Leadership Skills
Defining leadership might seem very simple, but if you asked 100 leadership experts to define it, you’d probably get 100 different answers.
Peter Drucker defines leadership as:
LEADERSHIP IS ABOUT ARTICULATING VISIONS, EMBODYING VALUES, AND CREATING THE ENVIRONMENT WITHIN WHICH THINGS CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED.
Drucker
Leaders come in all shapes and sizes, from those who have founded and run successful companies, to political leaders, through to community leaders.
If you’re in any way unclear on what leadership is then we recommend starting with our article What is Leadership?
Our book provides a step-by-step guide to manage any project for both new and experienced project managers.
The templates associated with the book give you the practical tools you need to get your project up and running fast.
Why Do We Need Leaders?
If you were asked this question what answer would you give?
Many people think that we need leaders manage large groups of people, for example, a country needs a head of state, an organization needs a CEO. etc.
But there is more to it than this. The need for leadership is much more natural and human than that. Leadership is something that we as humans grow up as part of the human experience. In adult life, we seek out leaders too. People who will guide us in making sense of the world.
To explore why we need leaders in more detail, read the article Why Do We Need Leaders?
A Basic Process for Leadership
In simple terms, a good transformational leader is someone who performs the following three steps:
- Future: creating a clear and inspiring vision of the future.
- Engage: motivating people to want to create that future.
- Deliver: delivering that future vision by taking action and getting results.
Leadership Styles
There are many different styles of leadership. Many of these have been studied and written about extensively, including:
- Autocratic leadership
- Democratic leadership
- Transformational leadership
- Laissez-faire leadership
- Situational leadership
- Strategic leadership
- Affiliative leadership
- Coaching leadership
- Bureaucratic leadership
- Cross-cultural leadership
- Servant Leadership
Most good leaders will be able to adjust their style of leadership depending on the situation they find themselves in. This is known as situational leadership.
You can learn more about leadership styles in our Leadership Styles article.
Core Leadership Articles
You’ll find loads of leadership articles at the bottom of this page, but some of our favorite articles include:
- The 5 Types of Power
- Political Awareness Skills
- Management By Objectives
- Span of Control
- Corporate Life Cycle (Adizes)
- What is a Moral Compass?
- Action Centered Leadership
- Greiner’s Business Growth Model
- Management vs. Leadership
- Identify your Leadership Weaknesses
Other Leadership Skills
The articles above discuss much of the hard theory of leadership. But there are other skills which play a role in making someone a good leader. These skills include:
- Having great Interpersonal Skills
- Being able to effectively Manage your Team
- Displaying a capacity for Strategic Thinking
On this page, we’ve covered just some of strategy related articles on this site. The complete list is below.
