Most people want to advance in their careers once they have the basics covered. In the beginning, it is about developing ability and honing specific skills. Then there comes the point where you need to take on a leadership role to expand your horizons. That is the turning point where you need to focus on how to build leadership skills more than technical skills.

Some are natural-born leaders; however, anyone can develop leadership skills. If you want to expand your career horizons, you need to develop these skills to take you to the next level.

Exercise discipline

Discipline is required of you to accomplish any goal. Even if you have the best intentions, it’s worthless without the discipline to take action. Authority and leadership are shown through being consistent in your actions, small or large.

Expand your Responsibility

You don’t have to overextend yourself and take on more than is humanely possible, but you need to take on more than what is simply in your current job description. Step out of your comfort zone and take on a side project that falls outside your primary knowledge base so you can learn a new skill. This will show that you are willing to take the initiative.

Don’t be Afraid to Follow

Being a good leader is also about letting go of the reins and allowing others to have an opinion or different idea without you being personally threatened. Having an open mind and allowing others to have a voice isn’t always easy. But learning to value and respect others on your team builds reciprocal respect, and they will be willing to step up to the plate when you need them.

Enhance Situational Awareness

A good leader can see the bigger picture and anticipate challenges before they occur. The capability to foresee potential problems on projects that have tight deadlines is invaluable. This means you must develop the skill of being proactive and anticipating what is coming so your team is ready to prevent a potential disaster. It also allows you to recognise opportunities for the benefit of the team and organisation.

Motivate Others

Great leaders can motivate and inspire others. Everyone has a loss of passion or ambition at times, but a true leader inspires and energises others to collaborate on projects or with other team members to get a job done whether it is through noticing what others need, having the ear to listen to others’ concerns, acknowledging their abilities, or empowering them to be more involved. Knowing when and how to reward people for their contribution fuels motivation to continue working hard to achieve results.

Continuous Learning

The most reliable path to being a good leader is learning new things and putting them into action. It sharpens the mind and freshens your skill level to prime you for any oncoming challenges. Study leaders you admire, not only in your profession but in life. Practice how they communicate and the qualities they exude. You don’t have to be exactly like them, but you can incorporate some of their traits into your own leadership style.

Learn to Delegate

You are not and will never be the best at everything. You need to learn some self-restraint and understand you don’t need to micromanage everything. The sooner you realise this fact, the easier life will become. Learning to delegate tasks to other people or services who have the appropriate skill set frees up your time and empowers others to achieve and succeed on their own terms. For delegation to work for you and the other person, you need to clarify roles and responsibilities; otherwise, it can go sideways quickly.

Understand Conflict Resolution

This is a learnt skill and needs to be practised during uncomfortable times. Not everyone is going to get on in the workplace. Interpersonal conflict happens in all jobs. Learning how to resolve disputes with confidence effectively helps yourself and others work to their best ability.

Ignoring conflict, whether with you or between other people, will only make the situation fester into something that will eventually be out of control. Even if you are not the team leader, understanding conflict resolution by being clear and transparent with your communication takes courage. It is not always easy to listen to other people’s grievances. But letting them have a voice and attempting to find a resolution is better than the alternative for everyone.

Up Your Communication Skills

This isn’t always about talking…but of course, it can be. Particularly if you need to present, write compelling and engaging copy or communicate regularly with others in your job. But it also incorporates listening. Listening to suggestions, ideas, and constructive criticism. Good listeners know when to speak when to be silent, and how to pick up on non-verbal cues such as body language. Listening to others helps you understand what can and can’t be done.

Developing your leadership skills is essential to advancing your career or your business. But leadership is more than overseeing a team of people. It is about inspiring others to take the best action so that everyone can achieve success.