There are many traits and attributes that a good corporate leader should possess. However, every manager or supervisor doesn’t start out with maximized skills in every area. Whether you’re already employed within a managerial position or you’re trying to climb the corporate leader, engaging in various forms of leadership training can be an effective means of becoming a more eligible candidate for higher-level positions. Coactive leader skills, for example, could be something your company is looking for. Therefore, it is less based on ego and the leader you want to be, and more on what other members of staff think is important in a leadership role.
Your quest to become a better corporate leader has to start from within. While it will mostly be an effort of philosophical and behavioral self-improvement, be prepared to do some studying as well. As a novice leader, you must be able to admit to yourself that you still have plenty left to learn, and you need to be willing to put in the work to acquire the knowledge that you do not yet have.
With that said, here are ten areas of skill that you can work on improving to become a better corporate leader:
1. Conflict Resolution Training
One of the most important skills that a leader can have is the ability to effectively resolve conflict in any situation. While some scenarios may be more difficult to manage than others, you can’t be the type of person who will allow things to become a scattered mess. You need to possess enough assertiveness to take control and quiet the storm when two or more employees have a disagreement. If you currently feel like you have no clue how to resolve conflict reliably, you may want to look into conflict resolution training on sites like findcourses.com as a means of becoming a better corporate peacemaker.
2. Communication Classes
Being a good communicator is essential for any leader. If you can’t get your point across, how can you expect to sufficiently manage a group of professionals? Everyone has their own preconceived notions and opinions to throw into the mix. If you’re not prepared to listen and respond in an intelligent and informative manner, your employees won’t be getting the value they need from you as a leader. In fact, your value as a leader stems directly from your ability to persuade and influence other people, and to do that you’ll need to be an effective communicator.
3. Learn How to Inspire and Motivate
One could argue that an un-inspirational leader is no leader at all. After all, one of the key expectations of a great leader is motivation and inspiration. You’re supposed to be the person who boosts morale, keeps everyone on track, and facilitates the individual improvement of each employee under your supervision. You can’t realistically provoke any sort of tangible progress if you lack the ability to inspire and motivate. There are many courses and training videos that will teach you how to be a better motivator, but one of the easiest and fastest ways is to emulate the styles of great motivational speakers, which brings us to our next point.
4. Become a Better Public Speaker
As a corporate leader, there will be times when you’re probably going to be performing speeches and engaging in discussions in front of and in collaboration with large groups of people. Thus, it makes sense that you should sign up for some public speaking classes to learn how to better control your vocal presentation and projection, posture, message delivery, and persuasion skills. Public speaking training classes will teach you all of this stuff and more.
5. Be Proficient and Efficient
If you’re trying to position yourself well for a promotion, you don’t want to be the guy who does the least or doesn’t show up at all when it really matters. Your corporate superiors will be keeping an eye on employees to see who is the most proficient, productive, and efficient within their positions, so making a good impression in your current line of work is one of the first things you can do to get into the supervisor mentality.
6. Develop a Mindset of Accountability
High-ranking employees such as managers and CEOs have a higher sense of accountability than lower-level employees because they’re directly responsible for the progress and success of the company in many ways. While you might not have such massive responsibilities resting on your shoulders yet, it’s a good idea to go ahead and get into that mindset within your current duties. If you want others to notice that you’re on top of your game, you have to hold yourself to the same standard that supervisors are held to.
7. Humble Yourself and Don’t Be Arrogant
One mistake that aspiring leaders make is hinging their ability to get hired or promoted on their good looks, charm, or other personality-related traits. While it’s certainly possible to land a leadership position based on the merit of your personality alone, if you really want to be a better leader in terms of the results you facilitate, it’s better to be humble. You don’t want to come across as an egotistical expletive during a job interview or, even worse, while you’re leading a group of other employees. Arrogance is a common flaw in corporate leaders, so hiring managers and co-workers will like you much more if you’re less arrogant than the stereotypical bad boss. Learn to recognize the difference between confidence and arrogance in your own behavior.
8. Pay Attention to How Others Perceive You
When you’re not tasked with the challenge of being a great leader, it’s easy to go through life with the “I don’t care what anyone thinks of me” mentality. When you’re ready to elevate your career, however, it’s absolutely crucial to pay attention to how you’re perceived by your professional peers. The fact of the matter is, you need to be likeable to be a good leader, so start taking note when someone seems to dislike you and try to find and correct the cause of that dislike during future interactions with them.
9. Start Being Competitive
There’s an old saying that goes “leaders aren’t born, they’re made.” This simply means that you need to do what it takes to prove yourself as a leader, regardless of how many classes and training courses you’ve taken. Proving yourself as a person who is capable of being a leader starts with being more competitive than the rest of the pack. Of course, to be a true leader you should be the most capable person in the group.
10. Practice and Emphasize Innovation
Believe it or not, hiring managers and corporate superiors definitely notice when an applicant or employee is capable of progressive innovation. Assess problems within the corporate workflow and try to devise solutions that will increase proficiency and efficiency across the line. Formulating and presenting a hypothetical improvement in company policy can be good way to get noticed as a candidate or employee vying for a high-level position.
Being a Leader Can Be Even Easier Than Being a Low-Level Employee
When you initially graduate to the ranks of managing a company, project, or endeavor, the feeling of heightened responsibility can be a bit overwhelming at first. However, as you get used to the processes and procedures within your new job position, you’ll probably find that your management-level job is less laborious than most lower-level positions.
While you’ll still be doing a decent amount of administrative work, overall, you’ll probably have an easier job than you did before you were promoted and you’ll wind up earning significantly more. Keep the perks of an easier job and higher pay in mind as you strive towards your goal of becoming a better corporate leader.