Written by: Corey R. Seemiller

Imagine you have just been asked to take on a leadership position in your organization. You are excited about the opportunity and are happy to know that other members trust you with this important role. But, then you think. . .

• How do I ensure the organization is moving in the right direction? Actually, what is the right direction?
• What do I do to make sure everyone feels welcome and included?
• How can I help us solve problems that arise?
• What do I do if there is conflict?

These questions may seem overwhelming. But just like you wouldn?t learn how to swim by jumping into the deep end of a pool and trying to keep your head above water, you won?t necessarily learn good leadership habits simply by being in a leadership role. The good news is that there is a lot of information available to help you develop the competencies you need to engage in effective leadership.

Over the past several generations, scholars and practitioners have been crafting definitions of leadership. Yet no universal definition has ever been adopted. The same is true when it comes to developing one universal leadership theory. Prominent leadership scholars George R. Goethals and Georgia Sorensen discuss this challenge in their book The Quest for a General Theory of Leadership. Despite the variation in definitions and theories, many contemporary scholars agree on one thing: Leadership is a process that involves influencing people or causes in an effort to work toward a shared goal. In this resource, you will find 10 skills that can help you develop the competencies you need to engage in the leadership process.

Leading begins with knowing yourself and seeking out opportunities for continued development. In essence, leadership starts with self-awareness. For example, what are your values, passions, and strengths? How open are you to being vulnerable and receiving feedback? With self-awareness, you can help clarify what you care about and find ways to best leverage your capacity to lead.

Another important skill is the ability to make things happen, or perseverance. By enhancing your self-awareness, you can uncover what motivates you to take initiative and persist with a long-term endeavor, even when faced with obstacles, detours, and failures.

As you increase your self-awareness, it?s also essential to reflect on your level of cultural competence. What can you do to embrace a variety of diverse perspectives and worldviews? How can you foster spaces that welcome and encourage all voices while advocating for inclusion and social justice? Being culturally competent not only expands your horizons but also can enhance the belongingness of members and create space to generate diverse and innovative ideas.

Interpersonal interaction plays an important role in leadership, as being able to collaborate, share diverse ideas in an open environment, and offer support to others can lead to both a better outcome and a better overall experience for those involved. Are you able to engage in emotional intelligence, build trust, demonstrate vulnerability, and foster empathy to contribute to meaningful interpersonal interactions?

Interpersonal interaction also involves the ability to communicate effectively. You can probably recall a negative communication experience in your life that resulted in a misunderstanding, strain on a relationship, or an unsuccessful project. To avoid these types of situations, leaders need to be able to listen to others, appropriately convey a message, mitigate their biases, and effectively deal with conflict.

While many interpersonal interactions occur one on one, they also take place in groups, teams, and organizations with multiple individuals at once. Think about a time when you worked with others on a project and everyone just seemed to click. While that experience is the ideal goal, it?s important to note that positive group dynamics often do not happen by chance. That is why it is crucial that the leader models expectations, builds connections between members, facilitates discussions about goals and strategies, and mitigates power dynamics.

Whether faced with a personal ethical dilemma or a call to usher the organization through a difficult choice, the leader plays a critical role in recognizing moral issues and acting in alignment with individual or organizational values. Further, leaders understand that they, their organization, and the other members are part of a larger ecosystem where an individual?s actions can and do affect others. How can you assess a situation, make a values-based decision, and embody the courage it takes to engage in ethical behavior?

Leadership is proactive and future-oriented, requiring strategic planning. For example, what is your organization?s vision, mission, goals, and strategies? As a leader, it is essential to engage in the strategic planning process. And it is imperative that this process is inclusive with measurable outcomes, so that the whole team knows where they are going, how they plan to get there, and the identified checkpoint that will help them know when they have arrived.

It?s important to remember that leadership is not always easy, even if everyone gets along and the organization is moving toward an agreed-upon vision. There will be problems; some you will be able to foresee and plan ahead for, whereas others will emerge unannounced. Regardless of the type of problem, leaders can mobilize people and resources to engage in creative problem solving to generate solutions to complex issues.

As we come full circle back to the notion of process-oriented leadership, it is important to remember the role of influence. Whether influencing a person or influencing a cause, leaders must be able to inspire, persuade, or model the behaviors needed to reach the goal at hand.

Finally, being able to engage in adaptive leadership is critical to addressing challenging and complex situations. Because one style of leadership does not fit all contexts, leaders must be able to effectively flex their style to ensure that they are making the soundest decisions and creating the most supportive and empowering environment for others to deal with crises when they emerge.

In reading this, you might be asking yourself, “Can I lead without being in a formal leadership position?” Absolutely. For one, you can lead from any level within a group. You can influence others and help shape group dynamics as the president of your organization, but you can also do so as a general member. You can solve problems by being the supervisor, but you can also come up with creative solutions as an everyday employee. You can engage in inclusive practices through your role on a formal committee, or you can simply share ideas to help make your social circle more inclusive. In this sense, leadership is about influence, rather than position.

You might also be asking yourself, “Do I need followers to be a leader?” Many scholars assert that a person can engage in self-leadership without followers. While leadership involves influence, that influence doesn’t always have to stem from direct interaction with another person. For example, picking up and properly disposing of trash on campus fosters stewardship. Over time, seeing a clean campus may inspire others to litter less or help with cleanup efforts themselves. In addition, signing a petition supporting a cause you care about fosters community engagement and advocacy. While you aren’t leading others to sign the petition, too, your advocacy potentially contributes to larger social change of collective leadership. So whether you are in a formal leadership role, serve as a general member of an organization, or simply act individually, you can be a leader.

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