Why Strong Leadership Skills Are More Important Now Than Ever

Leadership is both taught and caught!  Anyone can develop leadership skills; and for those with innate skills, development opportunities only make them better.

Search for “leadership skills” and you’ll find over 269 million results.  With remote working environments now taking the place of normal business offices, leaders across the world have had to pivot to new ways of interacting with their teams to ensure productivity remains constant as they serve their clients and stakeholders.

Arthur Langer wrote an article about this vital topic on Entrepreneur magazine’s website titled “Why Strong Leadership Skills Are More Important Now Than Ever.” He provides three areas that leaders should focus on developing to maximize their effectiveness: 1) Be Open, 2) Be Clear and Calm, and 3) Be Flexible. Each area is designed to close the gap between leadership and team members in their “new normal” of how to do business.

1. Being open provides a way to keep communication flowing due to the lack of previous “water cooler” moments when people would normally gather to naturally pass on the information and build rapport between each other.

2. Being clear and calm references the need to be authentic and honest about business situations; and building emotional intelligence competence will help you deliver information in the right way and at the right time.

3. Being flexible is about adapting and learning from new situations efficiently, and helping your team become comfortable in quickly adjusting what they are doing and how they are doing it when needed.

Langer’s wraps up the article by saying, “Leadership is a timeless skill that’s being tested now more than ever before. Whether you’re managing a team of 15 or 1,500, the [COVID19] crisis has stretched the bounds of our workplaces and demanded that every professional to think outside the box.”

To read Langer’s article in full, click here.

If this article was helpful and prompted you with an increased desire to improve your effectiveness as a leader so you can take your team to the next level, contact us to learn more about our Aepiphanni Ascend Leadership Development program.  Fill out the form below and we’ll be happy to schedule a Coffee & Consult to chat in more detail about how we can help.

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Kris Cavanaugh Castro is the People Development Coach at Aepiphanni, the trusted advisor for business leaders who are seeking forward-thinking solutions to help them plan for and navigate through the challenges of business growth.  Kris has over 25 years of coaching, training and mentoring leaders to greater success; and she periodically writes about leadership development and facilitates change management conversations.