What makes a good leader? - Hints & Tips on Leadership Skills

There are many different views as to what makes a good leader. It has been widely debated as to whether you are born with leadership skills or whether you can develop into a leader. I personally subscribe to the view that leadership skills can be developed.

Developing your leadership skills is essential for running a successful business. Leadership skills can be developed through gaining experience, learning from others, training courses, self development, coaching or mentoring. Here are some hints and tips on some of the key leadership skills that will help you to develop into a good business leader:

1. Visionary. Leaders need to be able to develop, articulate and communicate the vision for their business, as well as inspiring everyone around the vision. Leaders also need to maintain a focus on the bigger picture for their business.
2. The ability to inspire and motivate others. Leaders need to inspire and motivate their employees to achieve the business objectives, as well as inspiring their suppliers, customers and everyone they deal with around their business vision.
3. Customer focused. Leaders need to be customer focused and to continually review their business from the customer’s perspective. Providing a high level of customer service is a key part of developing a successful business.
4. Personal values and a reputation for integrity and honesty. Leaders need a strong sense of personal values and a reputation for integrity and honesty, as well as the ability to keep calm and assured whatever is happening around them.
5. Knowledgeable and experienced. Leaders need to have specific knowledge and experience of the business they are in, as well as good general business knowledge and experience. They also need to focus on self development and be prepared to keep developing their knowledge and experience.
6. Decisive and self-confident. Leaders need to be self-confident and decisive, as well as being accountable for their decisions and for the business as a whole.
7. Ability to effect and lead change. Change is an essential part of business today and leaders need to be able to seek opportunities for change and effect change both within and outside their business. Running a business requires you to be flexible and adaptable at all times.
8. Good communication skills at all levels. Leaders need to be able to communicate well at all levels both within and outside their business.
9. Delegation. Leaders need to be able to delegate, develop, empower and encourage accountability in others.
10. A willingness to take advice and to seek support. Good leaders are willing to take advice on their business, as well as to ask for help and support.

I provide personalised coaching, mentoring and stress management services to business owners, directors, managers and professionals. Leadership is one of the areas that I work with clients on to move their business forward.

If you would like support with leadership in your business please refer to my website http://makinithappen.co.uk or contact Liz Makin at Liz@makinithappen.co.uk.

This article first appeared in the Summer 2007 edition of the Success Matrix Find The Experts newsletter. For more information see www.findtheexperts.co.uk.

Are you a good listener?

Most of us consider ourselves to be good listeners, but how often do we really listen to what other people are saying? Poor listening skills can impact on your business and personal life leading to conflict, misunderstandings, relationship problems, losing customers and contracts, unhappy staff, increased costs and lower profitability.

What is good listening? Listening is not just about hearing. It is when you truly understand the other person’s point of view, what they are thinking, how they are feeling and how they see the world. Listening involves not only hearing, but also understanding what is said, giving feedback on what you have heard and using and interpreting the non-verbal aspects of communication i.e. vocal factors (pitch, tone and rhythm), eye contact, facial expressions, body postures and even silence.

What are the benefits of good listening? When you display good listening skills the person you are listening to feels understood and valued and is more likely to be open and honest with you. By giving them the opportunity to share their thoughts and feelings with you they can gain greater insight and make better choices. Good listening will result in better relationships, clearer communication and a happier and more successful business and personal life.

What are the barriers to good listening? There are many barriers to listening including:
- You may have preconceptions or make assumptions about what the other person might say and should say.
- Your attention can be selective leading to bias in what you hear.
- You think faster than other people can talk and your attention can wander.
- You may be unable to ignore irrelevant information.
- The physical environment can contribute to poor listening e.g. other people’s conversations and background distractions.
- You have not allowed enough time for the conversation.
- You may lack concentration because you are thinking of other things, planning what you want to say next or daydreaming.

What behaviours impede good listening? As well as the barriers to listening above, you can interrupt your listening and the other person by:
- Interrupting when the other person is talking.
- Giving advice or offering solutions when the other person is talking.
- Using humour inappropriately.
- Reassuring or consoling the other person before they have finished speaking.
- Fidgeting or distracting the other person.
- Using emotionally laden language.

So what can help you to improve your listening skills? Here are some tips to help you improve your listening:
- Look interested in the other person and be alert.
- Concentrate on really listening to the other person, including what they are saying, how they are saying it and their body language.
- Minimise distractions.
- Be patient and do not interrupt
- Keep up with what the other person is saying and listen to the whole story.
- Allow the other person to be silent. They may be thinking or processing something internally.
- Provide clear feedback to show that you are listening e.g. nodding, agreeing and encouraging.
- Match the other person’s body language, vocal factors, metaphors, use of language and emotional tone, so that they feel listened to, understood and appreciated.
- Try to understand what the person is actually saying, what they are thinking and what they are feeling.
- Use your intuition to try and understand what the other person is thinking and feeling but may not be actually saying.
- Do not be judgemental or opinionated.
- If you need to take notes ask first if this is okay and do it in a way that does not distract the other person.
- Analyse and reflect back what you have heard, by paraphrasing, repeating, asking open questions and clarifying.
- Summarise the key points of the conversation and ask the other person whether they agree with your summary.
- Notice if you are not properly listening so that you can quickly bring your attention back to the other person.

Poor listening skills may be impacting you and your business. If you would like support in improving your listening skills please refer to my website http://makinithappen.co.uk/ or contact Liz Makin at Liz@makinithappen.co.uk.

This article first appeared in the June 2007 edition of the Makin It Happen - Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management newsletter. Please click here to Sign up for our email newsletter.