A quick search on the internet for leadership skills will return results such as:

• The 4 Key Leadership Skills
• The 7 Essential Skills you Need to Lead
• Top 10 Leadership Skills
• The 25 Leadership Skills for Success
• And over 900 million other similarly titled results

There is no shortage of information out there on leadership skills and what they look like in the workplace.  We won’t be generating our own list of The Top 47 Essential Leadership Skills You Need to Succeed here. You are likely aware that the ability to communicate clearly, inspire, make decisions, and problem solve are pretty important leadership skills. Being ethical, supportive, responsive, knowledgeable, energetic, and consistent are other important leadership skills… we could go on and on.

You know what good leadership looks like because you have seen strong leaders in action.  And if you are like most of us, you know what good leadership looks like because you have experienced bad leadership, with the missing skills being glaringly obvious.

So, what explains the difference between good leaders and poor leaders?  Two people could have the same level of education, the same number of years of experience in the field, same expectations, and even use the same language, but one would be considered a good leader and the other would miss the mark.

Consider, for a moment, that one difference may be an underlying desire for knowledge. Effective leaders are confident in the knowledge they possess AND they are on the lookout for opportunities to learn more. They are not only seeking additional technical information. To be more supportive, they learn about their employees. They build relationships so they can learn more about the children and families they serve. They willingly enter into situations that challenge their perspectives to see if they hold up or if there is room to adapt and grow.

Effective leaders are constantly learning. They recognize that there are opportunities to learn something new from countless sources. They know there is always room for improvement for their teams and themselves. And they are open to all of it.

For the main article Exploring Leadership, CLICK HERE

For the article Leadership Styles, CLICK HERE

For the article Building Children’s Leadership Skills, CLICK HERE

For the article Director’s Corner – Building Leadership among Team Members, CLICK HERE