What is the top skill that a great leader must have?
Leadership is the process of leading in the right way, creating an inspiring vision of the future and empowering others to achieve a common goal. This is a short definition of what a great leader does. However, many people are wondering if there is a manual or a guide that will give you all the tricks to become a great leader. The answer is no!
To become a great leader, you should have some core leadership skills. On Cosmoleadership’s LinkedIn page, we created a poll and asked users to answer the question “What is the top skill that a great leader must have”. In 741 votes, the 61% claimed that emotional intelligence was the top skill; the 28% believed that communication made you a great leader and the 11% said that influence is the key to become a great leader.
The results of the poll were really interesting, so let’s discuss every aspect of this poll.
Emotional intelligence: As we had said in another Cosmoleadership’s article about emotional intelligence, it is the ability to understand and manage your own emotions, and those of the people around you.
Connecting to core emotions, accepting them, and being aware of how they affect your decisions and actions allow you to have emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is an immense advantage in building an exceptional team, so you have to learn how to be emotional independent.
Communication:To become a great leader, you must be an effective communicator. Communicating honestly and with transparency has a clear and critical impact on an organization’s bottom line.
Leadership communication’s goal is to create a sense of trust in the workplace through the messaging coming from leaders, keeping employees engaged and focused in the right direction.
Influence: The ability to have an impact on the behaviors, attitudes and choices of others is an essential skill in leadership.
Gaining influence is not an easy process. As a leader, you have to understand those whom you want to affect. Here are four tips to follow in order to become and remain an influential leader:
1. Show self-leadership
2. Listen with empathy
3. Be a problem-solver
4. Be decisive
5. Demonstrate assertiveness
To become a great leader, you should have many skills. There is not only one that will make you great. Work on yourself and improve your leadership skills to succeed! The road of success in leadership is full of challenges, don’t be afraid, just give your best.
