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5Volume 4 Issue 1 November/December 2004

HOW TO…,Practical advice for HR professionals

DEPARTMENTS AT A GLANCE

STRATEGIC COMMENTARY,

e-HR,

HOW TO…,

PRACTITIONER PROFILE

METRICS

HR AT WORK

REWARDS,

RESEARCH AND RESULTS,

,

,

,

Help your managers developleadership skills

 1DEVELOP A

SENSE OF SELF-

AWARENESS

5BALANCE

ADAPTABILITY

AND CONSISTENCY

4AN ENVIRONMENTTHAT EMBRACES

CHALLENGE

3BUILD THE ABILITY

TO INFLUENCE

OTHERS

2

To be an effective leader it’s

essential to develop an

innate sense of self-

awareness. People will

respond much more

positively to individuals who

engender respect – it’s

essential that leaders know

what they stand for and are

prepared to do to make that

happen.

360-degree feedback can

play an important role inhelping individuals heighten

their sense of awareness,

realize their strengths and

weaknesses and afford them

the opportunity to build and

develop a team around them

to move the business

forward.

To be an effective leader it’s

essential to develop strong

influencing skills. If a

manager works on the basis

that if they don’t comment

on people’s performance

then everything is fine, the

implication is that only

negative feedback will be

given. In this type of culture

people are unlikely to be

highly motivated or

understand how to achievepeak performance.

Also, many leaders work in

complex environments where

they will need to influence

business partners beyond

their direct authority.

Executive coaching can be an

effective means of refining

influencing skills and

strategies.

It’s vital to create an

atmosphere in which people

feel they are treated as peers

rather than subordinates.

Someone that doesn’t like

challenge is unlikely to create

an environment in which

people are free to question

one another. Leaders must

learn to deal with potentially

difficult conversations

effectively to demonstrate

they are able to take onleadership issues and resolve

them.

The paradox that leaders

must deal with is that

directness increases

confidence as people know

what the issues are and what

they need to do to address

them.

The balance between

adaptability and consistency

is key to gaining the respect

of employees and effective

leadership. The most

important consideration for

any business are the

outcomes it achieves and

thus a results-driven focus

must be maintained.The

development of the team

must correlate with a positive

increase in productivity. A

good leader will enable

employees to follow their

own path rather than dictate

a definitive route, as long as

the desired results are

achieved and core principles

adhered to.A true leader will

realize the potential of those

around him/her and in doing

so improve morale, drive

change and increase output.

W

hile all leaders have the

ability to manage, only a

small proportion of managers

have the necessary skills to become real

leaders. Strong leadership is essential to

ensure employee loyalty, high

performance and most significantly, to

take a company forward.

The presence of a number of core

skills is what bridges the gap between

managers acting predominantly to

maintain the status quo and leaders

that drive and affect change. Inevitably

a leader will have been a manager at

some stage in their development, but

the issue for many companies is that

the individuals leading their

organizations are still managers in all

but name.

Joanna Knight, director of Berkshire

Consultancy Limited, believes leadership

skills can be taught. Here, she outlines

five key skills that must be developed

before a manager can also be

characterized as a leader.

ENCOURAGE ANAPPRECIATION OF

OTHERS’ SKILLSA good leader will recognize

the different skills that those

around them bring. Managers

that actively embrace

diversity and truly encourage

creative, idiosyncratic input

will move the employee

relationship on from one

characterized simply by a

transactional “you pay me, I

do my job” approach.

An employee that feels

valued is an employee thatwill work harder. Employees

must be aware that their

strengths are recognized,

appreciated and developed

and weaknesses are being

monitored and addressed

rather than being ignored or

punished.

elcrum Publishing Ltd. 2004. For more information, go to www.melcrum.com or e-mail info@melcrum.co