Leadership skills are skills you use when organizing other people to reach a shared goal. Whether you’re in a management position or leading a project, leadership skills require you to motivate others to complete a series of tasks, often according to a schedule.

The 8 Most Effective Leadership Styles

• Democratic Leadership.
• Autocratic Leadership.
• Laissez-Faire Leadership.
• Transactional Leadership.
• Charismatic Leadership.
• Transformational Leadership.
• Servant Leadership.
• Bureaucratic Leadership.

What Makes a Good Leader Great? Great leaders find the balance between business foresight, performance, and character. They have vision, courage, integrity, humility and focus along with the ability to plan strategically and catalyze cooperation amongst their team.

An effective leader is a person with a passion for a cause that is larger than they are. Someone with a dream and a vision that will better society, or at least, some portion of it. Also, without passion, a leader will not make the necessary courageous and difficult decisions and carry them into action.

The most important qualities of a good leader include integrity, accountability, empathy, humility, resilience, vision, influence, and positivity. “Management is about persuading people to do things they do not want to do, while leadership is about inspiring people to do things they never thought they could.”

10 Things Highly Successful Leaders Should Never Do

• Lead Others Before You Lead Yourself.
• Believe You Know Everything.
• Neglect Outside Coaching.
• Forget to Prioritize Spiritual, Mental and Physical Health.
• Define Success Solely in Terms of Business and Work.
• Avoid Showing Gratitude.
• Fail to Support Others.
• Hold onto Anger or Resentment.

Everyone makes mistakes, even business leaders. Many business leaders focus on developing their business skills but not their people skills, making it harder for them to admit fault when they should, she says.

• Difficult People. There will always be people on your team, in your organization and in your working life who are difficult.
• Pressure. The work environment has a lot of pressure built into it.
• Letting Someone Go.
• Delivering Bad News.
• Staying Motivated.
• Culture Issues.
• Being Respected and Being Liked.
• Maintaining Focus.

Here are six top struggles leaders are guaranteed to face work to avoid them.

• Not doing the right thing.
• Leading through demands and control.
• Relying on unclear messages.
• Trying to persuade without inspiring.
• Refusing to delegate.
• Giving in to self-doubt.

One of the greatest challenges of leadership is facing your own personal issues, and making sure they don’t prevent you from exercising leadership. Acknowledging the attitudes and tendencies that get in your way, and working to overcome them, is absolutely necessary if you’re to become an effective leader.

Here are seven of the biggest problems with leadership today:

1. Failure to Communicate. The complexity of today’s business world requires CEOs to be able to communicate on multiple levels.
2. Lack of Accountability.
3. Fear of Firing.
4. Lack of Alignment.
5. Lack of Clear Vision.
6. Poor Execution.
7. A Company Culture by Default.

How to Improve Your Leadership Skills

1. Taking Initiative.
2. Critical Thinking.
3. Listening Effectively.
4. Motivate Others.
5. Discipline.
6. Constant Learning.
7. Know-How to Delegate.
8. Handling Conflicts.

10 important leadership goals

• Become a better mentor. As a leader, your team will look to you for coaching, advice and guidance.
• Build stronger connections.
• Develop active listening skills.
• Make smarter decisions.
• Show more confidence.
• Have better time management.
• Find more efficient processes.
• Be more adaptable to change.

7 Key Leadership Skills: List & Examples

• Communication. Effective leadership starts with good leadership communication skills in both conversation and writing — in a variety of circumstances.
• Problem Solving.
• Delegating.
• Giving & Receiving Feedback.
• Conflict Resolution.
• Organization.
• Motivation.

• Being Decisive. One of the qualities of a good leader is the ability to be decisive.
• Willingness to Seek Input From Others.
• Start Small.
• Analyze Your Strengths and Weaknesses.
• Study Leaders That You Admire.
• Seek a Mentor.
• Have a Compelling Vision/Be Visionary.
• Being a Good Follower.

Types of leadership weaknesses

• Separating or standing apart from your team.
• Being overly critical.
• Micromanaging employees.
• Requiring constant contact.
• Acting without integrity.
• Failing to set clear expectations.
• Failing to set clear goals or objectives.
• Providing ineffective feedback.

The Specific Strengths of a Good Leader

• Good Communication. This one is very much a necessity when it comes to leadership because those in employment need to understand what the task is that you are giving them.
• Social Skills.
• Listening Skills.
• Teamwork.
• Determination.
• Confidence.
• Know the Problem Areas.
• Set Goals for Yourself.

An important part of your “what are your weaknesses” answer is showing self-improvement. You should include details about the steps you’re taking to learn a skill or correct a weakness. I have two greatest weaknesses. The first is my inability to share responsibilities.

8 Key Leadership Strengths

• Self-awareness. Self-Awareness is considered to be one of the key leadership strengths that must be developed by people placed in management positions.
• Situational awareness. Being aware of what is happening around you is a sign of innate leadership strength.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Effective negotiation skills.

Here are the top ten leadership skills that make a strong leader in the workplace.

1. Communication. As a leader, you need to be able to clearly and succinctly explain to your employees everything from organizational goals to specific tasks.
2. Motivation.
3. Delegating.
4. Positivity.
5. Trustworthiness.
6. Creativity.
7. Feedback.
8. Responsibility.