The benefit of developing leadership qualities is to lead our lives and not be pawns in someone else’s game.
Essential Leadership Qualities are:
1. Good communication skills
2. Ability to prioritise
3. Strategic thinking and the ability to calculate the short and long-term consequences of our decisions
4. Flexibility of mind and interpersonal relations
Good leaders should know about:
1. Their own and people’s psychology and how to maximise our/their potential
2. How to make decisions
3. How to set up goals
4. How to create the vision and mission of their lives/business
I am a born leader, but I lack some knowledge and skills. My weaknesses have always been my authoritarian communication style and a lack of flexibility, which are connected to my background and limited knowledge of people's psychology.
I was born in the Soviet Union, and having an authoritarian communication style was the norm there. It was even perceived as a strength. Now, I live in the UK and this so-cold “strength” works against me.
Developing interpersonal flexibility has been on my list for skills development for a long time. It is very hard to change one’s nature. Some people who know me from my childhood keep telling me that I will never change.
BUT, as I am an optimist by nature, I want to believe that I can develop a different communication style and become more flexible in interpersonal relations. Below is the list that motivates me to continue the hard work on myself:
1. The more flexible I am, the wider my choices can be
2. Communication is a transactional process; it is about giving and taking
3. When I don’t want to be flexible, I ask myself: Why am I like this? What are my fears? What will I lose if I am flexible?
I am curious to know your thoughts about leadership skills.
Olga Smith
www.batcsglobal.com