Maintaining a positive attitude while leading the team is essential. Effective leaders are knowledgeable, hold themselves accountable and consider themselves a part of a productive team.
In my successes, trials, and tribulations as leader, I have found the following to be key: confidence, humility, passion, active listening, topical experience and knowledge, and persistence. Obviously, there are many other skills, qualities, and competencies needed, but I find that I do not go a day without applying each of the items listed above.
A very important skill for leaders is to possess excellent listening skills. Your employees and customers truly appreciate this because you are showing them respect and empathy. You are communicating to them how important their ideas and concerns are to you. You are building trust with them and in return this will help you achieve your future goals.
I agree with many of the insights shared in this post. Indeed, they are quite valuable and convey various perspectives.Some express leaders attributes while others focus on managers attributes. I must conquer with Kathryn that, titles such as supervisor "sounds so authoritative and unapproachable. Also, I find the Beavers management style analogy is quite intriguing. I think the beavers in that way act like leaders. I would like to add that, an established or new manager must be able to plan, staff, assign, schedule, delegate, bring order, control and solve, rework the plan, and deliver outcomes.
Jeannie,
you are right, this is a great list. There are many skills out there that are listed, but what you have here is a strong list.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I believe the most important qualities of a manager/leader is the ability to establish rapport amongst the staff by displaying that you have experience and knowledge in the necessary fields and a willingness to use your skills to help accomplish the company's vision and help employees to achieve their goals and objectives.
As a supervisor, you are responsible for productivity and performance of your employees. I believe in Educating yourself to become a great communicator would be a great benefit. The better you communicate with your staff, the better they will communicate with you.
Time Management. The supervisor must have the ability to manage time, find the time to attend his employees, plan and avoid any distraction and to work proactively wirh a long term agenda, but at the same time, able to respond and resolve urgent unplanned situations.
For me personally, I believe the single most important thing you can do as a leader is to not ask someone to do something that you would not be willing to do yourself. I also believe that you must be willing and able to jump in and help any time you see that someone is falling behind or is struggling with the task at hand.
Jason ,
this is a great point. While I shouldn't always have to do the work of my employees, I should be willing to do anything to help.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
This is so true. Utilizing a positive attitude is essential in order to inspire your team or students and to achieve the goals that you have set forth for your company or your classroom. Clear decisive plan of action in setting the tone for the class and being able to listen to not only staff members without interrupting them lets them know that you value their thoughts and ideas. Maintaining eye contact while you are actively listening to what they say is important, it makes them feel important and valued. Making sure your team has the same vision and is aware of what it takes to maintain or achieve that vision. Helping your staff or students know that they can come to you any time to discuss things with you is also important. They have to trust you and know that you have their best interest at heart. It is definitely at times a balancing ac. But a good manager or a good leader is able to work through the kinks and get everyone on track.
Lise,
this is an excellent point & comment. The positive tone mixed with the confidence of the leader is essential.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I believe that leading by example is one of the best qualities a manager can have. You have to show your team that you are not above what they do. You also have to make sure your team can come talk to you. If you are not approachable, then you will not have the quality working relationships needed to succeed as a leader.
As either an established manager or a new one I feel it is very important for you to have some basic skills when supervising others. The Manager should at a minimum have great communication, interpersonal, and motivational skills. Another key aspect is to be able to deal with conflict both functional and dysfunctional.
Jason,
this is very true & I would add smart delegation to the list of important skills for new supervisors.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
The most important supervisory skills include to speak and write persuasively, to listen and hear what people are saying and to react in constructive ways, handle friction and inevitable tensions, align people and bring different groups together
CARIDAD ,
I think a key thought here is the understanding of what people are saying. This is key for a supervisor.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Keeping a positive attitude is very important. Also, making sure you are fair and really listen to your employees will help them to trust in you as their manager. Appreciate the efforts of your team members and acknowledge their successes every chance you get. This will create a feeling of accomplishment in your successful employees and will help to motivate others to work harder to achieve success as well.
Managers, established or new need to posses a series of skills, that include, but are not limited to leadership, communication, goal-oriented, problem-solver, among others. With regard to qualities, I can mention empathetic, motivational, good listener, inspirational, role-model, etc. Also, competent, intelligent, well-rounded, exhibits professionalism, and able to lead effectively even in difficult and challenging situations. All of these can be acquired throughout the years of management and leadership roles. In supervising others, the manager that is able to exhibit all of these skills, qualities, and competencies, in my opinion, will have great possibilities of having employees admire him/her, respect him/her, and serve as a role-model for future managers as well.
