Gone are the days of aristocracy and its distant opportunistic cousin plutocracy when leadership was kept sealed and contained between a handful few. The new era of workplace management has shifted the scale slightly toward the side of the employees so that the power dynamics no longer stay at odds with those who make up the majority of a company. This has brought forward some positive changes like the concentration on numerous skill developments of workers.
Studies have continued to show that the outcome is far better when employees take a more active role in their job and take charge of their duties. So more and more personnel of executive positions is encouraging their employees to shake off the timid ‘paid to obey’ mentality and to actively participate. These qualities require an equally important yet often neglected third one, the quality of leadership. Initiatives are taken to nudge the employees to acquire leadership skills. As well as ways to create a safe workplace to develop leadership skills in employees are also being considered. So, where do we start?
What are Leadership Skills?
As one of the greatest and most sought-after qualities of the 21st century, leadership in its core, is a set of important soft skills that arm anyone with the ability to lead, persuade and influence the targeted audience, group, or individuals. The list of skills that comprises and is usually associated with leadership includes
- Decision-Making Ability
- Creativity
- Logics and Reasoning
- Communication Skill
- Persuasion
- Charisma
- Inclusive Mindset
- Flexibility
The idea of leadership does not limit to this list only because like most things, leadership has a diverse range that pivots along the demands. What makes someone a dynamic leader depends on the team members, organization, and delegation.
Some team members may need a leader with good listening skills, and some may need leadership regarding technical skills, some organizations will require a leader who can persuasively delegate, and some will prefer who can consistently steer their team to make deadlines. To summarize, even though there are some common denominators in every leader but leadership is not a box to fit in, rather it’s a set of skills that needs to be incorporated into one’s life if one wants to be a leader.
Why leadership skill development in employees is important?
A good leader makes their team better in every aspect of the work. This process impacts the company positively. The difference between a person in charge and a leader is that the person in charge orders others around and the leader simply inspires people to follow.
Every employee is in charge of something or someone. They often need to manage people and manage things. Without leadership skills, managing these tasks will be exponentially harder for them. But with leadership skills like confidence, emotional intelligence, and the ability to motivate teammates, their navigation through the projects along with others will be much smoother. The work as a result will be easily done and in a shorter time due to the proper delegation.
Employees with leadership skills will be able to benefit the organization with their ability to bring forth the best in every co-worker due to cooperativeness and good listening skill. They will also aid in creating a safe space in the workplace where others will be able to take on leadership roles too.
Nurturing leadership skills in your employees
It is understandable that as an employer your goal is to development of your company and take it to a higher place. But this process would be incomplete if you do not consider the development of your employees. An improved result actually depends on the input towards the progress of the employees. This is why employers must take into consideration the various skill developments of the employees. Leadership skill development is one of them.
It is used to make employers feel threatened to mentor the employees with their leadership skills. But it is actually proven that employees with good leadership skills are far better allies who will be more loyal and helpful to the employers as well as a great asset to the company.
Nurturing leadership skills in employees instead of intimidating them is a wise step in the right direction. The bond between employers and employees strengthen when employers motivate employees to be effective leader thus also helping them in their career development. Employees in return step out of their comfort zone to take action, weed out the potential problems, and also start to recognize the workplace as their own.
Ways to develop leadership skills in the workplace
Okay, developing leadership in employees is great. But how does one do that? Encouraging your employees to take a more forward position in projects is not the most straightforward job. Many potential leaders can be shy and timid at first. Without proper guidance and mentoring, employers cannot really develop leadership skills in employees. But no need to worry because there are few ways to build leadership skills in your employees and turn them into effective leaders. Here are some of these:
- Mentoring: You can mentor your employees about the important knowledge and skills to be an efficient leader. Leadership takes years of practice and requires experience. And as an employer, you probably know firsthand how hard it is to delegate without these. So be patient and try to mentor your employees and impart some wisdom from your experience.
- Encouraging Them to Take Action: Everyone needs a little push now and then. You may recognize the talent in your employee but they may not. Your job is to gently nudge them to take the first step if they do not feel confident enough to be proactive and forthcoming.
- Help them Network and Gain Experience: Management and similar positions need to have solid networking both inside and outside of the office. So try to introduce your employees to as many as executives and include them in your network. Hand over some of your duties for a while for them to gain exposure and experiments.
- Recognize the Leaders: Not everyone has equal leadership ability. Sort out the strong potential leaders and help them overcome their fear of taking a leadership role.
- Empowering to Lead: Leaders must be given the priority to be empowered by the management. It is one of the best ways to encourage employees to build strong leadership skills.
Effectiveness of leadership training among employees
Leadership skills in general are crucial for the success of a company. While this statement is considered true for the employers, for the employees this has been grossly ignored. This made a huge shortage of overall leaders. More than 67% of the companies admit that they do not have any program or accommodation to develop leadership skills in their employees. This is a telling sign of how important it is to initiate leadership development training in the workplace.
It has been found that developing employees into leaders make a huge difference in a company’s success rather than outsourcing and hiring. Also, hiring leaders cost more than investing in your employees so that they can develop leadership skills. The reluctance of older generation leaders in mentoring future leaders caused a leadership crisis. So as more and more younger people are coming into the position of leadership, they are facing problems due to inexperience and although they have plenty of skills, they lack training. Therefore introducing leadership training in companies for employees has become mandatory.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
- How can you build leadership skills?
The best way to develop leadership skills is by taking action. Being proactive makes you stand out among your peers. It also helps you to gain experiences essential to become a leader. So, there is no alternative to taking responsibility.
- How do develop leadership skills in an organization?
In an organization, if you have a mentor you can follow and tag along with, developing leadership skills will become easier. The beginning of anything can be overwhelming. Being mentored can provide you with a necessary heads-up.
- How to Say You Have Good Leadership Skills?
A leader influences people with charisma as well as exemplary work ethics. Be an example to follow. If you find yourself helping your co-workers and teammates, easing conflicts, and handling delegation, these are signs of your good leadership skills.
- Why do You Need Leadership Skills?
There is truly no alternative to the virtue of leadership. Acquiring leadership skills is a must to have a more fulfilling career, ease the path of your success, and have visible career development.
- What are the best ways to develop leadership skills?
There are numerous ways to develop your leadership skills. Here are the top 5 ways to develop leadership skills to become a true leader for the future.
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- Practice Discipline
- Learn to Follow
- Develop Situational Awareness
- Empower Others
- Keep Learning
The Bottom Line
Developing leadership skills in employees is the key to unlocking the surety of your company’s success in the long run. As a leading executive training center of Bangladesh Enroute Center for Development (ECDL) has one of the best programs for training employees to develop leadership skills and be effective leaders. Managing employees is a difficult job. We understand you have a lot to worry about.
This is why introducing ECDL training for developing leadership skills in your employees means one less worry on your plate. So companies looking for a unique training program catering to future leaders, ECDL is the best choice to ensure the proper development of your employees’ leadership skills.
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