8 Essential Leadership Skills Every Great Manager Has 

Although leadership skills are often talked about, written about, and hoped for in business, a succinct definition of what it entails often escapes notice. Leadership, in its many contours and faces, stands differently for people across the world.  The lack of leadership skills appears similar. It leads to team members not feeling comfortable enough to express their opinions or the leader being unable to draw the best ideas out of team members – all of which signals a waste of high potential in a team. This blog focuses on leadership skills that every good team manager must have to ensure their team is never left behind!  P.S. We’ve got free leadership skill assessments to help you out! 

What are the top leadership skills?

Now, that’s a question for the ages. What are the fundamental leadership skills you cannot ignore? Let’s start with communication and leadership basics because they are vital to any successful team. A leader needs to be able to communicate effectively with their team members and also delegate tasks effectively so that everyone can work towards the same goal and achieve their goals. Another important skill is building rapport with others. It helps to build trust and good relationships between team members, which is critical to success. Finally, being a good role model is vital for team morale and productivity. A leader should demonstrate positive behaviors and attitudes so that others can follow suit. We will explore these skills in detail below.

We asked managers, what leadership skills do you want to develop? Here’s what they said.

At Risely, we believe in creating leadership development solutions for the leaders. And hence, we posed this question to the leaders who were signing up. In their opinion from over five thousand responses, the top leadership and management skills that they would like to work on include the following: 

• Conducting effective one-on-one meetings
• Guidance Ability 
• Analytical Skills 
• Interpersonal Skills 
• Emotional Competence
• Constructive Feedback
• Decision Making
• Time Management

Top 8 Leadership Skills to Develop in 2024

Here’s a quick turn around for you: all essential leadership skills and free leadership skill assessments that you need.

One-on-One Meetings

One-on-one meetings form the base of effective relationships and connections among team managers. Often, these meetings provide the opportunity to connect beyond professional causes and allow managers to establish a personal connection with their team members. A solid one-on-one meeting is great for catching up and sharing thoughts across personal and professional aspects. Empathy and active listening also become essential in getting this right. Yet, many do not turn out well because the managers and their team members are unaware of set structures, proper agendas, and questions to discuss. Not having one-on-one meetings is like missing out on a huge potential for team building and cohesiveness.

Emotional Competence

Oh, dear emotions! They take us up and down and all the way here and there. Managing these emotions in ourselves and others is known as emotional competence. For a manager, emotional competence is not just about controlling anger when frustrated; there’s much more to it. Emotional competence for managers includes self-awareness of emotions and feelings that help us deal with them positively by taking steps such as setting boundaries and breaks at the right times. It also includes managing the emotions of others by empowering and supporting them through tough times. Suppose you are in the middle of a difficult conversation about unmet deadlines with a team member who becomes defensive and emotional, that’s where your emotional competence comes to the rescue!

Interpersonal Skills 

A lot of people will say that management is just about talking. Yes, this is annoying. But a broken clock is somewhat right twice a day, too. Interpersonal interactions play a big role in a successful management career. It includes daily conversations with colleagues, managing stakeholders, managing conflicts among team members, and even those tricky confrontations and negotiations that make or break deals. The area of communication is a big one. While discussing interpersonal skills, you need to consider written and verbal communication and its nonverbal aspects, such as body language and the distance you are standing from the other person! A manager who cannot handle conflict or confrontation or boost collaboration would have a hard time moving the team forward.

Constructive Feedback

Constructive feedback is the feedback that is helpful and useful. It helps the recipient to improve their skills or knowledge and can be delivered positively or negatively. Constructive feedback should always aim to help the individual become better than they were before. It incorporates empathy, understanding, and thoughtful consideration.  Feedback is a critical leadership skill, and providing effective feedback is essential to creating a positive environment for growth. Feedback allows leaders to identify strengths, role responsibilities, and areas for improvement. It also helps individuals improve their performance and be more effective team members. Constructive feedback should be provided in a timely and effective way to create a positive environment for growth and development in the team. When giving feedback, it is essential to ensure that everyone on the team feels valued and supported.

Guidance Ability 

When you are stuck, who do you reach out to? If the answer is your manager, then you know why this skill matters. Even when we look back at our professional journeys, the people we remember are those who guided and mentored us through tough times, earning our loyalty and respect forever. A manager’s ability to guide their team effectively is directly tied to their team’s success as well as their own professional growth. A manager who has mastered guidance can steer the development of many others after them. On the other hand, ineffective guidance leaves teams confused and chaotic when trouble strikes. Guidance ability is crucial in many stages, not just for training the new folks under you. For instance, if you have to upskill someone senior, you must know the right way and opportunities to guide them. Or when your team is stuck on a challenge with a deadline approaching quickly? That’s where you need to show them the way out.

Time Management

Effective team managers need to be able to manage their time effectively. Time management skills help team managers stay organized and prioritize their tasks. A good team manager will delegate tasks and communicate effectively with other team members. They must also be able to prioritize work and make effective decisions. Team leaders must delegate work and manage communication effectively, as this will help them prioritize their tasks and meet deadlines. If team leaders can manage these tasks well, they will be successful in their roles while also setting an excellent example for their team members. Maintaining the many aspects of time management effectively helps the team managers save time and ensure that their days are ordered. A workspace free from distractions and routines that run around effectively set goals help managers achieve more with their teams.

Decision-making

As a team manager, making quick and informed decisions is critical. Decision-making requires the ability to listen to others and weigh different options. A good team manager also knows how to motivate and coach their team. These skills are essential for managing any team, large or small. To make effective decisions, managers must be skillful at listening to others and weighing the pros and cons of various options. Their analytical skills need to be robust as well. A good team manager knows how to help their team work effectively as a cohesive unit and define this trajectory through their decisions. They also know how to foster a positive work environment to help employees reach their full potential. It all comes down to effective decision-making skills that can help any leader succeed in any organizational role.

Analytical Skills 

Analytical skills refer to the ability to comprehend disparate sets of information and draw valuable insights from them to make decisions and solve problems. Contrary to popular opinion, analytical skills are not just about crunching big numbers! They encompass many professional qualities, including critical thinking, data analysis, decision-making under pressure, efficient problem-solving, and creativity. Analytical abilities help big time when you need to take charge and step out of the box as a manager. Without this critical mix of melodies, managers might be stuck and stagnating, further frustrating teams. Moreover, strong analytical abilities are critical to your growth when you are early in your professional journey.

How to Develop Leadership Skills?

You can develop leadership skills through a variety of methods, including:

• Training and education: Leadership training and education can help you develop the skills and knowledge necessary to lead a successful team.
• Practice and experience: Experience in leadership roles can help you learn how to lead effectively and efficiently.
• Self-awareness: Knowing your strengths, weaknesses, and tendencies as a leader can help you improve your skills and strategies for leading teams.
• Networking: Developing relationships with other leaders in your field can help you gain insights and learn from their experience.
• Mentoring and coaching: People with experience and expertise can step in as helping hands in your journey. Explore leadership coaching and mentorship to learn more about this.
• Reflecting on your own leadership experiences: A periodic review of your past leadership experiences can help you reflect on the lessons learned and improve your leadership skills for future use.

Leadership Skills Self-assessment

Are you prepared to take on with your skillset? Test your crucial leadership skills for free now with self-assessments for managers from Risely! Risely offers leadership skills self-assessments designed by experts for managers to test the effectiveness of their abilities. The assessments highlight solid areas that will help you shine and underline weak points where you need to work. With accurate analysis guiding your growth, the leadership skill assessments pave the way for your professional success. What’s more: you can add your team’s review to your tests with a few clicks and get an all round analysis. Risely goes further as your learning buddy in solving all your people management challenges. So if you are constantly doing your team’s work or often finding yourself doing a lot of firefighting, it’s time to sign up for Risely. It brings customized learning journeys to your doorstep, where you can choose what to learn and at what pace! So check out how it works and get started today for a free 14-day trial.

Conclusion

Leadership skills are essential for team building, effective leadership, and achieving organizational goals. You can learn leadership skills from role models and mentors and read leadership-related materials. It’s important to develop leadership skills through self-awareness, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. The more you practice leadership skills, the better you’ll get at it. To further enhance your leadership skills, keep revisiting Risely! Grab more insights: Top 5 Qualities That Make A Great Manager