Leadership

13 Leadership Skills

1. Executive Presence 

Executive presence is a relatively new leadership concept. It is a must for CXOs as well as their direct reports. Executive presence is more than charisma; it shows up in how leaders trust and are trusted, how leaders communicate, how leaders develop strategy, and how leaders carry themselves under pressure. Executive presence can be developed through thoughtful and actionable development.   - Leslie Mizerak, Lead Coach Mentor, LLC 

2. Resiliency 

Over the past decade, the pace of change and the growing complexity of the business environment has increased dramatically. Leaders often find themselves overworked and overwhelmed in response to these challenges. Building up their resilience is an essential skill set. Resilient leaders are able to manage personal and organizational anxiety effectively and exude calm and confidence.   - Irvine Nugent, Sonos Leadership 

3. Culture Management 

Since 2014. the word "culture" has been a top trending word on Merriam-Webster.com. People are looking for bigger purpose, more involvement in communities, excitement to walk through the doors, and something to be proud of. Leaders have to have the skill of creating culture, maintaining it, and growing it. Check out Zappos for an example. They have a "culture book" called The Fool Rules.   - MaryAnne Gillespie, Red Apple Coaching 

4. Navigation Of Ambiguity 

Rapidly increasing rates of change and growing complexity has made navigating ambiguity essential in leadership. We've begun to see disruptive change in all directions, and leaders must be agile to navigate the ambiguity and stay competitive. Leaders who can remain calm and relaxed and continue to inspire their teams in the face of increasing complexity give their companies a tremendous advantage.   - Rey Castellanos, Feed Your Wolf 

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5. Hybrid Of Skills 

Versatility across multiple areas of business is proving to be a coveted leadership trait, especially within the C-suite. Gone are the days of singular expertise; businesses covet skill diversity now. The greater the exposure to various job functions, the better leaders can navigate the ever-evolving world of business, climb the career ladder, and take the helm.   - Adrienne Tom, CERM, CPRW, MCRS, Career Impressions 

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Leadership skill everyone needs

Leadership lessons Steve Jobs

His saga is the entrepreneurial creation myth writ large: Steve Jobs cofounded Apple in his parents’ garage in 1976, was ousted in 1985, returned to rescue it from near bankruptcy in 1997, and by the time he died, in October 2011, had built it into the world’s most valuable company. 

Along the way he helped to transform seven industries: personal computing, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, retail stores, and digital publishing. 

He thus belongs in the pantheon of America’s great innovators, along with Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and Walt Disney. None of these men was a saint, but long after their personalities are forgotten, history will remember how they applied imagination to technology and business.

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Leadership

The word "leadership" can bring to mind a variety of images. For example:

• A political leader, pursuing a passionate, personal cause.
• An explorer, cutting a path through the jungle for the rest of his group to follow.
• An executive, developing her company's strategy to beat the competition.

Leaders help themselves and others to do the right things. They set direction, build an inspiring vision, and create something new. Leadership is about mapping out where you need to go to "win" as a team or an organization; and it is dynamic, exciting, and inspiring.

Yet, while leaders set the direction, they must also use management skills to guide their people to the right destination, in a smooth and efficient way.

In this article, we'll focus on the process of leadership. In particular, we'll discuss the "transformational leadership" model, first proposed by James MacGregor Burns and then developed by Bernard Bass. This model highlights visionary thinking and bringing about change, instead of management processes that are designed to maintain and steadily improve current performance.

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11 ways to define leadership

Recently, Business News Daily asked current leaders and founders to explain what leadership means to them.

1. The pursuit of bettering your environment

"There is no one-size-fits-all approach, answer key or formula to leadership. Leadership should be the humble, authentic expression of your unique personality in pursuit of bettering whatever environment you are in." – Katie Christy, founder, Activate Your Talent

2. Knowing your team and yourself well

"To me, leadership is about playing to strengths and addressing weaknesses in the most productive and efficient way possible. It's about knowing your team and yourself, and doing your best job to set both up for success." – Samantha Cohen, co-founder, Neon Bandits

3. Giving people the tools to succeed

"Leadership is serving the people that work for you by giving them the tools they need to succeed. Your workers should be looking forward to the customer and not backwards, over their shoulders, at you. It also means genuine praise for what goes well and leading by taking responsibility early and immediately if things go bad." – Jordan French, founding CMO, BeeHex, Inc. 3D Food Printing

4. Open, authentic and positive influence

"Leadership comes from influence, and influence can come from anyone at any level and in any role. Being open and authentic, helping to lift others up and working toward a common mission, build influence. True leadership comes when those around you are influenced by your life in a positive way." – Kurt Uhlir, CEO and co-founder Sideqik

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