Top Pillars | Leadership skills by Salameh Mahasneh

Leadership Skills
Salameh Mahasneh

Course Objectives
Upon the successful completion of the course, each participant will be able to:
Apply and gain a
basic knowledge on
leadership.
Discuss the
techniques and
skills that
contribute to a
leadership style.
Identify the
basics of
leadership and
motivation.
Carryout various methods of
developing and empowering
people through training,
coaching, supporting and
delegating.
Apply situational
leadership

Are Leaders Born or Made?
It is sometimes said that great leaders are born, not made.
Do you agree with this?

Behavioral Theories believe that people can
become leaders through the process of teaching,
learning and observation.

The best estimates offered by research
is that leadership is about one-third
born and two-thirds made.

Ability to Lead
This skill refers to how clearly a leader sees
his or her vision, shares it with employees,
and inspires them to support that vision. The
ability to lead also entails how well a leader
can motivate employees in order to get the
desired business results. For example, each
employee should understand how his or her
job contributes to the company’s overarching
goals. Instilling this information is part of a
leader’s responsibility, and will help
employees feel motivated and have a sense of
purpose.

Effective Communication
Communication is important
everywhere, but its importance
in good leaders stay
uncontested. Predominant
problems at the workplace
have their origins in
miscommunication. Effective communication
does not equate to speaking
well alone but also spans to
active listening and proper
questioning technique to
elicit required information.

A leader takes advantage of
effective communication not just
for clarity but also for connection,
inspiration, persuasion, guidance
and even assurance. Her way of
communication sets the tone and
communicating trend for that
business environment.
In May 2014, the Ketchum
Leadership Communication
Monitor identified
communication as a top-
ranking attribute needed for
effective leadership. 74% of
participants agreed to it while
only 29% felt that leaders
communicate effectively.

As a leader, you need to be
able to clearly and
succinctly explain to your
employees everything from
organizational goals to
specific tasks. Leaders
must master all forms of
communication, including:

Written
Communication
Writing well is a
major component of
professional
presentation.
Effective
Communication
Includes vocal tone,
eye contact patterns,
body language.
Verbal
Communication
Verbal (also called
“oral”) communication
skills are essential to be
able to express yourself
clearly and succinctly.

Leaders need to be highly skilled listeners to stay ahead of
the curve on what's happening with their teams, their
clients and their partners. That will require learning to
listen on multiple levels, including being able to tune in
better to the emotional soundtracks of those they lead,
serve and work with.
Good leaders tend to be extremely good
listeners.
Therefore, leaders should establish a steady flow of
communication between themselves and their staff or team
members, either through an open-door policy or regular
conversations with workers.

Motivation
Leaders need to inspire their
workers to go the extra mile for
their organizations; just paying a
fair salary to employees is typically
not enough inspiration (although it
is important too). There are a
number of ways to motivate your
workers:
Appreciation - It motivates people to
have their efforts appreciated. Research
by MIT suggests that people whose
work is not appreciated need to be paid
double to be as productive as people
whose work is appreciated.

Effective leadership often requires
respect. You often have to give
respect to your team in order to
earn it back from them.
Respect Your Employees
And if you don't have the respect of
your team, then you may not be
able to get the best possible work
from them when it comes to
supporting your business.
In one survey of over 20,000
employees around the world,
respect ranked No. 1 as the most
important leadership behavior.

Respect Your Employees
Researches indicates that employees
value two distinct types of respect:
Owed respect is
accorded equally to all
members of a work
group or an
organization; it meets
the need to feel
included. It’s signaled
by an atmosphere
suggesting that every
member of the group is
inherently valuable.
Earned respect
recognizes individual
employees who
display valued
qualities or
behaviors. Earned
respect meets the
need to be valued for
doing good work.

True leaders nurture and mentor their team,
recognizing the power of directing and connecting.
You have to let the team steer the ship sometimes.
This allows you to see the talent your team brings to
the table and reward them in return for their
achievements on behalf of the company.
Teach Others to Lead

Great leaders are not
exclusively those who solely
get results. Rather, leaders
must also command respect
and trust by being forthright
with their employees and the
greater industry of which
they are a part.
Teams may not always like
what a leader has to say, but if
the message is honest, they
will often appreciate knowing
the truth, rather than being fed
lies and excuses. Ideally, a
strong leader should also
possess the ability to deliver
harder truths diplomatically
so as not to alienate workers
Honesty/Integrity

Honesty/Integrity
How can you expect your followers to be honest
when you lack these qualities yourself?

Decision-Making Capabilities
A leader should have the ability
to take the right decision at the
right time. Decisions taken by
leaders have a profound impact
on masses. A leader should think
long and hard before taking a
decision but once the decision is
taken, stand by it It is highly recommended that you
consult key stakeholders before
taking a decision. After all, they are
the ones who will benefit or suffer
from your decisions.

Creativity and Innovation
“Innovation distinguishes between a leader
and a follower.”
- Steve Jobs

Creativity and Innovation
In order to get ahead in today’s fast-
paced world, a leader must be creative
and innovative at the same time.
Creative thinking and constant
innovation is what makes you and your
team stand out from the crowd. Think
out of the box to come up with unique
ideas and turn those ideas and goals
into reality.

Delegation
You cannot do everything, right. It is important for a leader to focus on
key responsibilities while leaving the rest to others. By that, I mean
empowering your followers and delegating tasks to them. If you continue
to micromanage your subordinates, it will develop a lack of trust and
more importantly, you will not be able to focus on important matters, as
you should be. Delegate tasks to your subordinates and see how they
perform. Provide them with all the resources and support they need to
achieve the objective and give them a chance to bear the responsibility.

Awareness
A strong leader should also have an eye on the
business process to learn which ideas are
effective and which less so. In a sense,
leadership depends on the ability to observe and
to learn. If teams are not performing as well as
they should, a leader should have the ability to
figure out why and address the issue
accordingly. Similarly, a leader must be aware
of how businesses change over time and
whether any industry-wide innovations could
potentially affect competition or production.

Problem Solving
• The core responsibility of any leader is to resolve all organisational
problems at every level. The problem can be internal, i.e., within various
departments, employees, teams, etc. It can also be external like that with
the clients, market conditions, stiff competition, etc.
• The chief task of the leader is to analyse the entire situation logically and
with a cool head. The consequence of this would be a fast action-
oriented decision that would work in the best interest of the organisation
and its employees.

Problem Solving
• It is the problem-solving skill that helps any leader to analyse and anticipate
trends. It gives her direction and ideas for strategic planning which lists
under important leadership skills as well.
• Due to the successful turn-around of any problem, the leader can inspire his
team, cultivate his image as dependable and earn the respect of all.

Striving for Feedback
• Giving an encouraging and constructive feedback to the team members often
emerges as the defining line between an employee’s success and failure.
Hence every leader works hard on it. However, the ability to receive feedback
is a notch higher important leadership skill required in any leader.
• No matter how good you are, there is always room for improvement.
Learning to accept feedback about yourself and acting positively on it will
inevitably make you a better leader. A smart leader perceives it as the best
way to optimise her behaviour for her team and brand.

Striving for Feedback
Soliciting feedback from your team and
working on it will not make you small but
elevate your stance with all. The respect,
loyalty, and devotion that this trait inspired from
all are exceptional. It is one of the most
important leadership skills to cultivate and
refine.

Empathy
Leaders should develop empathy with their followers. Unfortunately, most
leaders follow a dictatorial style and neglect empathy altogether. Due to this,
they fail to make a closer connection with their followers. Understanding the
problems of your followers and feeling their pain is the first step to become an
effective leader. Even that is not enough until you work hard and provide your
followers with the suitable solution to their problems.

Empathy
• Practice empathy with your team members.
• Your team members are also likely to make mistakes or have other issues from
time to time. Practicing empathy can help you create a more understanding
environment where you treat each of your team members as individuals. If you
expect them to be perfect and leave them no room for learning or growth, you
may hurt your team's morale and productivity.

Relationship Building
Are you aware that success is relationship driven? A successful leader always
manages to create and foster a solid foundation of trust and relationships with both
employees and clients. Investing time, effort and even emotion to strengthen
relations internally as well as externally reap unparalleled success to any leader.

• The statement does not imply that you need to build a one-on-one
relationship with every employee of your organisation. It is not feasible in
a large billion dollar company. The key here is accessibility.
• A small gesture as greeting even the peon and appreciating work of others
will inspire feelings of being personally mentored by the leader.

• For some people, it may seem like business is primarily about some form of
production. However, production can proceed more efficiently when team
members trust and work well with each other.
• In this sense, business is about networking and relationships. It is a leader’s role to
encourage healthy working relationships between team members, clients,
producers, other managers and the community at large. When employees trust
each other and the business as a whole, the entire organization stands to benefit
significantly.

Accountability
“A good leader takes little more than his share of the
blame and little less than his share of the credit.”

Accountability
Make sure that every one of your subordinates is accountable for what they
are doing. If they do well, give them a pat on the back but if they struggle,
make them realize their mistakes and work together to improve. Holding
them accountable for their actions will create a sense of responsibility
among your subordinates and they will go about the business more
seriously.

Time Management
Although time management is often seen as an
important skill for employees, it’s even more
important for leaders. Great leaders not only
have to manage their own time, they have to
manage an entire company’s time and efforts.
Time management for leaders entails knowing
how and where to spend their own time,
understanding how employees spend their time,
and what objectives each department should
spend its time on.

Time Management
Leaders must decide where to invest the
company’s time and resources; which clients
have a good return-on-investment; which
employees need a little more mentoring; which
business ventures will benefit customers, and so
on.

Be Humble and Admit
Your Mistakes

Be Humble and Admit Your Mistakes
• Even the best leaders make mistakes from time to time. But those
who pass the blame to others or ignore their own shortcomings
aren't likely to gain much respect and hard work from team
members.
• However, if you practice humility and are able to admit when you
are wrong, you can help create learning opportunities for yourself
and your team so that you can grow together to support your
business.

Confidence
• Confidence inspires trust and helps leaders
present themselves and their company well.
Leaders need confidence in order to make
important decisions and stick to them.
• There is a lot of pressure in business for
leaders to be decisive, and changing your
mind often is usually detrimental. For
example, deciding to offer a new product
then cancelling it once the research and
development has started will cost the
business time and money, at the very least.

Industry Expertise
• It is difficult and demotivating to follow
a leader who doesn’t understand what
he or she is doing, or is less qualified
than the employees. Great leaders must
truly lead; both in the workplace and in
their respective fields.

Industry Expertise
They must be a voice of authority that
clients, employees, and other industry
professionals look to and respect. This
expertise must also drive important
decisions and help them understand
what is and isn’t possible for each
position.
• Great leaders usually know what
they're talking about. You're allowed
to make mistakes, of course. But
having a strong base of knowledge
about your business, your industry
and your team can go a long way.Relying on employees to do absolutely
everything for you can affect morale
and trust. A great leader is one who has
a great deal of knowledge already, but
still works to learn more every day.

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Top Pillars | Leadership skills by Salameh Mahasneh

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