Leadership Skills
"Is a Management Position in Your Future?" or, "Do You Have the Leadership Skills to be an Effective Manger?"
"Leadership must be defined in terms of acceptance by others. You may have been given the title and the authority of a manager, but you are a leader only insofar as those under you accept your leadership." Richard Germann and Peter Arnold, Job & Career Building, 1980, p. 205.
Germann and Arnold follow this statement by suggesting that you review your leadership potential by listing ten to fifteen past or current achievements, looking for repeated examples of your ability to relate well with people, the extent to which you enjoy taking initiative and responsibility, and your need for being in control. After listing your achievements, group them under the following categories, which the authors call Success Factors. These are indicators of leadership potential in managerial positions, and include, among others:
| Supervising |
Organizing |
Cost Control |
| Communicating |
Coordinating |
Persuading |
| Liaison |
Analysis |
Delegating |
| Planning |
Decision Making |
Cooperating |
| Problem Solving |
Human Relations |
Art/Design |
The authors recommend that you ask a close friend to answer the following questions about you, to help determine your strengths and weaknesses:
- What does he or she consider to be your greatest strengths, talents, and abilities?
- In what areas do you need improvement?
- What conditions and duties do you need in your work in order to be happy?
Before reading your friend’s responses, answer these same questions for yourself. Do your answers differ dramatically from your friend’s responses? Or are your answers similar?
