Leadership and its Needed Skills
Today in 21 century we need a generation of leaders, not managers. In recent years more focus is laid on winning the full cooperation of employees because most employees believe that it is only the leader, not the company that guides them in various circumstances & creates various situations where employees can be happy and successful.
Definition of Leadership
“Leadership is essentially a continuous process of influencing the behavior”
Following are various types of Leadership Skills
1. High Level of Understanding
The leader should understand the need and requirements of the group. This helps the leader to deal with each person as an individual to treat that individual with respect and helps the person to grow
2. Proper Utilisation of Resources
Resources include having the knowledge and those skills which are necessary to do the job. Resources also include people because they have the knowledge & skill of group members to get the job done by the member it results in gaining experiences and enhancing efficiency.
3. Communication Skill
To improve the skill in getting information the leader should do the following
i) Pay attention & listen carefully
ii) Ask Questions
iii) Speak carefully, clearly, confidently
4. Planning
Planning is an important part of the leader it consists of
a) Consideration of the problem & objective
b) Consideration of the resources
c) Reach a decision by evaluating each option
5. Representing the group
Whenever a leader represents himself for a committee meeting or a conference he is not representing himself but rather he is representing the entire group along with the involvement of all the group members
6. Sharing the leadership
While there are various ways to exercise leadership a good leader when the work is done says we have done it togetherly. A leader will never take the credit for himself alone rather he prefers to share the leadership.
7. Creativity
The leader should have a problem-solving, innovative & competitive advantage in today’s global market stage. The leader should possess the skill not only to be creative but also to provide a climate that encourages creativity.
8 Counselling
An efficient leader will help his subordinate to solve the target to relative work through effective counseling can also be helpful when a person is confused or unable to make the right decision.