Growing Leadership Skills
The most common question I get from both managers & ICs - how do I grow as a leader? Interestingly, they aren’t really asking about how to grow, they’re really asking about which skills to grow.
This happens because in addition to having a clear area of expertise, leaders also need to develop a holistic skillset. However there isn’t a set theory or course that tells them what constitutes this holistic skillset. Many companies have internal programs to help with this, and this is also why leaders get mentors & coaches. For any leaders looking to know which skills they need to grow, here are the 7 categories I consider key:
1. Strategy, Roadmap & Planning
Knowing varied tools & frameworks to build a long-term strategy & roadmap for your responsibilities, and also for your self.
2. Execution & Delivery
Achieving tangible business outcomes in a trackable, predictable & communicable way.
3. Communication, Collaboration & Influence
Building effective communication (how to get your point across, hear other views), efficient collaboration (bring people together towards an outcome), & ultimately your own personal style of influence.
4. People, Performance, Retention & Growth
Managing, leading & growing people around you with a focus on individual happiness & delivering outcomes, and creating transparent rigor around this.
5. Recruiting & Hiring
Learning all the ins and outs of recruiting, establishing an accountable hiring process, fine tuning to source more diverse talent & reducing bias.
6. Mindset & Behaviors
Adopting ways to focus your mindset on specific goals, and the relevant behavioral skills to get there.
7. Budget Management
Having an effective & transparent budget management process, which starts with learning everything about the budget available to you.
Specifically for managers, there is an 8th category I’d add:
8. Managing Managers
Growing managers as an extension of your growth, and being able to delegate effectively.
What categories do you consider important as part of a leader’s holistic growth path?