The skills leaders need today to be successful

The hallmarks of a great leader have evolved over the years, based on learnings from research and new approaches, changing priorities and technological advancements. Good leadership has moved from favouring an autocratic approach to being more collaborative and flexible.

In the past, leaders were expected to apply a top-down communication style, assuming complete responsibility for their team’s direction. Focus was on achieving goals and targets first and foremost and mistakes were to be avoided. Decisiveness and the appearance of having all the answers was admired, which fostered a fear of getting things wrong and encouraged decision-making based on knowing what had always worked. Today, the best leaders listen before making decisions and rely on input from their teams to create strategies and tactics. They’re open to new ideas and ways of thinking, and encourage a learning culture that embraces learning, and occasionally failure.

Over the last year, the whole world has changed even more and the challenges and pressures that leaders face have changed with it. So what makes great leadership today? Here are five skills that impactful leaders display, taken from my latest IGTV coaching video:

Showing vulnerability

One of the best ways you can inspire and connect with your team as a leader is to authentically show your vulnerability. This can be a powerful way to get team members to open up about what they’re experiencing too, and helps build strong relationships. It also helps role model how team members can tackle challenges themselves.

Being vulnerable can be difficult, and you don’t need to share more than you’re comfortable with. A good place to start is being transparent about the things you are struggling with professionally, how you are pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone at work, and where you are learning. Discuss the challenges you’re facing in real time - what are you working through right now and how are you dealing with the changing landscape? If you feel something you’re doing isn’t working, be honest about it and open to hearing suggestions and trying something different. This behaviour nurtures psychological safety, an environment where teams feel like they can come to you if they make a mistake or are unsure of something, and where they’re comfortable being themselves, contributing their ideas and trying new things without fear. This, in turn, is proven to lead to more innovation and higher performance.

Having a growth mindset

There are probably many more challenges ahead for leaders, and that statement will always be true. This is why having a growth mindset is so important. If you can approach events with the mindset that whatever happens, you will be able to take something from the situation and learn from the experience, it will ensure you continually develop, grow and get better at being a leader. How are you thinking about solutions in ways you’ve never had to before or facing challenges you’ve never seen?

Allow your teams to join you on this process and show them that it’s not about always having the answers, but about working to figure out the best next steps and learning as you go. A good leader surrounds themselves with great people who have varied perspectives and talents - and then lets them use these. Reward your team for bringing their energy and talents to the table. Encourage them to step outside their comfort zone, and give them room to make mistakes and learn from adversity.

My main tip for developing a growth mindset is having a growth plan, something which you can also encourage your team to follow:

1. Think about your specific area of expertise - are there any new developments in your industry you should be learning about or technologies you could do with picking up? 
2. Consider other areas of interest for you - is there anything outside your area of expertise that you would like to work on and that might help you thrive at work?
3. Get random - you can end up finding inspiration for innovation or creativity from anywhere. Read articles, listen to podcasts and be curious about areas that have nothing to do with your job. Keep an open mind and absorb information from lots of different places.

Displaying empathy

Whether we’re leaders, team members, entrepreneurs - all of us have had challenges to overcome in the past 14 months. In order to be the best leader you can be, you need to understand your individual team members’ personal situations. Is someone in your team facing financial struggles, having difficulty with COVID-19 lockdowns or maybe juggling family commitments? Having empathy for your team means putting yourself in their shoes and understanding, from their point of view, how the situation may be affecting them at work.

My suggestion is to start by asking questions and really listening to the answers. Someone might not open up to a standard “how are you”, so consider how you can frame questions to show someone that you’re interested in a real response. For example, you could try “how are your energy levels right now?”, “what are the main challenges you’re facing at this moment?”, “what about outside of work?” The key to being empathetic is showing genuine interest. When your team feels like you care, it will foster stronger connections built on respect and mutual understanding. And when you understand individuals as a whole, you’ll be able to support them so that they perform to the best of their ability.

Building connection

We’ve been living in a very virtual world recently, which means that connection has been somewhat missing from our professional interactions. We want to feel connected to others, and many of us are craving it now more than ever. As a leader, building connection within your team is vital. My advice is to create a connection plan:

1. Think about how you’re connecting with your team members on an individual level. Consider how often you’re providing them with more formal feedback, but also how often you’re having informal interactions, such as one-to-one catch-ups or chats over coffee. 
2. What about the group as a whole? Are you encouraging your team to connect with each other and creating opportunities for them to do so? This will differ depending on your team, organisation, and even existing pandemic restrictions, but think about what works for you. Make use of the talents within your team for this too - maybe you have a yoga instructor who can do lunchtime classes or colleagues who would love to organise regular networking events. Not only will this increase connection, it will provide individuals with opportunities for growth and development outside their usual responsibilities at work.

Enhancing resilience 

Resilience enables us to cope with challenges, adapt to change, and perform at our peak - and is therefore key to reaching our full potential as leaders. Equally though, we have a responsibility to ensure that we’re leading a resilient team, and that each individual within that team is feeling resilient too.

Before working on your team’s resilience, focus on your own. Reflect on how your resilience has fared over the last year - what are the main challenges you’ve been facing, and how have you dealt with them? Do you feel as though your resilience has gone up and down? Where are you right now? On The Resilience Edge website, I share lots of information and resources that can help you map out your resilience and put strategies in place to improve it.

Once you’ve done this for yourself, you can do so for your team as well. Role model how you’re working on enhancing your own resilience and encourage your team to do the same. You can even sit with each team member individually to diagnose which areas they need to work on, and help put together a plan for them to thrive. If you need some tips and strategies to boost your resilience, check out the 10 Days of Resilience free coaching programme:

Creating the right culture 

A leader’s most important task is to cultivate an environment where their team can succeed. Think about how you are showing up in the above areas, if you’re implementing them effectively, and what you can do to improve. If you would like your team to be acting in a certain way, make sure you’re doing it first. Maybe your team is a very small part of a big company, but that doesn’t mean you can’t influence the culture in your corner of the organisation. Business psychologist Erin Shrimpton provides some excellent tips for leading culture change in your team in her new LinkedIn Learning course.

A happy, resilient and connected team is currency for success - for each individual, for you as a leader and for the business as a whole. It enhances problem solving, encourages innovation, helps employees overcome challenges and uncertainty, and empowers them to take risks even in uncertain times - something that’s essential for success today.

Your leadership tips

Life for leaders has certainly changed over the last 14 months. What are your tips for being an exceptional leader in 2021?

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This article is part of the Mindset Matters newsletter series, which over 250k people subscribe to. If you like this article, feel free to subscribe and check out my coaching videos on the topics I talk about in this newsletter.

Want to learn more about the topics I talk about in these newsletters? Follow me on Instagram: @gemma.leigh.roberts where I regularly answer questions about what it takes to thrive at work.

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