By Rob Hellmann, GetFive Certified Coach
Leadership isn’t just for the CEO of your company or your current manager. Leadership is for everyone. The most successful professionals exhibit leadership skills in their job no matter their level in the organization. In today’s competitive environment, displaying leadership qualities is a prerequisite for getting ahead.
Fortunately, you don’t have to be born with leadership skills to succeed in your career. You will learn and develop them over time. Let’s dive deeper into the meaning of some of these skills:
Vision
Vision is an essential starting point for leadership. A leadership vision is a goal or objective that you feel strongly about and want others to support you in achieving. Your vision will be most effective in influencing others if it is simple, clear and specific.
Influence
Now that you have a vision, how do you make it happen? You have to inspire. Effective leaders are adept at influencing others to support their ideas. Influencing skills allow you to build support for your vision. To effectively influence, you need to:
- Inspire trust in your leadership
- Invest yourself in your organization
- Adapt your leadership style to the situation
- Maintain momentum
Communication
Effective leaders use communication to focus attention on goals, influence, listen and learn from others. They do this by communicating consistently to keep the goals they’re trying to accomplish at the top of everyone’s minds. By keeping the message consistent, you’ll help build trust in your leadership.
Communication, of course, is a two-way street. As a leader, you must also be able to hear what others are saying to you. The information you receive will give you a reality check, creating opportunities to alter your strategy and ensure ultimate success.
Commitment
There is no greater motivation than seeing someone with undying commitment to a cause. Prove your commitment to your role and you will earn the respect of your team and instill hardworking energy among the rest of the organization. You want to build your reputation for working hard.
You don’t have to be born with the skills of a great leader in order to become one. In fact, you can learn all of the above qualities through experience. Let GetFive guide you so you can become a successful leader no matter where you are in your career.
Robert Hellmann has been a career and executive coach with GetFive since 2003. He is the author of the book Your Social Media Job Search.
