8 leadership skills that play a role in career development

Executives know that leadership skills are essential in high-profile positions. They need to constantly build leadership skills to move forward in their careers. Since few people are born leaders, leadership development is important. Have you mastered the following leadership skills?

A successful leader can inspire their teams to take initiative and action that ultimately results in positive outcomes.  Keeping motivation high is a challenge, but can be accomplished by letting employees know you are there to support them when needed.

To achieve goals it is necessary to focus on the ideas, plan, strategy, and desired end result. A great leader can be self-disciplined and manage their team to stay on-track at the same time.

Effective leadership includes being direct and honest, and listening to all sides of an issue, as well as knowing the correct tactics to use in order to resolve an issue or handle difficult people.

Leaders can learn from their team too. Recognizing members within a team regarding particular areas of expertise can be beneficial to the whole team.

Awareness of potential opportunities and the ability to take advantage of them to benefit the company or employees is a skill that good leaders possess. This takes critical thinking to foresee potential either with opportunities or problems.

Don’t be a “talking head” executive.  Intentional listening, eye contact, body language, gestures, and verbal feedback are all essential in the overall process.

The world is moving at a fast-pace and executives needs to keep up with changes that can affect their position or company. Continuing professional development is indispensable.

Empower and encourage involvement by delegating work to employees.  This allows you to maintain focus on the project goals as well as giving others a chance to develop new skills.

Leadership skills should be highlighted in all career documents and your 30-second pitch. Many people think that leaders have to be authoritative to achieve results. However, good leaders are influencers. Having the power of influence is how executives get promotions, as well as having an advantage when being considered for new positions.