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During my Leadership coaching programs, I come across several participants posing one particular question. Who is a great Leader? What does it take to be a successful Leader?
Do you think your technical qualifications or experience will make you a good Manager and qualify you to be good Leader? Well, it turns out that while those things are crucial to your professional success, it’s vital that you also have one important soft skills–more commonly known as “people management skills.”
“People skills simply means how people interact with each other, from a verbal and/or non-verbal viewpoint; they are non-technical in nature.
I consider these as top 10 “people skills” and attributes you’ll need to succeed at work:
- The ability to relate to others.
“Having the ability to relate to others and their position is crucial in business. Sometimes being able to relate to others simply means that you’re willing to agree to disagree with mutual respect; letting them know you understand their position.
- Strong communication skills.
Strong Communication is the key to a clear understanding. There is a difference between talking and speaking as well as to listening and hearing. When you talk, people will hear you. But when you speak, people will listen to you.
- Mutual Trust
Trust builds confidence. Confidence builds relations. You can accelerate your career only if you are trustworthy. Without which, you cannot solicit co-operation from your team.
- Empathy.
We are often confused with the two terms empathy and sympathy. “Having the ability to place yourself in someone else’s shoes is empathy. It allows us to create relationships with others, provides insights into people’s motives and allows us to forecast responses. Treat people the way you want yourself to be treated.
- Active listening skills.
As I have mentioned above in the communication skills, hearing someone and actively listening to them are two different things. Most individuals hear someone speak and jump to conclusions by forming a response in their mind, even before the person finishes talking.
On a lighter note, “we are given two ears and one mouth” to listen twice and talk less.
- Good judgment.
Don’t judge the book by its cover. Looks can be deceptive some times. Hence, good judgment is a key people skill that comes directly from learning, listening to others and observing the world around you. This skill helps you to wisely choose your friends, understand your colleagues better. You can decide your reactions and responses to help you build a better relationship.
- A great sense of humour.
‘Laughter is the best medicine’. This is proven to be a great stress buster and helps in making serious situations a bit lighter. Try to smile at others and not laugh at them.
- Honesty.
The proverb, “honesty is the best policy” is not only true, but essential in building trust among your colleagues. “Once you lose it, it’s almost impossible to regain. “Honesty is the foundation of any relationship, particularly in business.”
- Proactive problem solving.
To be a great leader, you must also be proactive in solving problems. Nobody wants to have problems. The best problem solving skills is, if you cannot solve them, they don’t create it in the first place.
- The ability to motivate others.
Leaders have the dual challenge of motivating themselves and the team. Self-motivation is an art and group motivation is a skill. Motivation acts as a catalyst to produce positive reactions. The art of getting self-motivated is by positive thinking.
The Author M.S. Ravindra is a well-known Corporate Trainer and a Behaviour Skills Analyst. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]