3 Unique Leadership Skills You Didn’t Know You Had
When you think about leadership, you might not immediately consider skills like gratitude, self-reflection and curiosity as part of your toolkit. These unique leadership skills, often seen as personal strengths, can be incredibly powerful in a professional context.
Before becoming an Executive Coach, I spent decades working my way up the corporate ladder. I received a ton of training on the “traditional” leadership skills like decision making, using a strategic approach and leading teams. But I found the key to a fulfilling career was when I brought my whole self to my work. And often that meant using what I’ll call life skills to problem solve.
Yes, my degree from Wharton was incredibly helpful, but it was when I blended the life skills I knew with traditional leadership abilities, that I was able to create a more holistic and adaptable approach to managing challenges. And why I stand behind my slogan, fulfilling career, happy life.If you want to build unique leadership skills that will help you get ahead, keep reading.
Discovering These Unique Leadership Skills
Many people talk about work-life balance as if work and life are two separate worlds. This idea suggests that you have to switch between your "work self" and your "home self." The more I work with my clients the more I know that this isn't the case. You are the same person at work and at home.
If we are feeling an imbalance, it’s easy to think that it’s the situation which is feeling unbalanced and to some extent it is. Leaders are often overworked and we all have family lives too.
Rather than blame the situation, look to what is in your control. By focusing on the things that we can act on we can relieve worry and anxiety. This allows us to release the things we can’t influence so we can focus on the things we can influence.
So when you feel imbalanced ask yourself, “What is the challenge?” Then ask yourself what resources you have to apply to it.
In a business situation the traditional resources are your talent, time, and money. But for each of us, the true resource that we have to bring to anything is our skillset. And it’s these unique leadership skills that we are going to talk about today.
You are one person with a wide range of skills. Using these skills collectively, you'll better handle responsibilities and improve your resilience. Shifting your focus to what you can control and applying a full range of your abilities will help you navigate complex situations more effectively.
Holistic Skills Toolkit: The Unique Leadership Skills You Need
Thinking about the skills toolkit you use daily in the office, it's all about leveraging critical thinking, strategic focus, and communication skills. At work, you probably approach big challenges with clear objectives, setting priorities, and ensuring the necessary resources are available. Adding timelines and gaining support from stakeholders is common practice. Metrics for success and a project plan complete the picture.
But consider this—you're likely using only half of your resources. Instead, imagine using your entire toolkit, combining both leadership and life skills. This is where you will find these unique leadership skills.
Think of your skills as a combined toolkit. Don’t divide your skills into "work" and "life". Use them all wherever they are needed.
Let’s focus on three skills which often fall under the “life skills” category. These are all skills that, as humans, we practice every day. If you know anything about me you will know that I believe in practicing gratitude, approaching life with curiosity and being open to self-reflection.
It may be my hippy ways, but I believe that by applying these life skills to your work problems you will find more peace, joy and fulfillment at both work and in the rest of your life.
3 Surprising Leadership Skills Explored: Integrating Leadership and Life Skills
Let’s look at how we can take three of the skills from your holistic toolkit and use them in your everyday leadership activities.
Self-Reflection: The Gateway Skill
Self-reflection allows you to evaluate your actions and decisions critically. It gives you time to think about what you did, why you did it, and how you can improve.
It’s a gateway skill meaning that once you take the time to self-reflect, your new perspective will allow you to apply other life skills like empathy, gratitude or curiosity.
Self-reflection helps you understand your strengths and weaknesses and fosters continuous personal and professional growth. It also helps you lead more effectively. When your team sees your ability to self-assess they will be more willing to learn from their own mistakes.
Gratitude: A Unique Leadership Skill
Gratitude is often seen as a personal skill, but it has a powerful role in leadership too. Recognizing hard work, even during challenging times, can boost morale and motivation. Here are a few key points to consider:
Acknowledge Effort: Even if a project doesn't go as planned, recognizing the effort your team put in is important. This helps in maintaining a positive atmosphere and shows that you value your team's dedication.
Build Relationships: Expressing gratitude strengthens relationships within the team. It shows that you value and respect their contributions, which can lead to better collaboration and trust.
Improve Communication: Thanking your team members can ease difficult conversations. When you appreciate their efforts, they're more likely to be receptive to feedback and open to discussions about improvements.
Encourage a Positive Culture: A culture of gratitude encourages others to express appreciation as well. This can lead to a more supportive and collaborative work environment. And it primes you to find things for which to be grateful, wherever you look.
Reduce Stress: Gratitude can shift your perspective and help you focus on positive aspects, even in tough situations. This can reduce stress and make problem-solving more effective.
Curiosity: A Leadership Game-Changer
Curiosity can be a game-changer in leadership.
Instead of rushing to judgment, approach challenging situations with a mindset of curiosity. A curious mindset helps you learn and grow from each experience and can bring out the best in your team. Curiosity can open doors to new ways of thinking and problem-solving.
Think of a tough situation where things didn't go as planned.
Instead of assuming who or what was at fault, ask questions like:
What assumptions did we make?
What could we do differently next time?
Why did this particular outcome occur?
Curiosity encourages a deeper exploration of the issues. It allows you to understand the underlying reasons for what happened.
This way, you can identify gaps and opportunities for improvement. When you lead with curiosity, you show that learning and growth are valued. You will reduce bias in your workplace, promote learning and encourage an open dialogue.
Curiosity isn't just about finding out what went wrong. It's also about discovering what went right and why. This balancing act can make your leadership more effective.
How to Build Unique Leadership Skills
So now that we’ve made the case for using more of your holistic toolkit you may be asking how to build these skills. And that’s the best part. Most of these unique leadership skills you learned in kindergarten.
You cultivate curiosity everyday when you try a new recipe at home or pick a different route to work.
You exercise gratitude when you acknowledge all of the wonderful things you have in your life.
Self-reflection is activated every time you look back at a situation and ask yourself, what were my actions and how did they impact this situation.
The trick is to bring an awareness of these skills with you when you are in a leadership role. By simply being aware and more present you will be building a better leadership toolkit.
Why These Unique Leadership Skills Are In-Demand
When you're facing a challenge it's important to use your entire set of skills and resources. By using all the tools in your toolkit you are becoming a more dynamic and effective leader.
Remember you would never use just half of your team at work or half of your company's resources. So don’t leave valuable life skills on the table when you have your leadership hat on.
This includes not only your professional abilities like critical thinking, strategic focus, and communication skills, but also personal skills such as gratitude, self-awareness, curiosity, and empathy.
I encourage you to steal a few of these ideas and apply them to your work. Let me know if your expanded toolkit leads to a more fulfilling career, happy life.
If you’d like to explore more of what it’s like to work with me I encourage you to download my free Career Satisfaction Assessment.
