How to build leadership skills with a step-by-step plan

Following a clear process is the best way to improve your business leadership skills. Businesses rely on leaders to inspire their employees, give them a strategic vision and make the right decisions for the company. Aim to take at least one new step each day to achieve your goal of developing as a leader in as little as one week.

While it’s possible to improve leadership qualities by enrolling in a training program or obtaining a degree, you can also build leadership skills on your own.

1. Write a one-month plan

Writing a one-month plan can help you focus on the tasks your team needs to complete during this time period. Revisit the plan at the end of the first week to determine whether you and your team are on track. Creating a long-term plan gives you time to motivate your team and help increase their productivity as needed.

2. Conduct an honest self-assessment

Through a self-evaluation process, you may be able to assess your leadership strengths and weaknesses and identify the areas of improvement to become a better leader. To learn more about yourself, consider taking a formal skills assessments, such as:

• CliftonStrengths: Highlights your innate leadership skills and guides you in developing your strengths.
• Myers-Briggs Type Indicator: Can help you understand how your natural tendencies influence workplace behavior.
• Leadership Self-Awareness Assessment: May identify growth opportunities and measure self-awareness through access to feedback.

Leadership assessments can also help you pinpoint areas of improvement and lead to ownership of workplace behaviors.

3. Get feedback

One of the best tips to improve leadership skills is to ask employees and colleagues to offer feedback on your leadership skills. For example, you might send out an anonymous survey for employees to rank your style of leadership, including whether they feel supported, heard and appreciated. You might also include employee engagement questions to assess overall wellbeing and how your leadership contributes to that.

What you do with feedback has a significant impact on your development as a leader. Effective leaders are capable of accepting constructive criticism and using it to improve their performance.

4. Volunteer for a new leadership position

Working with a new group of people can help you hone your leadership skills, as you must manage their different personalities. Volunteer to lead a new project or initiative at work. If you can’t identify a new professional leadership opportunity, volunteer in a leadership capacity in your community.

For example, you could lead a fundraising team or coach a children’s sports team.

5. Pay an employee a compliment

Complimenting your employees can boost their self-esteem and help them feel good about their work. When people believe in themselves, they often work more productively. Consider praising your team verbally or in writing via email or a handwritten note. Make complimenting others a habit to potentially boost morale and motivation.

6. Practice active listening

Active listening is a communication technique that reinforces a speaker’s message in your mind and ensures you understand the context. When an employee speaks to you, restate the point you believe they’re making in your own words. This exercise instills trust and helps you learn from team members, both of which are important when you’re developing as a leader.

7. Become a mentor

Mentoring uses many of the same skills as leadership positions, including communicating, motivating and problem-solving. Mentors help junior employees navigate their careers by sharing their own experiences. Leaders may also be able to find mentees through online mentoring networks or industry organizations.

Three business leadership principles to follow

Consider these tips to become a better leader, incorporating them with business leadership principles in mind. These guiding principles can help you learn how to improve your leadership qualities.

1. Accept imperfection

Perfection isn’t possible. Rather than expecting team members to perform perfectly, encourage them to do their best work and learn from their mistakes.

Use your attention to detail to recognize when errors are made. Notify employees of these errors and offer constructive criticism for next time. Similarly, accepting a lack of perfection in yourself can make you a more approachable leader.

2. Collaborate when required

Team members appreciate leaders who ask for their opinions and make them feel valued. However, not all decisions should be made by the entire team. An effective leader knows when to consult team members and when to act independently.

3. Trust your instincts

Leaders often go through a long process when making important decisions, including researching the facts and asking for opinions. While gathering data can be an important part of the decision-making process, your gut instinct can also be valuable. Trust how you feel about a decision.

FAQs about business leadership

Are leadership skills transferable?

Leadership skills are highly transferable between businesses and industries. The leadership skills you develop could help you move from the head of human resources to an executive position, for example.

How do you show leadership skills?

Demonstrate your leadership skills by communicating well with others, solving problems and making decisions for your team. You could also volunteer for new leadership roles within your organization or in your community.

What are the most common leadership styles?

Leaders use a variety of styles to accomplish their goals. These are the six most common:

• Transactional. Transactional leaders use incentives to motivate employees. They also rely on clearly defined roles and expectations.
• Authoritative. Authoritative leaders understand the importance of providing clear direction to team members. This type of leader has a clear vision for their team.
• Democratic. Democratic leaders prioritize collaboration, so they often seek input from employees.
• Transformational. Transformational leaders are inspiring, so they’re effective at motivating team members to embrace a shared vision.
• Delegative. Delegative leaders trust their team members to complete assigned tasks on time and at an acceptable quality level. As a result, their employees have a high level of autonomy.