Leadership Skills and Its Impact on an Organization

Leadership Skills

Leadership skills are very essential for the personal development of every person. Failure to develop them can lead to far-reaching consequences in every sphere of life. This paper explores the five leadership skills that I feel are most critical to my success. The paper also considers the potential impact of these skills in my current organization.

Five Leadership Skills Critical for My Success

I have identified five leadership abilities that I need for success based on my study of the book, “Developing Leadership Abilities”. My personal assessment indicates that I am strong in some areas and weak in others. The five skills are goal setting, communication, motivation, delegation, and conflict resolution.

Goal setting is the fundamental skill that all leaders need regardless of their rank in an organization or group (Walker, 2004). The fundamental role of a leader is to define the direction that a team or an organization should take. This usually calls for the ability to set goals. The difference in the case of organizational leaders is the size and scope of the goal. In this regard, my leadership potential will depend on how well I master goal setting skills.

The second main skill that I have realized I need to keep developing is communication skills. I looked at the different type of leadership styles based on Theory X and Theory Y, Leadership by Getting Mad (LGM), and Ego Leadership versus Servant Leadership. I realized that the fundamental difference in the leadership styles is the mode of communication. Communication also determines whether team members feel included in the decision-making processes of the team (Bell & Smith, 2010).

The third area I need to develop is motivational skills. I have realised that even after setting good goals, it is impossible to get results unless all team members are motivated. At first it may seem like money is what motivates people. In reality, money’s power to motivate reduces with time and the amount (Bell & Smith, 2010). This means that as a leader, I must be on the lookout for the needs of the team members to keep them motivated and focused on the task at hand.

The fourth skill that I feel is indispensable for any leader is the ability to delegate. It is impossible to do everything as a leader. It means that it is necessary to trust people to handle some aspects of work to handle projects successfully. The four areas which a leader can delegate through sharing them with the team members include the sharing of relationships, vision, decision-making, and actual tasks (Bell & Smith, 2010).

The fifth skill that I need to develop to assure my success as a leader is conflict resolution. Conflict is a permanent feature in group dynamics. Different people have different communication styles that influence how they handle conflict. Some people are extroverted, while others are introverted. Learning how to handle these differences is an essential part of leadership development. These skills will help me to keep the peace within my teams, thereby achieving maximum productivity.

Impact of Leadership Skills on my Organization

The impacts of these five skills on my organization are varied. Goal setting skills will improve my organization‘s ability to focus on strategic issues (Grant, 2005). It will also make my organization successful in developing effective programs. Goal setting at a personal level will also make me effective when making decisions about the leadership priorities that I should pursue.

Good communication skills will improve the relationships within my organization, which will lead to better productivity. In a subtle sense, better communication will also make the organization a more desirable place to work. I therefore anticipate reduced staff turnover if I am able to improve the communication processes within my organization.

The impact of improving my motivational skills in the organization will be a better working environment for all team members. The goal of motivation is to reduce the distractions that team members deal with. This enables them to focus on important tasks. I anticipate more effective relationships as a result of improving my motivational skills.

The impact of better delegation will be the achievement of more goals. It is impossible to make meaningful achievements as a leader without the help of other people (Bell & Smith, 2010). I anticipate that the organization will benefit from better ownership of organizational processes and more commitment to its goals because of delegation. For instance, allowing team members to participate in decision making means that they will feel personally responsible for the success of the organization.

Finally, better conflict resolution in my organization will create an amicable working atmosphere. Conflict is the main reason people quit their jobs, especially where it involves their immediate bosses (Bell & Smith, 2010). Good conflict resolution skills will increase the hygiene factors leading to better motivation as postulated in the Motivation-Hygiene Theory (Bryman & Bell, 2011). In conclusion, my organization stands to benefit if I make the commitment to improve my leadership skills. In addition, these skills will benefit me in many ways.

Reference List

Bell, A. H., & Smith, D. M. (2010). Developing Leadership Abilities. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Bryman, A., & Bell, E. (2011). Business Research Methods (3rd Edition ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Grant, R. M. (2005). Contemporary Strategy Analysis. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.

Walker, G. (2004). Modern Competitive Strategy. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.