We often generalize leadership to be the same traits needed all the time everywhere by all leaders.  Is leadership really that simple?  Let’s look at different domains of leadership and different skills that are needed in each.

Leading Yourself

To effectively lead yourself, useful skills are, for example:

• physical fitness
• decision making and problem solving
• critical thinking
• setting personal goals
• prioritizing
• time and stress management
• self-coaching
• emotional intelligence
• motivating yourself
• work-life balance

Here’s many resources about leading yourself.

Leading Others Individuals

To effectively lead others, you need to effectively lead yourself and have additional skills, for example:

• Coaching
• Counseling (basic)
• Feedback
• Listening
• Questioning
• Understanding body language
• Delegating
• Directing

Here’s many resources about leading others.

Leading Groups/Teams

To effectively lead groups or teams, you need skills to lead others and have additional skills, for example:

• Agenda design
• Facilitation
• Consensus building
• Group decision making and problem solving
• Meeting management

Here’s many resources about leading groups and teams.

Leading Organizations

To effectively lead organizations, you need skills to lead yourself, other individuals and teams, along with skills, for example:

• Strategic planning
• Business planning
• Organizational development and change
• At least one organizational performance model, for example, Balanced Scorecard or strategic management

Here’s many resources about leading organizations.

So when identifying necessary skills in leadership, it’s not enough to imagine a long list of wondrous traits.  Leadership is much more situational than that.

What do you think?

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Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD – Authenticity Consulting, LLC – 800-971-2250
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