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Skill Development: Leadership Skill

"Now that I'm the BOSS"

"She lacks staff management and relationship skill. Gosh! She knows it all" A former colleague of mine was quizzing me on my reason for leaving a job. While I tried to respond, she was quick to interrupt with her idea of the reason most staff (including herself) had left the firm. I chuckled.

However, this response appears to have gotten engraved in my mind. Just as I quit my job, I discovered a job opportunity which had a great deal of leadership attached to it. For someone from a purely finance background, playing with figures on Excel and the like had been more of my forte. But am I worried? NO. There is one definition of leadership that has made me look forward to this opportunity to lead;

Leadership is a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective and directs the organisation in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent

You may have noticed from the description of leadership above that leadership embodies most of the other skills on the list of  Employability Skills (that is, communication, team work, problem solving etc)

What makes a Good Leader?

Integrity is the integration of outward actions and inner values. A person of integrity is the same on the outside and on the inside. Such an individual can be trusted because he or she never veers from inner values, even when it might be expeditious to do so. A leader must have the trust of followers and therefore must display integrity.

Honest dealings, predictable reactions, well-controlled emotions, and an absence of tantrums and harsh outbursts are all signs of integrity. A leader who is centred in integrity will be more approachable by followers.

 

Dedication means spending whatever time or energy is necessary to accomplish the task at hand. A leader inspires dedication by example, doing whatever it takes to complete the next step toward the vision. By setting an excellent example, leaders can show followers that there are no nine-to-five jobs on the team, only opportunities to achieve something great.

 

Magnanimity means giving credit where it is due. A magnanimous leader ensures that credit for successes is spread as widely as possible throughout the company. Conversely, a good leader takes personal responsibility for failures. This sort of reverse magnanimity helps other people feel good about themselves and draws the team closer together. To spread the fame and take the blame is a hallmark of effective leadership.

Leaders with humility recognise that they are no better or worse than other members of the team. A humble leader is not self-effacing but rather tries to elevate everyone. Leaders with humility also understand that their status does not make them a god. Mahatma Gandhi is a role model for Indian leaders, and he pursued a "follower-centric" leadership role.

 

Openness means being able to listen to new ideas, even if they do not conform to the usual way of thinking. Good leaders are able to suspend judgement while listening to others' ideas, as well as accept new ways of doing things that someone else thought of. Openness builds mutual respect and trust between leaders and followers, and it also keeps the team well supplied with new ideas that can further its vision.

 

Creativity is the ability to think differently, to get outside of the box that constrains solutions. Creativity gives leaders the ability to see things that others have not seen and thus lead followers in new directions. The most important question that a leader can ask is, "What if … ?" Possibly the worst thing a leader can say is, "I know this is a dumb question ... "

 

Fairness means dealing with others consistently and justly. A leader must check all the facts and hear everyone out before passing judgement. He or she must avoid leaping to conclusions based on incomplete evidence. When people feel they that are being treated fairly, they reward a leader with loyalty and dedication.

 

Assertiveness is not the same as aggressiveness. Rather, it is the ability to clearly state what one expects so that there will be no misunderstandings. A leader must be assertive to get the desired results. Along with assertiveness comes the responsibility to clearly understand what followers expect from their leader.

Many leaders have difficulty striking the right amount of assertiveness, according to a study in the February 2007 issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, published by the APA (American Psychological Association). It seems that being underassertive or overassertive may be the most common weakness among aspiring leaders.

A sense of humour is vital to relieve tension and boredom, as well as to defuse hostility. Effective leaders know how to use humour to energise followers. Humour is a form of power that provides some control over the work environment. And simply put, humour fosters good camaraderie.

Intrinsic traits such as intelligence, good looks, height and so on are not necessary to become a leader. Anyone can cultivate the proper leadership traits.

Do you have it in you to be a good leader? Can you inspire people around you to achive set objective?

List curled from The Top 10 Leadership Qualities

RELATED POSTS

Skill Development: Team Work
Skill Development: Communication Skill
Skill Development: Managing Teams

Skill Development: Employability Skill

National Jobs Fair: Lagos

Access Nigeria in collaboration with the World Bank have concluded arrangement for a two (2) day National Jobs Fair. The fair commences on Thursday, September 13, 2012 at the National Theater, Iganmu, Lagos.

The event will serve as a platform for organizations and potential employers to recruit young, skilled and competent employees into their workforce.

Professional of The Week: A Lawyer

This week, we’re featuring a Lawyer as the "Professional of The Week”. It was yet another enlightening interview and I encourage every professional or budding professional out there to read on.

Name: Yakubu Philemon

Location: Abuja

Profession: Law

e-Business Review: Konga

Konga. Do you know Konga? I got drawn to this site following the 'pleasant noise' about Konga's delivery time.  What I  heard in very simple terms was that Konga delivers fast. 

Following my experience shopping online on a different Nigerian e-business portal

I decided to check Konga for myself. Mind you, Konga currently delivers within Lagos only so I had to route my delivery to a Lagos address just to get a first hand experience of shopping on the site. Here is my review of www.konga.com

So, how good is Konga.com?

Job Interview Questions & Tips: Why are You Interested In This Position?

In my post on Tell Me About Yourself, I stated that an understanding of the purpose of questions asked is very important to being successful at interviews. A recruiter will assess your interest in a position to know SEVERAL things about you. These include;

• Your understanding of the position and its responsibilities
• How your profile (mix of skills and work experiences etc)  fit the position
• Does this role fit into your overall career plan/path

Essentially, to answer the "Why are You Interested in This Position" interview question, you need to draw a link between the core responsibilities of the position, your skills and your career path.

NOW RECRUITING: Sales & Relationship Managers for a Real Estate Advertising Website

A real estate advertising website has vacancies for Sales & Relationship Managers. Applicants MUST be resident in Abuja, FCT.

Responsibilities

• Deriving new business sales for the website
• Selling online advertising space to local estate agents
• Managing existing clients and selling them additional services

NOW RECRUITING: Customer Service Officer / Admin Assistant for a Real Estate Advertising Website

A real estate advertising website has a vacancy for a Customer Service Officer / Admin Assistant. Applicants MUST be resident in Abuja, FCT.

Responsibilities

• Creating user accounts for newly signed up customers.
• Listing of the newly signed up customers bulletins
• Sending welcome email, sms texts to newly signed up customers with information on their login details.
• Assist with maintaining confidential records and files, and handle confidential correspondence and records.
• Open, sort and distribute mail.
• Answer phone, screen and place calls, refer callers to appropriate parties.
• Maintain and update mailing lists.
• Provide friendly, responsive and a professional level of customer services to existing and new clients
• Handle customer queries, sell the Company’s services, , basic training and resolve issues working with the technical and sales teams
• Provide basic office admin duties

NOW RECRUITING: Finance & Admin Officer for a Real Estate Advertising Website

A real estate advertising website has a vacancy for a Finance & Admin Officer. Applicants MUST be resident in Abuja, FCT.

Finance Responsibilities

• Maintain accounting records
• Prepare, process, and verify invoices, bills, cheques and receipts.
• Maintain and report expense account activity
• Process payroll records.
• Maintain records of cash receipts and disbursements.
• Record and verify entries or accounts, journals, logs, and general ledgers.
• Balance accounts and reconcile statements
• Taking ownership of all accounting and finance matters – reporting to CEO
• Perform daily accounting / financial controlling
• Preparation of regular and ad-hoc management reports
• Preparation of budgets and financial forecasts
• Ensure compliance with financial matters (e.g. tax, pension)
• Calculating and processing monthly payroll
• Payment of bills
• Liaise with external parties – auditors, banks, etc.
• Assist in month end closing
• Prepare monthly accounting statements and reports
• Responsible for Accounts Receivables (AR) functions
• Chase payment
• Prepare and reconcile general bank statements
• Ensure transactions are properly recorded and entered into the computerized accounting system

Covering Letter: How to Write One

A covering letter is a document that summarizes you skills, abilities (basically everything you have on your CV). A good covering letter should be restricted to a single A4 page. Anything longer than one page for this purpose can hardly be considered a summary.

An effective covering letter is brief, tailored to fit the job being applied for and states why you are interested in and suitable for the position.

Writing an Effective Covering Letter

Before you send your application/covering letter, ensure you have read the requirements of the job you are applying for. Some job adverts require you to quote reference codes, preferred work location or availability.

The following pointers will guide the content of your covering letter;