The issue of leadership is one of the most important. It has long drawn attention to certain people being leaders . Its qualities have been investigated. Likewise, it has been concluded that leadership involves certain special skills .
The paragraphs in this text want to explore just those qualities that a leader denotes . To do this, first we are going to define the characteristics of a proper leadership . Later, we will tell how these skills are put into practice and manifested.
Index
The leadership
It happens that leadership is the art of influencing individuals, groups, societies , countries …
Its purpose is for people to work together to achieve common goals.
More practically, it is a relationship of influence that occurs between leaders and their followers , through which their actors seek to achieve effective changes and consequences, which express the objectives they share.
And, finally, leadership does not stop involving a process of human communication that, as such, depends on its structures, on the benefits of mediation between subjectivities, in order to create wealth, develop ideas, produce goods and services, generate non-tangible goods.
What are the characteristics of a true leader? In this regard, we are going to present several of these coordinate characteristics based on a catalog that we hope will serve to better understand the subject.
Skills to be a good leader
The skills to be a good leader are not homogeneous . In this case, we want to emphasize a somewhat personal classification: managerial leadership skills, in sports and in politics.
Why have we chosen these categories? Because they are frequent, as well as a bit daily when it comes to leaders. In this sense, we have selected a total of 10 qualities that every leader must have, grouped into three categories: business, sports and political.
Business leadership skills in senior management
Here we have highly requested skills in current times. The world seems to move in the corporate arena. Therefore, we describe the skills corresponding to this area.
1.- BE VISIONARY:
Every human being is capable of having good ideas ; however, they are useless if they cannot be implemented in a context as competitive as the current one.
The visionary not only has an idea, but has the long-term vision . In large companies and corporations, it is a highly valued quality because sustainability, competitiveness and growth are projected in international dimensions.
The visionary leader anticipates potential market downsides and realizes investment opportunities in the medium and long term. He is in essence an avant-garde subject.
2.- ORGANIZATIONAL CAPACITY:
Large companies pay particular attention to the organizational skills of leaders.
The overall vision is as important as the organization of the human, logistical and financial resources available to the company.
All these aspects must be absolutely controlled and hierarchical to achieve the optimization of the production or of the goods that the corporation produces.
Deep company knowledge meets efficient organization. The organization allows conflict resolution and facilitates the ability to react to them.
3.- NEGOTIATION SKILLS
Companies and corporations require leaders with great bargaining power.
Obviously, the great negotiator possesses a series of personal attributes that are also demanded in other instances (communicational qualities, charisma, empathy , among others).
In addition, the power to bring together people (or other companies) based on their ideas and projects.
A leader is a great salesperson in the good sense of the expression, because he is persuasive and is convinced of what he “sells” (company merger, investment or diversification projects, etc.).
4.- BE COMMUNICATIVE
In the business world, every leader has to be a good speaker to reach his audience in an appropriate way, to know how to convey his thoughts with the rest of the team. This quality allows you to “sell” your ideas more intelligently and persuasively.
If the message does not reach the receiver correctly then communication fails .
It is essential that today’s leader be able to maintain feedback with their context, identify the strategies that at some time led to success in the past, break with paradigmatic effects, and maintain a mental model open to change.
Once the skills of business leaders have been detailed, it is now time to talk about another area. We have chosen, in this regard, the universe of sport.
Leadership skills in sports teams
Why the sport? Well, because sports competition is something that has become very massive. Sport is part of everyday life in our time. In addition, sports activities are usually in group activities : soccer, volleyball, baseball, etc.
All of these teams have a character who wears the captain’s sash. In this sense, we proceed to describe the qualities that must be forgotten in the field of sport .
5.- BE AN EXAMPLE
Great sports leaders should always be a benchmark for the team . The requirement of the team, its members, must be met 100%.
The leaders of sports teams were regularly great athletes who, after their retirement, dedicate themselves to teaching all the baggage of techniques and strategies that they learned during their entire sports life.
However, experience is not enough, they need to show a life of responsibility to their team at all times . Respect is earned, not imposed.
It must be said that in sport there is the notion of leadership and the notion of direction . The leader is a player who stands out among his peers. Instead, the manager may be the team’s technician. Not necessarily someone who participates directly in the sports contest, but who raises the strategies.
6.- BE A GUIDE
The control the same control of the team is not a good strategy. The sports leader must be able to assertively guide the team to achieve the goals in the best way.
Competencies are won with good strategies , but also with integration and communication between team members, which is only achieved with the guidance of the leader, who is by definition a coach.
Thus, the leader is responsible for the comprehensive development of people in the sports field, in order, among other objectives, to generate the motivation and level of commitment essential for the team to advance and achieve excellence.
The essentials of true leadership are not reduced to mere authority . Leaders are effective when other people recognize them as such, by seriously listening to their ideas, valuing and following their suggestions; turn to them for advice.
7.- POSITIVE ATTITUDE
Just as the leader must be an example for all team members, he must also be a person who manages to motivate and generate a positive environment within the team.
An attitude that motivates and builds confidence is also important . A good attitude starts from the sufficient confidence that the leader has in himself, precisely producing a climate of shared moral strength .
Other qualities associated with a good attitude are honesty and self-control , which requires emotional intelligence, reflection and continuous training.
With this, we have just indicated three interesting qualities of a sports leader. Finally, we will mention three qualities that political leadership must display .
Leadership skills in politics
Let’s close by talking about politics. The political is a scenario that par excellence is managed with leaders. You have to understand this: even in the most democratic settings, it happens that politics is always vertical. There are leaderships that must be respected and promoted.
A political leader must display several of the 7 qualities described above. However, you should also have the following:
8.- ORATORY
A politician must speak to hundreds, and even thousands, of people. Therefore, you must have public speaking capable of impacting large masses . Even more so in a time where the favor of the vote is sought to achieve public office.
Keep in mind that politics is always a collective issue. And in this mass media it is necessary to make yourself known. That is just what many political leaders have done with the magic of oratory.
The speaker must not only convey his words. Your true mission is to win the hearts of your audience . This is exactly what political leaders do: they captivate people, people engage with them and thus gain followers.
9.- EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
We want to continue with the emotional issue. The true politician is not someone rational. People must fall in love with your personality , and we all know that love is not rational at all.
Therefore, emotional intelligence is necessary. Knowing how to handle the emotions of a wide audience is not easy. You have to understand that you must hook up with thousands of people, even millions.
One of the keys is empathy. Political leadership knows how to put itself in the shoes of the people. In this way, people have the idea that the leader understands them, that he is able to help them, since he shares their concerns.
10.- CREATIVITY
Finally, we have a quality that is hardly mentioned in leadership. The creativity is very important , especially in the arenas of politics.
In politics there is a detail: leadership wears out fast . For example, there are those who are excellent candidates and win an electoral office. However, once in office they no longer have the leadership skills they previously demonstrated.
Leaders must be able to renew their image and value proposition before their followers . It is something similar to a sentimental relationship: you have to avoid falling into monotony. And this is achieved with creativity, the ability to show something new.
We wanted to close this post with politics. In addition, the idea is to show that leadership emerges in the most heterogeneous scenarios . We can say that it is something everyday. We see it at home, school, work, friends, etc.
Alexa Clark specializes in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. She has experience in listening and welcoming in Individual Therapy and Couples Therapy. It meets demands such as generalized anxiety, professional, love and family conflicts, stress, depression, sexual dysfunction, grief, and adolescents from 15 years of age. Over the years, She felt the need to conduct the psychotherapy sessions with subtlety since She understands that the psychologist acts as a facilitator of self-understanding and self-acceptance, valuing each person's respect, uniqueness, and acceptance.