Who is a Leader? Skills and Career

Who are leaders? Know your career span, salary range, and skills

When you hear words like "leader" and "leadership," what comes to mind? A leader is someone who can understand how things might be made better and inspire others to strive toward a common objective. There is always a need for a leader who can assist define and carry out a predetermined vision, whether the firm is private, a branch of government, or a non-profit organization.

Who is a Leader and What is Leadership?

A leader can be defined as a person who:

• Has a vision and the path to discovering a goal.
• Can inspire and motivate a team.
• Ensures that the team members achieve their goals within the set deadlines.
• Develops and executes strategies to achieve certain goals.

Simply put, a leader is a person who influences a group of individuals toward achieving a particular goal.

The Concept of Leadership

Leadership is the capacity of a person (leader) or a group of people(leaders) to influence and instruct the members of an organization. Leadership applies driving sound and, at times, difficult decisions to achieve the set goals.  

What Do Leaders Do?

Leaders set direction and help themselves and others to do the right thing to succeed. Some of the common responsibilities of a leader are:

• Setting goals and encouraging the team to work confidently and enthusiastically.
• Making the road map and directing the team on the right path to accomplish the set goals.
• Effectively organizing groups of people with tasks that they can execute well.
• Taking initiatives to share and accept new ideas for the development of the business.
• Ensuring the individuals within the group willingly cooperate and work towards the common objectives.
• Motivating and leading the right direction to the team at challenging periods.
• Creating policies to be pursued by all team members to work towards the organization's objectives.

In addition to the above-mentioned responsibilities, a good leader:

• Maintains a positive work environment within the team.
• Builds a trustworthy relationship with the employees.
• Take responsibility for failure and share the success with the team.
• Committed to the deadlines.
• Ensure everyone in the group feels comfortable communicating their creative ideas with them.
• Holds good knowledge of allocating roles to people as per their capability to get the best from them.

What are the Skills Required to Become a Good Leader?

A great leader can identify and hit the right balance between two contrasting ideas. The key skills of an influential leader are:

Communication Skills

As a leader, one must be continuously in touch with the team and communicate regularly. Thus, they must have excellent communication skills. They must have a good command of all forms of communication- one-on-one, departmental, and communication via email, phone, chat, video, and social media.

Planning and Delivery Skills

Good business leaders create a plan, communicate it, and passionately drive it to completion.

Strategic Thinking Skills

This is what differentiates leaders from managers. A leader thinks of an idea and strategically plans steps to achieve it.

People Management Skills

A leader must be capable enough to identify the skills of each employee and delegate duties based on their skill set.

Creative Thinking Skills

As a leader, one must make several decisions. It is not always possible that every decision will have a clear answer, so a leader must be able to think out of the box at times.

Influencing Skills

Paying reasonable compensation to employees is not always enough to inspire and influence them to go the extra mile. A leader must ensure employees understand their role in the organization and feel valued.

Career Scope of Leaders

Leadership roles cater to deciding how to delegate duties, allocating and managing resources, dealing with interpersonal disputes, handling random problems, nurturing team members’ strengths, managing project progress and developing a vision for the company. Therefore, it is essential to possess relevant skills.

If you feel you need to acquire leadership skills or brush them up to become an effective and instrumental leader, you can always upskill.  

‍