Leadership skills allow managers to build team morale, motivate workers and get the best out of their team. Here are 5 key leadership skills we think every manager should have.

Communication

Communication is the most important skill you can possess as a manager. If you can’t get your ideas and decisions across, it will be difficult to move your team forward. If you’re still developing your communication skills, try focusing on using clear and concise language, remaining empathetic, and developing your body language.

Active listening

To be an active listener, you need to devote your full attention to the person you’re speaking with – it’s more than just hearing what people are saying. Active listening helps you to retain key information and respond with relevant questions. This will benefit your team during meetings and 1:1’s to ensure they’re constructive for everyone involved.

Adaptability

No matter how prepared you are, unforeseen changes and hurdles can arise and throw you off. Adaptability is being able to accept that things may not go according to plan. Becoming adaptable will prepare you to be quick on your feet, and ready to adjust expectations when necessary. It can also help you to think ahead for ways to adapt to trouble down the road to mitigate stress

Guidance

As a manager, you need to be approachable so your team can feel comfortable looking to you for guidance. You should be invested in their upskilling, organising personal development programmes, and allowing your team to step up their hard or soft skills by assigning them different tasks.

Integrity

You can’t run or manage a business successfully if you lack integrity. Leading by example is important to uphold any company values – you can’t enforce not being late to work if you, yourself never show up on time. Leaders succeed when they stick to their values and core beliefs.