Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality. —Warren Bennis
Having a vision and knowing how to transform it into reality is essential in helping the team reach the peak of success. In whatever field you’re in, it’s an advantage if you’re a team player. Most employers seek those who possess leadership qualities. Want to know if you have what it takes to lead a team? Here’s an article for you to know how to take advantage of your qualities and hone your leadership skills.
What is a Corporate Leader?
A corporate leader is someone who founded a company or the one who’s in charge of making decisions, which include high-ranking managers and directors. It can also pertain to community leaders who give people the opportunity to work for their company. Thus, they have to be decisive, confident risk-takers with managerial skills to effectively lead business operations and workers.
Corporate leadership inspires team members to learn and cultivate a growth mindset. It’s not just about setting a good example, but understanding how people work and what motivates them. Some corporate leaders are autocratic, bureaucratic, or democratic. Autocratic leaders are in control of all the decisions. Bureaucratic leaders are less strict in enforcing rules than autocratic leaders. However, they still value hierarchy and obedience to the regulations. On the other hand, democratic leaders welcome members’ opinions and consider them in making decision.
Being a corporate leader takes guts. You need to possess the qualities of a good leader. Since it’s one of the vital roles in a company, many pursue this position. Thus, it’s essential to know the leadership attributes that would help achieve your career goals. If you’re aiming to be a corporate leader in your company, continue reading to learn more about the important qualities and how you can better your skills.
Essential Leadership Qualities to Succeed
There are leadership qualities helpful for you to succeed. These skills are needed to lead a team to achieve their goals. Whether you’re appointed as a team leader or not, this is for you. This is because these qualities are important factors employers look for in their employees.
Integrity
Having a strong principle about things, especially leadership, is important. All leaders are expected to possess integrity. As a core foundation of leadership, standing for what’s right without compromise when faced with trials is the top quality of an effective leader. Displaying integrity and honesty regardless of the situation could inspire your team to do the same and exert effort to succeed.
Innovation
Leading a team isn’t a piece of cake because you’re expected to have great ideas to achieve the team’s goal. Innovative and creative ideas can help the team deal with future problems by preparing solutions.
Delegation
A strong leader knows how and when to delegate. It isn’t just about giving tasks but knowing to whom it should be given. It’s expected that a team has a lot of tasks and activities to meet the goals set by the team. Further, knowing how to maximize the skills of the members by delegating tasks that would highlight what they’re capable of promotes productivity.
Decisiveness
Decision making is one of the important leadership roles, since it involves having to make tons of critical decisions. Thus, being decisive is a must; no one wants to follow someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing and unsure of what actions to take. In contrast, effective leaders understand the importance of being decisive, knowing that it could build or destroy an organization. Alongside problem-solving skills, decisiveness requires being knowledgeable about the important details and considering them to be able to make the right choice.
Resiliency
It will never be always a smooth sailing experience. Thus, a great leader knows how to respond to problems and flexible enough to take action. Resiliency is what a team needs when the going gets tough. Being resilient isn’t complaining about the circumstance, but keeping cool while focusing on solving the problem and treating the situation as a learning experience.
Good Communication
One of the strong leadership qualities is being good at communicating with the team members. Great leaders know how to listen attentively and talk sincerely with the team. Being able to communicate well with your teammates builds trust. Thus, knowing how to put your thoughts into words could help you avoid misunderstandings. Plus, good communication skills help you express empathy and emotional intelligence.
Humility
Leading people takes humility. This quality sets leaders apart from those who just boss around. A great leader knows how important humility is. This is because they know it’s imperative to prioritize what’s better for the team and not how it benefits them. Also, humility motivates the team to work better knowing you’re after the success of the team and not to boss them around.
Self-Confidence
Effective leadership requires confidence. This entails knowing your competencies and other related skills. Being confident is important in leadership because it boosts self-esteem, which is essential in taking risks. Decision making and leading a team would be easy if you’re confident that you’re the right person for the job.
Vision
A leader with a vision helps the team to be on the right track. Having plans for the future that are aligned with the company’s mission and vision contributes to the success of the organization. Visionary leaders know what actions to take and are willing to pursue goals while motivating the team with what’s ahead.
Compassion
Compassion and empathy help people work harmoniously. Understanding the needs of the members and showing your care for their welfare inspire the team to work better. Be compassionate, appreciate and recognize them, and build trust and respect. Not only does a compassionate leader motivate members; they also build a group of excellent people working together to achieve success.
Effective Leadership Styles for Organizational Success
What makes an effective leader? Leaders may vary in styles when it comes to leading a team. Thus, knowing the different leadership styles is important to distinguish what works best for your team. Being a versatile leader makes it easy for the team to efficiently work together. Here are the most common leadership styles used in the workplace that could help you achieve your organizational goals.
Democratic Leadership
Democratic leadership style highlights the participation of the members of the team. The decision-making doesn’t just come from the leader; it also involves the suggestions of the team.
Laissez-faire Leadership
This leadership style puts weight on the members’ responsibility to make decisions. Laissez-faire leaders set expectations and monitor the progress and outputs of the team. This style empowers the team to take part in every decision and makes them accountable for the project they’re working on.
Servant Leadership
Servant leadership style focuses on what leaders can do for the team. The leader aims to empower their teammates to work better. The leaders with this style try to make their team happy and value what interests the members. This style allows members to voice out what they’re feeling without hesitation because they know that servant leaders will listen to them.
Transactional Leadership
As a give-and-take approach, transactional leadership style promotes rewards and incentives. Leaders motivate their members with benefits in return for good performance. To avoid team failure, leaders encourage members by giving them what makes them happy and satisfied.
Transformational Leadership
Transformational leadership style circles around motivating the team to do better and inspiring them to aim for success. It’s more on setting goals, achieving them, and taking pride more in the outcome than in receiving rewards. Even though you don’t give rewards like in transactional style, members are still motivated to do their job excellently. More than the tangible things, the transformational leadership style puts more value on accountability and building confidence.
How to Improve Your Leadership Skills in the Workplace?
Everyone can be a leader but not everyone can do it effectively. Being a great leader requires the skills and the willingness to enhance them. There’s no room to be complacent, only thirst in making yourself better. Leading a team isn’t that easy because you have to consider a number of things, especially the people working with you. Thus, we have prepared a list to help you improve your skills in the workplace.
Make the most out of your strengths.
The first thing to do is to know your strengths. What are the things you’re good at? Write a list of what you’re capable of doing. Then, take time to sharpen them. Do the things that would help you enhance your strengths. Have the initiative to take on tasks that could highlight your strong points.
Acknowledge your weaknesses.
Everyone has their fair share of weaknesses. Thus, acknowledging them can help you identify what you can do about it. Plus, once you’ve recognized your flaws, it’s when you can take action to improve them. Have time to learn ways to turn your weakness into strengths.
For example, if you’re having a hard time communicating, try asking a friend to constantly talk to you. Or maybe you could take classes to help you improve your communication skills. The point is simple: Acknowledge your weaknesses and do something about them.
Challenge yourself.
Set a goal and challenge yourself to achieve it. Having a vision and putting a value on what you do could motivate you to do better. Don’t let yourself be complacent. As you acknowledge your strengths, do something about your weakness, and challenge yourself to always be excellent in whatever you do.
Be open to corrections.
Don’t hesitate to ask for help and feedback. Be open to mentorship. Criticisms can make or break a person. However, if you’re aspiring to sharpen your leadership skills, you have to take them as doors for improvement. Learn from your experiences as well as the mistakes of other people. Welcome feedback and act upon it.
Equip yourself.
Personal development is essential to improve your skills. Don’t settle for mediocrity, and instead aim for excellence. This is possible when you constantly open yourself to new learning experience. Ronald E. Osborn, executive director of the John Henry Weidner Foundation, once said, “Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow.” Aim to do better to achieve greater heights. Grow and equip yourself, widen your knowledge, better your skills, and be an asset to your team.
Move Up in the Career Ladder with an Executive Resume
Now that you know how to improve your leadership qualities, you can take the next step of highlighting them in your resume. If you’re aiming to land a senior-level position, you have to make sure that your executive resume showcases the leadership skills needed for the job. Doing so helps hiring managers spot if you have the qualities of a great leader that could help their company prosper. Thus, you must consider the factors of an executive resume before making one.
If you still find it challenging, let Resume Prime help take your career to the next level. You can check some of our sample resumes to guide you in writing your profile. We also offer top-notch resume writing services with the help of our expert writers. There’s no need for you to experience the tedious work because we can craft a job-winning tool for you. What are you waiting for? Hire our services now and make a move in achieving your career goal.
