6 Ways to Increase Your Leadership Skills

4/11/2022

By: Kathy Kent Toney, CEO & Founder of Kent Business Solutions

Photo by Fauxels from Pexels

As I look back on my career, I see several missed opportunities to step into leadership roles. There are several reasons for this, number one being that I didn't envision myself as a leader.

Now I know differently; experience has taught me otherwise. I've learned since then that I'm a leader and everyone is a leader. We lead our families, frequently our friends, to name a few. And some of us need a little more guidance and encouragement than others.

If you're in this boat or have been actively leading others for quite some time, here are six things you can do to increase your leadership skills and your capacity to influence others positively:

1. Expand Your Knowledge Base

It’s easy to get lackadaisical when it comes to learning. Some leaders may feel complacent and don't feel the need to grow anymore. This scenario can be the case if leaders have been in their roles for a long time. If this is the case, the best thing to do is decide to keep learning, push through the resistance, and get growing!

2. Take a Genuine Interest in Others

Great leaders show care for others and their needs, which builds emotional equity amongst their peers and those they lead. Who doesn’t love to follow leaders who genuinely care about them?

3. Be Generous

People remember leaders for their generosity, especially when their giving isn't required. And it doesn't even have to be money--gifts of time are invaluable as well.

4. Be Authentic

People can spot a fake a mile away, yet so many are afraid to be themselves, thinking people won’t accept them if they show their true selves. They’d rather put on a mask instead. The best thing we can do is be ourselves, and if the true-you has rough edges, that’s okay. We all have them. To be imperfect is perfectly human.

5. Thrive During Tough Times

We do have a choice on how we deal with hardship. It comes down to two things: either we choose to face challenges head-on, or by default, we allow adversity to eat away at our resilience and our ability to overcome. My advice? Choose wisely!

6. Embrace Servant Leadership

Have the mindset that life isn't about us. It's about serving others, bringing value to everyone we meet, and leaving a legacy.

In the end, if we can embrace these six qualities such that they become a part of who we are, our influence as a leader will grow, and who doesn’t want that?

Speaking of influence, does your organization have the resources to grow your impact in the market, but you're not sure where to start? Often, the best way to do that is through improving the way your business runs.

A great way to do that is through the FIRM Fitness Assessment, a 100% virtual tool that gauges your organization's fitness and then pinpoints precisely where to start to make improvements.

Interested? Then take my FREE business assessment! It will give you a high-level feel for what the assessment covers, yet it can give you actionable intelligence to get started on making your business better.

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