Top 10 Leadership Soft Skills
Leadership Skills Employers Look For
By Alison Doyle, Job Searching Expert
Whether one is an office manager or a project leader, all good leaders require a number of soft skills to help them positively interact with employees or team members. Employers seek these skills in the candidates they hire for leadership roles.
Here are the top 10 soft skills that make a strong leader in the workplace.
Top 10 Leadership Soft Skills
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.
Leaders must master all forms of communication, including one-on-one, departmental, and full-staff conversations, as well as communication via the phone, email, and social media.
A large part of communication involves listening. Therefore, leaders should establish a steady flow of communication between themselves and their staff or team members, either through an open-door policy or regular conversations with workers. Leaders should make themselves regularly available to discuss issues and concerns with employees.
* Communication Skills List:
* Nonverbal Communication Skills:
* Verbal Communication Skills:
2. Motivation
Leaders need to inspire their workers to go the extra mile for their organization; just paying a fair salary to employees is typically not enough inspiration (although it is important too). There are a number of ways to motivate your workers: you may build employee self-esteem through recognition and rewards, or by giving employees new responsibilities to increase their investment in the company.
You must learn what motivators work best for your employees or team members to encourage productivity and passion.
3. Delegating
Leaders who try to take on too many tasks by themselves will struggle to get anything done. These leaders often fear that delegating tasks is a sign of weakness, when in fact it is a sign of a strong leader. Therefore, you need to identify the skills of each of your employees, and assign duties to each employee based on his or her skill set. By delegating tasks to staff members, you can focus on other important tasks.
4. Positivity
A positive attitude can go a long way in an office. You should be able to laugh at yourself when something doesn't go quite as planned; this helps create a happy and healthy work environment, even during busy, stressful periods. Simple acts like asking employees about their vacation plans will develop a positive atmosphere in the office, and raise morale among staff members. If employees feel that they work in a positive environment, they will be more likely to want to be at work, and will therefore be more willing to put in the long hours when needed.
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