What is Leadership? Required Skills to Become a Leader
Leadership not only helps determine the direction of the organization but also motivates the staff to achieve common goals. So what is Leadership ? Why is Leadership so important? In this article, let's explore the concept of Leadership with 1C Vietnam along with the important skills that a leader needs to have.
1. What is Leadership?
Leadership is an important factor for executives and managers. It is the ability to determine direction, use your skills to lead your team to achieve the organization's goals in an excellent way.
2. The role of Leadership in business
To help businesses better understand what Leadership is, let’s explore the important role of this position in the organization. Leadership plays a central role in the direction and success of a business. Many organizations and businesses tend to depend on good leaders to convey the mission, vision and goals, unify the apparatus and achieve those goals. This ability is especially important in crisis situations.
Decisiveness in the face of adversity is often essential to business success. Businesses rely on leaders with high levels of emotional intelligence and competence to make decisions and solve problems. This success often leads to a positive work environment that encourages collaboration, personal growth, and a strong work culture that attracts top talent.
Leadership is key to creating competitiveness in business and driving innovation. Good leaders keep an eye on changes in the industry, promote new ideas from within the company and attract innovative thinkers.
3. Skills needed for a Leadership
Once you know what Leadership is, to become an excellent leader, you need to practice and develop many different skills. Below are the important skills that every leader needs to have.
3.1 Effective work management
Knowing how to divide work and arrange working time to achieve the highest efficiency is the first secret to success. Leaders need to make sure they know clearly what team members are doing, how they are doing the work and whether they are facing any difficulties… This is especially important because leaders must know the progress of the project to report and have a backup plan.
3.2 Understand each member of the team
Understanding what Leadership does, we can easily see that the Leader is the one who will assign tasks to each member in the team or group. To assign tasks effectively, the leader needs to clearly understand the strengths and weaknesses of each member. Discussing carefully before assigning tasks and establishing a system of management parameters according to the skills and strengths of each person helps the work progress more effectively.
3.3 Responsible
As a Leader, responsibility is not only for work but also for the staff. The leader needs to understand all issues in the organization and be ready to take responsibility when needed.
3.4 Inspire employees
The task of managers is not only to divide the work but also to maintain the performance of employees. Motivation is the key to employee success, improving performance and creativity at work. A good leader always knows how to keep himself motivated and spread that positive energy to his employees.
3.5 Decision making ability
A leader’s decisions have a huge impact on the business. One of the prerequisites of a great leader is to know how to make the right decisions, minimize risks and bring positive impacts to the business.
3.6 Target management and allocation
An organization will have many goals for each phase as well as different projects. Determining long-term goals and implementation plans helps the organization have a clear direction as well as tightly allocate resources.
3.7 Team and group management
A leader needs to be able to manage people and work flexibly with the staff. Having team meetings to listen to employees, paying attention to body language and changing the conversation accordingly is what a good leader needs.
3.8 Communication and presentation skills
Good communication skills help leaders easily exchange information and persuade others. This is the most important communication skill of a manager in a business.
3.9 Problem solving skills
Solving problems quickly and accurately is an important leadership skill. Leaders need to face problems, develop effective problem-solving and research skills.
3.10 Planning skills
One of the keywords when defining Leadership is “planning”. This is also the skill that affirms the different role of a Leader compared to other positions in the business. Making a detailed plan helps the business determine the best options to achieve the goal. Leaders need to clearly understand the business’s goals and plan based on available resources.
3.11 Time management skills
Effective time management helps increase productivity and quality of work. Leaders can define clear goals and prioritize work to better manage time.
3.12 Delegation skills
Delegation and assignment help increase productivity as well as ensure time according to the set plan. In addition, assignment shows trust and motivates employees, contributing to sustainable organizational development.
4. Distinguish between Leadership and Management
Leadership and management are both important factors in running an organization, but these positions will perform different goals and functions. Leadership focuses on forming vision, inspiring and driving innovation, while management focuses on planning, organizing and coordinating day-to-day activities to achieve specific goals. Below is a detailed comparison chart to clarify the difference between the two concepts:
Criteria | Leadership | Management |
Concept | Is the ability to lead and transform vision into action, and inspire the organization | Is the ability to organize, plan and coordinate resources to achieve set goals. |
Main objective | Encourage change, create momentum and provide strategic direction | Ensure stability and achieve goals through effective organization and coordination |
Function | Lead innovation and build long-term vision to respond to environmental change | Run daily operations and maintain performance to cope with current challenges |
Focus on | Develop long-term vision, enhance skills and organizational culture | Manage processes, systems and short-term goals |
Method | Use vision and inspiration to influence and motivate employees | Apply authority and process to control and coordinate work |
How to communicate | Encourage creativity, inspire and build trust | Give orders and supervise to ensure work is done properly |
Innovation and improvement | Encourage innovation and take on challenges to achieve creative solutions | Maintain and optimize current processes to minimize risk |
Decision | Based on vision, personal values and innovation | Based on data analysis and established rules |
Employee Relations | Build deep personal relationships and encourage personal growth | Maintain working relationships and ensure compliance with regulations |
5. Some popular Leadership styles
There are many different leadership styles and no one style is completely superior. Depending on the situation and work environment, Leaders can use or combine leadership styles to achieve the organization's goals. Some common leadership styles include:
Leadership style | Characteristic |
Autocratic Leadership: Autocratic style |
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Democratic Leadership: Democratic Style |
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Delegating Leadership: Delegating Style |
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Coaching Leadership: Coaching Style |
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Transformational Leadership: Transformational Style |
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Transactional Leadership: Transactional Style |
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Laissez-Faire Leadership: Bureaucratic Style |
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Servant Leadership: Service Style |
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Situational Leadership: situational leadership |
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Hopefully, through the above article, businesses have a better understanding of what Leadership is as well as the criteria needed for a professional Leader. Start practicing and developing your leadership skills today to become a trustworthy guide and bring outstanding value to your organization. If you have any questions, please contact 1C Vietnam for support.