5 underrated Leadership skills

There are many skills identified as essential for Leaders. 

For example, coaching is an essential leadership skill because it’s easy to measure the impact of coaching and the number one-on-ones. It’s easy to draw a connection between the number of difficult conversations and accountability.

However, there are some leadership skills which are underrated maybe because the direct correlation to business results is often a gray area.  When you specifically ask individuals about the impact of these skills on their work, the response is likely to be very positive but it’s challenging to point to them as the exact reason a team is successful.

So, what are these underrated leadership skills?

1. Culture eats strategy for breakfast

Peter Drucker famously said, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.”  Drucker’s point was that no matter how advanced a company’s strategy is, its success ultimately depends on the culture. You can think of it like a game of cricket.  The coach and captain might discuss a perfect strategy in the huddle, but it won’t be successful if the players don’t believe in it, as shown in their behavior.

Culture can be defined as “The shared values and beliefs that guide thinking and behavior.” Ultimately, leaders create the culture, culture produces behavior, and eventually, collective behavior becomes your result.

Setting the culture temperature is complex and challenging work, but the results are astounding when done well. That’s what makes it underrated.

2. Bringing Positive Energy

In the information age, we all work and live in, people are more in tune with all the challenges and negativity in the world. It has made it hard to be optimistic.  So, to be an optimistic leader who relentlessly brings positive energy is a true competitive advantage. 

Not only is bringing positive energy a competitive advantage, but it’s also a choice you make.  The benefit of being positive is that it creates a magnetic pull for like-minded people toward you. For example, if you put a plant in the window, it leans toward the light over time. Now, this doesn't mean that leaders should avoid the truth or practice toxic positivity. Napoleon said, “A leader’s job is to define reality and deliver hope.”  Evaluate the truth of the current situation, then focus on bringing positive energy daily despite it.

3. Keeping your commitments

Nothing will erode trust in a team faster than a leader failing to keep their commitments.  Since trust is the foundation of any relationship and it’s built consistently over time, honoring promises is essential.  Said differently, trust is earned in drops and lost in buckets.

You will demonstrate character, integrity, and reliability by keeping your commitments.  These character behaviors set you apart in a work world where many people are the opposite.  Keeping your commitments is a basic value that you need to demonstrate if you want people to follow you because of your actions instead of your title.

4. Empowering Team Members with Ownership

Most managers continue to work as individuals and are rarely taught how to empower others.  Empowerment means helping other people make decisions and is a catalyst in helping improve efficiency, effectiveness, and engagement.  Unfortunately, most managers micromanage.

When you micromanage, you create a bottleneck. Whatever may be your reason, the perception it creates is of arrogance and a lack of trust. It assumes other people can’t learn to do something as well as you. It creates a dependency on you that shrinks the team’s potential instead of expanding it.

Instead of micromanaging and controlling every piece of a process, the best leaders empower others to make decisions where the information is.

5. Engaging in Active Listening

Did you know that 70% of employees say they would feel more valued if their managers were better listeners?

Employees are 4.6 times more likely to feel empowered to perform their best work when they feel heard.  

Despite these staggering statistics, the listening skills of managers are appallingly bad.

The reason is most managers overestimate the quality of their listening skills. To avoid this, don’t assume you are listening, assume you are not listening. This is essential because listening must come before acting.

Be an active listener by consciously keeping distractions away, engaging your mind on what's in front of you, asking curious questions, and giving team members the space to be heard.  While it seems simple, it’s difficult.

Henry Ford famously said "If you are the leader in a room, be the last person to speak"

Embracing and honing these underrated leadership skills can dramatically enhance your ability to lead effectively. Remember, being an effective leader isn’t just about the known abilities; it’s also about the underrated skills. It’s about culture, positive energy, empowerment, keeping commitments, and listening.

Focus on developing these skills, and you’ll drive your team to success. Start today because the path to becoming a remarkable leader is well within your control.