Introduction
Leadership development refers to any activity that enhances the quality of leadership within an individual or organization.Successful management requires more than just assigning tasks to the employees to perform. It calls for a leader who can inspire its members to achieve their full potential. To successfully develop leadership skills among the employees, we should be able to identify the skills to develop and how to develop this skill. In this study we shall look at the leadership skills that need to be developed and the strategies of developing them.
Leadership skills
Listening skills: A leader must have the ability to communicate effectively.They must be able to talk – and write – simply, clearly and persuasively (Brown, 18).Being able to listen to what your being told and digest information intently is essential for a leader. Thus listening is one of the greatest skills to develop in a leader. Great leaders are great listeners without exception. (Brown, 25).
Decisiveness: To develop leaders to have decisive skills, one should be able to let the employees take action and make decision by there own. When developing leaders one should not help them think but you should let them think by there own.
Trust: Trust is a vital component of leadership. The employees should be let to do what they are there to do, without leaning over their shoulders all the time, or demanding to know how they spend each minute of their.
Communicating skills: Language and communication skills is identified with great leaders.A leader should be able to take great responsibility for how He or She is heard without making any statements with emotional attachment. Great leaders always find a way to say things calmly and constructively.
Integrity: The integrity to make decisions because they are right and the integrity to stand up when you truly believe something is not in the best interests of the business is an attribute required in a leader. Whether or not it is in your personal best interests is much less of a consideration
Accountability and competence: A leader must be able to accept personal accountability. After making decision one should be able to stand by his or her decision whether or not they fail. This attribute must be developed in leaders so that they stand up to there decisions. A leader should be able to set standards for the employees and also ensure that the set standards are achieved. Through monitoring and control he ensures that quality performance is achieved by all employees at all time.
Developing skills: Leadership skills can be developed through the following ways.
Experience: By giving employees duties to perform enables them to learn through experience. Experience is a way to enhance leadership skills.
Training and education: Leadership skills can be developed through learning and also through education and training. Organising for seminars and workshops where by the employees can be trained on the leadership skills is one way of developing skills among the employees.
Theory, practice and application: Leadership skills can be developed by combining theory, practice and application. By using theory in the real world and then learning from experience by evaluating what went right and what could go better is a way of developing leadership skills among the employees is a powerful learning mechanism.
Work cited
Brown, W. Steven. 13 Fatal Errors Managers Make and How You Can Avoid Them. United State: Berkeley Books. 1987.
Ulrich, Dave and Smallwood, Norm. Develop Your Leadership Brand: Tips for Leadership Training Design for Adult Learners. 2008. Web.