal conversation:

• You can help answer "what do I want and how can I get there"?
• Brainstorming ideas 
• 'Talking' through options 
• Prioritising your tasks
• Allows you to practice speeches and presentations out loud - this ensures things 'sound right' and your timing is accurate
• You can get 'things off your chest' out loud, thereby preventing things building up inside
• You gain an ability to understand yourself and help you to relate to and understand others

Taking a phrase from the Greek Oracle, leaders should not only know and care about their staff, but they need to "know thyself" as well.


http://bookboon.com/en/business-ebooks/management-ebooks/the-styles-models-philosophy-of-leadership

Free full sized ebook - Styles, Models and Philosophy of Leadership

Hi all,
Following on from my earlier post I have a 'full sized' FREE ebook available for download. I hope you find it useful and interesting - please let me have your comments.

The Styles, Models and Philosophy of Leadership - FREE ebook 
http://bookboon.com/en/business-ebooks/management-ebooks/the-styles-models-philosophy-of-leadership

Leaders - born or made?

There are many contradictory theories, models and books which debate whether leaders are born or made. Trait theorists Carlyle (1841) and later Galton argued than great leaders had traits or characteristics that were unique to them and could not be developed.

Kouzes and Posner then attempted to give a definitive list of 10 key leadership qualities after surveying 630 managers. This list itemized what staff wanted from a manager not want they actually got!

The Kouzes and Posner list contained:

1. Honest

2. Forward looking

3. Inspirational

4. Competent

5. Fair minded

6. Supportive

7. Broad minded

8. Intelligent

9. Straight forward

10. Dependable

These 10 qualities were then used to develop their Leadership Challenge Model

Ralph Stogdill looked at this notion another way in that leadership qualities are difficult to define - the ‘je ne sais quoi’ factor - having a skill and knowing what to do with it are two different things.

For me leaders learn by:

• ‘Mirroring’ behaviors they have seen others use

• Learning by ‘trial and error’

• Picking it up ‘on the job’

• Moving from transactional to transformational practice

We expect a lot from our leaders and the main quality for me is that they are able to adapt to ever changing environments whilst ensuring staff have 'leadership stability'. 

Any thoughts?