The qualities of every manager may differ from one manager to another, but every manager should have leadership skills. These leadership skills are also expected even from new managers.
Leaders guide people to achieve their goals. They share their skills for the benefit of the team. They lead the team and inspire them with leadership traits that are worthy of emulation. Along the way, managers leading their teams will encounter several challenges.
A good leader and a bad leader are the same as good managers and bad managers. Managing a project requires that you constantly aim for your team to achieve your goals. The success of a project relies heavily on the manager. A reliable manager has a good success rate when it comes to completing projects and hitting goals. For example, take the life of a gatekeeper; he has to manage both money and time, as well as handle the objections against him. The work of the gatekeeper is like a manager. Juggling responsibilities and prioritizing the main goals of the business are definitely part of the manager’s day-to-day job.
With these responsibilities, a manager must indeed have a great skill set. No one can become a good manager overnight. It takes time and effort to gain the skill set. Although mistakes may happen, a manager must continually work towards improving team processes for the benefit of the company in general.
Check out the leadership skills that every new manager, or even experienced ones, must have.
1. Effective Communication and Positive Attitude
A good manager must be proficient in all types of communication skills i.e. speaking, writing, and listening skills. You may face some circumstances in which there might be some misunderstanding between the teammates, but in these situations, the manager should listen to the different sides and convince them in such a way that they work in a coordinated manner.
You may also have a challenge where you have to send a mail to the higher officials in which your verbal skills come into the scene. So, you have to tackle them efficiently and move your team to the next level.
A manager must build a great relationship with the members of the team so that these team members develop a positive attitude towards receiving feedback. You can develop this relationship by organizing weekly discussion meetings to allow for opening up the team member’s views.
Having good communication skills also leads to a healthy work environment. You can use both your verbal and non-verbal communication skills to encourage, appreciate, and express how much you care for your team. Consequently, these gestures motivate people to work more with enthusiasm.
2. Interpersonal Skills
You have to earn respect among your teammates to lead a team. Managing a team is all about building a good and positive relationship.
To achieve this, you have to know about the people in your group in order to deal with them effectively. Through team building, training programs, and social activities, you can get to know about your team members at the same time earn respect while maintaining professional boundaries.
You have to play your role as part of the team and show your managerial skills and authority.
3. Decision-Making and Problem-Solving Skills
If you have a problem during the process of a project, you should have the ability to spot and resolve the problem before it escalates.
It requires concentration and attention to every detail of the project. You also have to keep your calm under the pressure. To ensure that the work processed by your team members is efficient and smooth, you have to find the problem before it even arises.
If we bring creative ideas to modern problems, it reduces the workload and difficulties on the team and the enterprise. You have to make important decisions a lot of times and weighing different solutions can be a daunting task. However, great managers are equipped with the decision-making and problem-solving skills that are highly needed in an organization.
4. Mentorship Skills
Being a good manager does not only rely on decision-making skills. Managers need to be supportive as well.
If you have reached a level where you are confident to lead your team with your knowledge and experience, you have to share your skills with your others. You can pass your skills by advising the staff and building confidence among them. A successful manager will be the driving force behind the success of each and every team member.
5. Organizing Skills
Managers must also be able to organize. Being a leader involves several responsibilities like working with the team members; overseeing whether they are working productively, attending the discussions, actively participating in training sessions, reviewing the company policies, and doing appraisals.
If you lack any one of these, you will be set as a bad example to your team members. A good manager effectively organizes keeping the deadlines in mind and thereby reducing stress and saving time.
To ease the workload, many managers share the work with the team members. You have to analyze the skills and knowledge the team members possess to assign the duties effectively depending on their skill set. In a way, you can multiply the work that the manager accomplishes and at the same time, boosting the confidence and skills of the team members.
6. Awareness
Commercial awareness is a skill that most of the recruiters see lacking in most employees. This skill is one of the important skills in order to achieve success in business. Here are certain factors to master commercial awareness:
- You have to know about the business’s missions and aims.
- You must have a basic understanding of the sector of your business.
- Have an ability to scan and find your company’s competitors.
- You should know the political and economical factors affecting the company.
7. Strategic Thinking and Planning
A manager must focus on his tasks and responsibilities, but at the same time, think of the bigger picture.
This tells you that a manager must take part in the strategic planning of reviewing the system and the policies, and CPD activities management. As a manager also, you need to be open to your team’s suggestions, ideas, and opinions. You can even encourage them to participate in any strategic planning as a team, as this will help your business achieve your goals faster.
How to Develop these Leadership Skills?
- While you are in college, gain the experience of leadership by joining the student societies. Show interest in your area and project your skills and lead the student societies. Don’t miss any opportunities and take advantage of it whenever it knocks on your door. Even joining student elections will give you more maturity and experience.
- After graduating, take part in any industry internship. It adds a pinch of salt to your CV and gives you experience on how to deal and be a part of a team. During this time, you can build or expand your contacts and network which can help you know different kinds of people and how to deal with them. This will be handy especially when you take on management roles in the future. Taking part also in charities and any organizational activities can let you experience other people from different walks of life. Through this also you will gain the skill of handling people.
- One way to also enhance your leadership skills is through working in a part-time environment with any administrative roles. Whether it be in hospitality management, retail industry, coaching, etc. You can gain knowledge on how to perform tasks that require management and even on how to work with your team members. Each and every experience is vital and it is more essential when you are in a position of responsibility.
- Most people in higher positions state that employees must have good professional qualifications as it is one of the proofs that he knows a thing about being a leader and even has the skills in managing a team in the right way and develop the company to a successful position.
A great time in any business-minded person’s life is becoming a new manager. It is kind of the result of their immense hard work and sacrificed time in order to advance their career to this leadership position. Most of them won’t take it as a celebration because once you achieve this managerial role, it will be a stressful experience since there will be more responsibility and at the same time, you will have your own team to manage for the success of the business.
Conclusion:
Managing people is the most important factor that many business people worry about. Your support becomes more vital when your team members feel low and are not working to the fullest potential. So these 7 leadership traits help you and your team members to work on the right path and thereby lead a successful company.
Author Bio:
Nishil is a passionate writer, hungry for new innovation. New trends fill him with tons of enthusiasm to uncover hidden topics. Speakaudible covers a wide range of subjects related to audiobooks.