Food for Thoughts – Leadership Skills
Leadership has been a basic subject in management literature. It has been dissected from different angles and viewpoints.
One of the most fundamental aspects of leadership is that it is widely spread throughout all walks of life but its needs are different in every social collective. The successes of leadership are recognized to individuals who exhibit recognition of the need for change, who can create opportunities and options, are able to clarify choices and problems, and have the ability to establish alignments, as well as inspire his or her followers and provide the means of making a nation or an organization a better place.
Leadership as depicted has a series of eccentric circles (here ovals) describing it:
Essential skills that any leader should have are the Core. Then there are attempts to represent the other skills in concentric ovals; at the root there is the self or leader skills pertaining to enhancing one’s own personality and style. The second oval is the relationship with others whether bosses or peers. The third oval represents own team building and team inter-personal skills. The fourth oval represents the skills needed to live and thrive in the organization and community relation. The fifth oval is for vision and strategy outlooks. The choice of the shapes and relationships is subjective for clarification because of course there are no real boundaries in applying the skills which can and will be overlapping the ovals. Effective leadership involves giving voice to followers. This can be done through a number of actions like adopting a participative leadership model that allows employees to take part in the decision making process. Leadership models are shaped by the aspirations, wants and common goals of the employees or followers and constituents. Leaders should therefore, learn to listen and consult, especially when they attempt to renew the vision, mission and goals of the organization
Apart from the core oval, a leader has to adopt a leadership style to lead the others. Leadership styles form a fundamental aspect of the different ways in which leaders manifest and can serve with some chances of success. A leadership style refers to how leaders and followers relate to each other. An individual leadership style is a distinctive and personal characteristic that is incorporated in his or her personality and behavior. A leadership style may be democratic, autocratic, empathetic, participative, charismatic, and passive, introverted, engaged, and centralized among others. This does not exhaust all leadership styles as there are diverse possibilities that depend on the individual’s character. It is worth noting that different leadership styles are effective in different situations. However, it is always appropriate to accommodate the needs, mission and vision of an organization in leadership planning so that the most effective model can be adopted.
Basic question: if one leader would like to adopt any style or a mix of styles what does he/she need in order to do so from the 40+ skills needed (the most exhaustive list is given by the New York City Civil service). Can we mix and match? The argument assumes that the leader at that stage has the trait, knowledge and experience to become a good leader; his/her knowledge can be honed and enhanced by developing particular skills needed in some situations. Generally speaking, any skill can be essential for leadership improvement. It should also be noted that leadership skills alone cannot make a leader successful.
The mission impossible would be to prepare a table of 19+ styles and matching the 40+ skills to each style. Definitely an arduous task and very subjective and depends on the leader, the situation, the culture and the team maturity. However there is a study by the author who just attempted that…! It is a basic premise that discusses the leadership styles popular models then proposes the battery of skills needed for every style. It opens the way for deliberation, debates and heated discussions among peers. And a final thought: Most Leadership skills can be accessed and taught which justifies the plethora of companies & groups teaching leadership and the awards they receive for this training.
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