Leadership Skills

Leadership Skills

A Practical Handbook of Leadership Skills Appraisals

And Tips to Improve Your Leadership Skills

By Drew Maywald

Published by Drew Maywald at Smashwords.

Copyright 2013 Drew Maywald

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal use and enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this ebook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Although every effort has been made to ensure that the material in this book meets the highest level of accuracy and integrity, the author can accept no responsibility for loss caused to any organisation or individual acting or refraining from action as a result of the material.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Skills Appraisals Evaluation Criteria

Communication Skills

Counselling Skills

Customer Service Skills

Delegation Skills

Disciplinary Skills

Emotional Intelligence

Giving Instructions (Orders)

Integrity

Interviewing Skills

Leadership Skills

Listening Skills

Managing Email

Meetings

Negotiation Skills

Performance Appraisals

Praise and Recognition

Quality Checks

Questioning Techniques

Self-Control

Self-Image

Targets and Goals

Team Building Skills

Telephone Skills

Time Management

Introduction

Good leaders are followed not because of their position, but because people trust and respect them. However, many people find it difficult to transition from being a manager to a leader.

Leadership has been misunderstood to mean directing and instructing people, and making important decisions on behalf of an organisation. Effective leadership is much more than these, for it relies most strongly on less tangible things like integrity, self image, delegation skills, and many more skills and abilities.

While working with various organisations and individuals, I am often asked how to measure leadership skills. To this end, I have developed these self-appraisals for an individual to determine their strengths and weaknesses on various attributes related to a specific leadership skill or ability. This is the most effective use of the appraisals, for by determining one’s strengths and weaknesses, an individual can develop action plans to improve their weaknesses and become a more effective leader.

With more than 1,040 individual appraisal items in this book the appraisals are not designed to replace company performance appraisal systems, but rather to supplement them to determine an individual’s specific leadership skills and abilities improvement plan.

Following each appraisal, I have documented some suggestions, which are easy to follow and apply, to improve leadership skills and abilities.

Skills Appraisal Evaluation Criteria

The skills appraisals contained in this book have been designed as a self-appraisal for the individual. Although the skills appraisals are best used to determine an individual’s strengths and weaknesses, they can also be used to determine skill level and ability.

The author has also effectively used the appraisals to determine the skills and abilities of other employees such as supervisors, managers and potential leaders to identify areas for improvement.

Each specific leadership appraisal lists key performance indicators or attributes. To appraise each attribute, read it carefully and circle the score based on how well you carry out that attribute every day. Be honest with yourself and don’t exaggerate your score. Remember that the main purpose of the appraisal is to identify areas of strength and weakness, and not to score the highest possible score. You need to consider developing a performance improvement plan to enhance and strengthen each item where your rating was less than 4.

If you have difficulty with scoring some of the attributes ask for feedback from your colleagues, or other members of the management team, or members of your own team.

Score your rating on each attribute from 5 to 1 based on the following definitions:

Exceeds objectives and requirements at all times. An outstanding behaviour and performance.

Job requirements are exceeded in most cases. Above normal expectations of behaviour and performance.

Competent, normal and expected level of results. Competent behaviour and performance, but will benefit from further training.

Results are somewhat less than expected. Some objectives and job requirements are met but many are not. Work is of mixed quality. Below average behaviour and performance, and training or adjustment is needed.

Performance well below job requirements and not acceptable as to quality of work and completion of objectives. Inadequate behaviour and performance requires immediate improvement.

Communication Skills

Communication is a key management skill that includes numerous activities associated with everyday organisational life. These activities include verbal, face to face, one on one, formal, informal, personal, interpersonal, departmental, team, written, listening and nonverbal communication.

Effective communication will help you to better understand your people and situations. It enables you to build trust, resolve differences and conflicts, build respect, and create an environment where contributions from others, creative thinking, problem solving and caring can flourish.

Communication Skills Appraisal

I set an example of ‘walking the talk’ not ‘talking the talk’. 5 4 3 2 1

I project my energy levels positively. 5 4 3 2 1

I project enthusiasm for all tasks positively. 5 4 3 2 1

I talk and listen to my people daily. 5 4 3 2 1

I return phone calls on the day they are received. 5 4 3 2 1

I reply to messages on the day they are received. 5 4 3 2 1

I reply to emails on the day they are received. 5 4 3 2 1

I am receptive to staff who want to contribute. 5 4 3 2 1

I explain my performance to my staff. 5 4 3 2 1

I explain my performance to my peers. 5 4 3 2 1

I explain my performance to my leader. 5 4 3 2 1

I encourage my people to ask questions. 5 4 3 2 1

I hold weekly team or toolbox meetings. 5 4 3 2 1

I communicate with my people formally every week. 5 4 3 2 1

I communicate with my people informally every day. 5 4 3 2 1

I encourage my people to ask questions. 5 4 3 2 1

I encourage my people to challenge the status quo. 5 4 3 2 1

I encourage my people to come to me with their solutions. 5 4 3 2 1

I ask questions rather than give direct orders. 5 4 3 2 1

I seek feedback from my people. 5 4 3 2 1

I give feedback to my people. 5 4 3 2 1

I am aware of how my body language impacts on my communication skills. 5 4 3 2 1

I use non-verbal communication to connect with other people. 5 4 3 2 1

I match people’s voice tone and modulation. 5 4 3 2 1

I use active listening techniques when communicating with others. 5 4 3 2 1

I listen twice as much as I speak. 5 4 3 2 1

I manage and control anger. 5 4 3 2 1

I manage and control fear. 5 4 3 2 1

I manage and control negativity. 5 4 3 2 1

I have a happy disposition. 5 4 3 2 1

I am aware of other people’s feelings when I communicate. 5 4 3 2 1

I speak clearly and concisely. 5 4 3 2 1

I am direct and to the point in my communications. 5 4 3 2 1

I am able to empathise with all my people. 5 4 3 2 1

I am not judgmental of other people. 5 4 3 2 1

I do not show bias towards others based on ideas, values, and beliefs. 5 4 3 2 1

I am able to view issues and concerns from the other person’s point of view. 5 4 3 2 1

I am a friendly communicator. 5 4 3 2 1

I smile when I communicate. 5 4 3 2 1

I use a friendly tone and manner when I speak. 5 4 3 2 1

I think before I speak. 5 4 3 2 1

I speak from the heart. 5 4 3 2 1

I am genuine and transparent when I communicate. 5 4 3 2 1

I use appropriate humour when I communicate. 5 4 3 2 1

I have a modest view of my own self-importance when I speak to others. 5 4 3 2 1

I treat all my people equally. 5 4 3 2 1

I praise and encourage every employee. 5 4 3 2 1

I give my people time to communicate their issues and concerns to me. 5 4 3 2 1

I am open and available for my people to communicate with me. 5 4 3 2 1

I encourage my people to talk to me whenever possible. 5 4 3 2 1

Improving Your Communication Skills

Communication is all about getting through to your people – giving them information – so that the company, team or individual can move more effectively towards achieving their objectives and targets. Here are some great Ready Made Tips to improve your communication skills with your colleagues, family and friends.

Set an example of ‘walking the talk’ not ‘talking the talk’. Your actions must match what you say.

Give full attention to people. This requires eliminating distractions, focusing on what the person is saying and not on what you are going to do next, and asking questions instead of giving solutions.

Project enthusiasm for all tasks positively.

Return phone calls on the day they are received.

Reply to messages on the day they are received.

Reply to emails on the day they are received.

Encourage your people to ask questions and challenge the status quo. Set the example by doing this with your team members. However, avoid answering all the questions or you will have a continuous stream of people coming to you for help every time they have a problem. One of the most effective ways to do this is to train your people to come to you with solutions, not problems, by simply asking, What do you think you should do?

Hold weekly team meetings or toolbox meetings. These should be brief stand up meetings where you have the opportunity to communicate with your staff, and they have the opportunity to raise issues and concerns with you.

Talk and listen to every member of your team, informally and daily if possible.

Ask questions instead of giving direct orders. People who always give orders are perceived as very authoritarian and dictatorial which are not qualities displayed by effective team leaders.

Be receptive to people who want to contribute, no matter who the person is. Everyone wants to feel important, and being receptive to those who contribute, is an effective way to do this.

Encourage feedback from your people. This will show that you welcome suggestions for improvement, and encourage your people to communicate openly with you.

Ask the right questions. The use of open-ended questions encourages people to talk openly and honestly (e.g., How did you feel about that?), while closed questions are good for gathering specific information (e.g., What date did that occur?).

Project your energy levels into making things happen. This requires keeping on top of projects and what your people are doing. Using action planners is a most effective way to do this.

Demonstrate enthusiasm, confidence and a positive attitude to all with whom you work. At all times, do your best to be upbeat and positive with other people by having a positive and cheerful attitude to life. When things don’t go to plan or go wrong, remain positive, learn from your mistakes, and fix the problem not the blame. People are more likely to respond positively to you, if you remain cheerful and smile often.

Be aware of your non-verbal communication signals and gestures.

The impact you have on a person is determined by:

7% from the words you say.

38% from the way you say them (tone of voice, etc.).

55% from your body language (eye contact, gestures etc.).

Developing your ability to understand and use non-verbal communication, body language and gestures will assist you to connect with other people, express what you really mean, build better relationships at work and home, and enable you to meet challenging situations more effectively.

Mirroring a person’s gestures and body language is an effective way to show that you like them. When you communicate, you can do a similar thing by mirroring or matching the tone and modulation of their voice. For example, if they are speaking softly, speak softly, or if they speak slowly, model the speed of their voice. Like mirroring body language, the more you speak like others the more they will like you.

Become an effective and active listener. Listening is one of the most important aspects of communication skills, yet it is often the least used. You have two ears and one mouth and you should use them in those proportions. That is, listen twice as much as you speak. Being an effective listener is not merely hearing the words that are spoken, but also being able to understand how the speaker feels about what they are communicating.

Being aware of your emotions and feelings when you communicate is important. It is usually the way you feel, your emotions, that drives you to communicate or make decisions. Unfortunately, many people let their emotions rule their lives. As an effective leader, you need to be aware of your difficult emotions and learn to manage strong feelings like anger, fear, sadness, negativity, disgust and happiness.

You also need to be aware of other people’s feelings, be sympathetic to misfortunes, and congratulate success and positive achievements.

When you speak, be clear and concise, and don’t waste time on long drawn out stories and anecdotes that are not relevant. Be direct and to the point. People who are indirect, or hint at what they want when communicating verbally, often don’t get what