Leadership has the potential to make or break any organization. Whether you’re leading a team, managing a project, or guiding an entire organization, effective leadership is indispensable. But what does it take to become an exceptional leader?
Some people are born with the innate ability to lead, but research shows that only 10% of people are natural leaders. Plus, being a natural leader doesn’t always equip someone with the skills necessary to manage a team.
The good thing is leadership can be learned. In fact, anyone can be a better leader, and leadership training is vital to building those skills. Discover the benefits of leadership training and skills that every manager should master through it.
The benefits of leadership training
Leadership training offers numerous benefits. It doesn’t just positively impact those involved in the training but those throughout the organization as well.
- Increased employee engagement: Effective leadership fosters a positive work environment, promoting employee satisfaction, motivation, and productivity. Plus, managers trained in communication, empathy and motivation can effectively engage and motivate employees.
- Enhanced team performance: Managers trained in effective management techniques can guide teams to work more cohesively, leading to improved collaboration and performance.
- Better change management: Leadership training equips managers with the skills to navigate and manage organizational change effectively, minimizing disruption and maximizing adaptability.
- Talent development: Investing in leadership training demonstrates a commitment to employee growth, fostering talent retention and better preparing employees for future promotions. By providing managers in leadership positions and not yet in leadership positions, you better prepare workers to demonstrate leadership in any situation and prepare for future managerial positions.
- Improved organizational culture: Strong leadership sets the tone for organizational culture, shaping values, behaviors, and norms that contribute to a positive and inclusive work environment.
- Higher profitability: Effective leadership can lead to increased innovation, better decision-making, and improved customer satisfaction, ultimately driving higher profitability for the organization.
Skills every leader and manager should master
1. Communication
Clear and effective communication is important for leaders to express ideas, goals, and expectations to their team. This entails active listening, clear articulation, giving constructive feedback, and adapting communication styles for diverse audiences. Strong communication skills also facilitate conflict resolution, fostering innovation, openness, and understanding among team members. This ultimately boosts team performance and drives business results.
2. Emotional intelligence
Leaders with high emotional intelligence can understand and manage their own emotions while also empathizing with the emotions of others. This skill helps in building strong relationships, resolving conflicts, and creating a positive work environment. It also helps leaders improve their responses to challenging situations and remain even-keeled.
3. Decision making
Leaders must be able to make timely and well-informed decisions, often under pressure. Mastering decision-making, especially during times of change and uncertainty, involves gathering relevant information, analyzing potential outcomes, considering the input of others, and being decisive.
4. Coaching employees
Coaching skills enable managers to develop the talents and skills of their team members, helping them reach their full potential. Coaching involves active listening, encouraging autonomy, mentoring future leaders, and more. By investing in coaching, leaders can create a positive and supportive work environment where individuals thrive and contribute to the overall success of the organization.
5. Adaptability
In today's fast-changing business world, leaders must be able to adjust and change as needed. They should be open to new ideas and willing to try different things. When unexpected problems arise, they should be able to switch direction quickly. Being flexible and adaptable helps leaders and their teams succeed in a constantly changing environment.
6. Empowerment and delegation
Effective leaders empower their team members by delegating tasks and responsibilities appropriately. Delegation involves trusting others to perform tasks, providing support and resources, and holding them accountable for results. Mastering this skill allows leaders to focus on higher-level responsibilities and promotes professional growth among team members.
Fulcrum’s Modern Managers Leadership Series
Currently, only 5% of businesses implement leadership training at all levels, according to Zippia. That’s why we partnered with Fulcrum to provide CYPHER customers with access to high-quality leadership training.
Fulcrum’s Modern Managers Leadership Series helps your managers improve their people skills to positively lead themselves and others through change and challenging situations, especially during times of uncertainty, shifting employee demographics and the new hybrid workplace.
The series offers training in six skill areas: Moving from bud to boss, Leading with emotional intelligence, Having difficult conversations, Best practices for leading hybrid and remote teams, Being resilient in the midst of change, growth and uncertainty and Building your leadership coaching skills. Learn more about each skill area below.
Moving from bud to boss
Making the transition from employee to manager for the first time can be a stressful and challenging event. Are you, as a new manager, overwhelmed with the challenges and responsibilities of your new managerial role? The goal of this introductory course is to help you learn what it takes to make the necessary mindset shift so you can be more effective, increase your confidence and competence and improve relationships with your direct reports.
Leading with emotional intelligence
What comes to mind when you think of an outstanding leader? Someone who always keeps their cool and never lets their temper get out of control? Someone who listens, values your input and understands when to push you, coach you, and when to lift you up. In this introductory program, you will learn about how to raise your emotional intelligence so you can remain productive, reduce stress and improve your relationships while working in an environment of constant change and uncertainty.
Having difficult conversations
Most of us want to avoid having difficult conversations at all costs and usually this is based on a misconception that conflict is bad. In reality, difficult conversations and conflict can push teams to be more innovative and take relationships to a new level of openness, honesty and understanding. In this introductory course, you will explore the benefits of addressing these sensitive topics before they grow out of control. You will explore your natural approach to handling difficult conversations to determine if there is a better way.
Best practices for leading hybrid and remote teams
This introductory course focuses on learning what is required to develop a highly engaged and accountable team, establish regular and effective communication methods and strengthen relationships with and among your direct reports while achieving business results.
Being resilient in the midst of change, growth and uncertainty
As a manager you may be overwhelmed with the challenges of dealing with the emotional stresses caused by constant change and uncertainty in your organization. This introductory course provides leaders and managers ways to remain productive during times of transformational change, have access to proven tools that help employees build a resilient mindset, and understand what it takes to handle the constant challenges of change while choosing beliefs, thoughts and emotions to serve themselves and their team more effectively
Building your leadership coaching skills
The purpose of this introductory program is to provide managers with the training they need to understand the importance of meeting each team member where they are in a coaching relationship, become aware of individual nuances, intentions and professional and personal goals and expectations so they can develop their team to their fullest potential, motivate them to contribute at the highest level, thus increasing employee engagement, retention and business results.
To learn more about Fulcrum’s leadership development series, view CYPHER Learning’s content offerings
