How to Develop Leadership Skills and Styles

Anyone who has worked for an organization can easily describe what they like and dislike about the leaders they encounter. However, turning those observations into the skills you need to become a good leader yourself can be much more difficult. 

For example, you admire your boss because she clearly communicates tasks: you always know what’s expected and when. While you copy her techniques for task management, how do you describe how she also makes you really want to get those tasks done, and done well? Ray Carvey, interviewed in this Forbes magazine article[1], calls this more advanced skill “developing a leadership mindset”. At Fred Pryor Seminars, our Leadership Conference describes developing leadership skills beyond simple task management as “making the transition from manager to leader”. 

Here are tips for developing those leadership skills that move you from manager to leader. 

Identify Your Leadership Skills and Styles

Are you an autocratic, democratic or delegative leader? Transformational, transactional or situational leader?[2] 

Understanding how you naturally approach your role as a leader offers insight into common weaknesses of each leadership type. An autocratic leader can be highly effective in environments where rapid, definitive decisions are needed. They also can be susceptible to a combative relationship with team members if the right motivation and appreciation techniques aren’t also employed. About.com offers this simple Leadership Style Quiz[3]. 

Identify Leadership Skills to Improve 

Even successful managers find blind spots and areas to improve upon. Develop those skills that most improve your own effectiveness by first identifying those areas that need help. 

Harvard Business Review published last year a list of leadership skills most needed by managers across all levels of an organization. The results were based on responses from over 300,000 bosses, peers, and subordinates[4]. These seven competencies topped the list of most important: 

1. Inspires and motivates others 
2. Displays high integrity and honesty 
3. Solves problems and analyzes issues 
4. Drives for results 
5. Communicates powerfully and prolifically 
6. Collaborates and promotes teamwork 
7. Builds relationships 

Perform an honest evaluation of your current strengths and weaknesses to maximize the benefits from extra training or mentoring that you plan to undertake. 

Leadership Skills and Emotional Intelligence 

Emotional Intelligence is defined in Psychology Today as “the ability to identify and manage your own emotions and the emotions of others.” It is generally said to include three skills: 

1. Emotional awareness, including the ability to identify your own emotions and those of others. 
2. The ability to harness emotions and apply them to tasks like thinking and problem solving. 
3. The ability to manage emotions, including the ability to regulate your own feelings and the ability to cheer up or calm down another person. 

Five Components of Emotional Intelligence at Work 

Regardless of the measurement method used, Goleman defines Emotional Intelligence (EI) as the array of skills and characteristics that drive leadership performance.[5] (Please note that Emotional Intelligence is sometimes referred to as “Emotional Quotient” (EQ) when referencing employee performance and leadership effectiveness.) 

So, does EI or EQ play a role in one’s ability to be a successful leader? It does! Here are the five components of emotional intelligence at work. 

• Self-Awareness: The ability to recognize and understand moods, emotions and drives and their impact on others. 
• Self-Regulation: The ability to manage disruptive impulses and moods. 
• Motivation: A passion to work for reasons beyond money or status. 
• Empathy: The ability to understand and respond according to the emotional status of others. 
• Social Skill: The ability to build rapport, relationships and social networks. 

Learn to Delegate 

One of the most important skills a smart leader can foster is the ability to effectively delegate. Just as there are numerous, understandable incentives to delegate, easy excuses to avoid assigning tasks cause many leaders to hesitate. 

Lack of Trust. Either due to a misconception in understanding delegation or the absence of the skill altogether results in a popular bias – no one can do it as well, as fast, as efficiently as I can. Let me guess. No matter what you have tried the end product from your team has not met your expectations. A bad experience colors our perception as we consider delegating each new task. If we do not trust our team and communicate effectively, they cannot grow and we cannot utilize their talents. 

Lack of Training. “I don’t have time to train someone else to do the job.” Ever consider that you do not have time to train due to poor time management? We put off training the task, the deadline is now looming, and we don’t have the time to adequately train someone before the project is due. Sometimes we have to invest a little time in order to save a lot of time. Force yourself to prioritize that small investment, and you gain a trained team able to perform more tasks that save you ever more time. 

Lack of Confidence. Are you afraid that someone might be able to do a better job than you at a task? Don’t be! This is, in fact, one of the best reasons to delegate! This is our opportunity to use the different skills your people bring to the team – what they were hired for. It’s also the chance to cross-train and to prepare your successor for moving up. 

Lack of Mobility. “I want the company to view me as irreplaceable.” Sound familiar? It’s nice to think our company values us, but the problem with being irreplaceable is quite literally that you can’t be replaced. You want or deserve that big promotion, yet you sit in your old job for years because those higher up say, “We’d really like to promote Joe, but we just can’t do without him in the _____ Department. No one else could ever do the job as well as he can.” 

These notions can hinder you from capitalizing on your employees’ talent, place you in a difficult and stagnant organizational position, add to your stress level while minimizing your time to get things done, and keep you stuck thinking you can’t delegate at all. Don’t fall victim to these pitfalls and take every opportunity to develop and practice your delegation skills. 

Take Action 

Once you identify leadership skill areas that need improvement, create a plan to address them. Training classes and seminars offer you best practices and usually include techniques for perfecting those skills. If time or budget limits your ability to attend classes, here are some alternatives: 

• Seek a mentor – Find someone in your organization or a respected friend to mentor you as you strive for more leadership responsibility. 
• Read – There are many free online articles that can offer you advice and insight. Respected publications such as Harvard Business Review, Forbes Magazine, and Psychology Today offer channels devoted to leadership topics. Fred Pryor Seminars also offer ebooks, video courses, webinars, and online training in addition to our award-winning seminars. 
• Ask your employer – Many businesses are eager to help motivated employees gain skills that improve their performance and make them more valuable. Don’t forget to approach your manager or HR to ask about opportunities for training, continuing education, and career counseling. 

Getting ready for a leadership position? Browse Pryor’s training offerings in leadership, management, supervision, emotional intelligence, project management, communications and personal development – the offerings range from short videos to full-day in-person seminars to online webinars depending on your learning style and availability.