| What does it take to acquire effective leadership | | | | calm, cool and collected when the world's on fire |
| skills? | | | | around them. |
| First, you have to be good with people. | | | | So if you're someone who's in charge of others, |
| Leadership is highly interpersonal, so many people | | | | you should make the best use of your strengths, |
| skills are involved. To name a few: listening, | | | | and you should probably always be working on |
| accepting feedback, giving feedback and resolving | | | | some aspect of effective leadership skills. |
| conflict. These are skills you use with people, and | | | | How do you know when you've "arrived," when |
| you can learn them. | | | | you can stop working on getting stronger as a |
| But people skills take you only so far. You need | | | | leader? |
| something else. A lot of people say, "It's not just | | | | I don't think you ever arrive. How good a listener |
| what you can do, it's who you are." I talk about | | | | can you be? How patient can you be? How |
| this as "personal strengths" - behavior patterns | | | | compassionate? It's like asking a golfer how good |
| such as honesty, integrity, compassion, | | | | a golfer can he be? How good can a musician be? |
| composure, perseverance, initiative and dozens | | | | Would anyone striving for excellence say, "I'm |
| more. Some people refer to them as "character," | | | | finally at the end of my learning. I'm as good at |
| "heart" or "grit." These aren't passive traits, | | | | this as I can possibly be." No, they achieve higher |
| attributes or qualities. They aren't real at all until | | | | levels of excellence by continually striving to |
| you manifest them in your behavior with people. | | | | improve. |
| Most of the time, you use a personal strength | | | | This principle also holds true for managers. If you |
| because it's your habit to do so - your way of | | | | want effective leadership skills and personal |
| acting with people. Personal strengths are similar | | | | strengths, you never stop improving. One reason |
| to leadership skills in that they are behavior | | | | is that there are dozens of people skills and |
| patterns. Throughout your life, you learned to | | | | dozens of personal strengths. No one can be |
| operate a certain way in a particular situation. | | | | strong in all of them. Mastery is a lifelong journey. |
| When you listen, you do it a certain way. Or, say | | | | The journey begins when you're in charge of your |
| you have to deal with a crisis. If you take | | | | first group. You realize that getting the best work |
| responsibility and tell the truth, it's because that's | | | | from people isn't easy. You make mistakes. But |
| your way of behaving in that situation. | | | | mistakes are one of the best ways to learn. |
| I use the term "personal strengths" because | | | | Learn from each experience, learn from your |
| these behavior patterns are hard to engage. You | | | | feedback, and learn from the coaching you get |
| aren't born with them. People skills and personal | | | | from more experienced managers. The learning |
| strengths are learned. Every individual is at a | | | | happens when you actually try something |
| different stage along the path of personal | | | | different. |
| development. People will be strong in some skills | | | | Self-awareness is a big help. Listen to feedback. |
| or strengths, and there will be areas they need to | | | | Take an honest look at yourself, and you'll know |
| work on. They may find it easy to act with | | | | what you should focus on next. And as you |
| honesty and integrity, because they've always | | | | succeed as a leader, as you accept more |
| acted that way. But maybe it's not so easy to | | | | responsibility, remember this: you can still continue |
| take a risk. Or maybe they have trouble staying | | | | your growth as a leader - one area at a time. |