Leadership development is a lifelong journey.
Hopefully, you have a Leadership Development Plan that you update regularly as you consider the next set of leadership skills you need to add to your repertoire.
Here is a list for you to consider from a recent article in Harvard Business Review:
1. Emotional Aperture. Related to Emotional Intelligence, this is all about being in tune to the emotional dynamics of your team. What is their mood? Are there things going on under the surface? Someone on your team is probably very good at this – naturally. Ask them to coach you.
2. Adaptive Communication. This includes knowing your audience and then knowing how to adjust your message to that particular group – and given the specific situation. Don’t give your standard “rah – rah” speech in every situation. Adapt to the situation.
3. Flexible Thinking. When dealing with the unknown, we need to stay open to new data and ideas. We need to be ready to pivot without stressing out. Practicing mindfulness can help, as well as scenario planning and mind mapping.
4. Perspective Seeking, Taking, Coordinating. Intentionally seek out new ways of looking at things. Focus on hiring people who bring different perspectives to the table. Ask yourself how they might look at things differently. When I was Academic Director of our Smith School Executive MBA program, we used to say “think like an EMBA.”
5. Strategic Disruption Skills. You want to become skilled at disrupting strategy, and doing it – strategically. No one likes the person that is always creating trouble. But if you can pick your spots and jump in when things are heading in the wrong direction; this can be very helpful.
6. Resilient Self-Awareness. In the area of leadership development, self-awareness is gold. One way to increase this is to build relationships with peers who are willing to give you regular feedback on how you can continuously improve.
Our environments are constantly changing and we need to advance our skills at a rapid pace in order to serve our teams and organizations. Adding some development plans for these skills can help you get ahead.
*Ideas for this blog taken from: Knight, R. “6 Essential Leadership Skills – And How to Develop Them,” Harvard Business Review online, October 18, 2024.
