Do You Know Leadership is a Skill? Unlock Your Inner Leader Today!

Leadership is a skill.

What do you think?

Most people believe that leadership comes solely from experience. That's absolutely correct, and I agree with that statement. However, in today's dynamic world, you can achieve things much earlier. Traditionally, it might take 15-20 years of hard work to become a leader. That's true to an extent. But now, everything is at your fingertips. If you think you have to wait 15-20 years to become a leader, then you are not up to date, my friend. With that mindset, you can't grow quickly in your career or life.

If you are working in the corporate world, you can understand this quickly.

How long have you been working in the corporate world?

Have you observed what you’re getting for your role compared to what others are getting for the same role?

I'm pretty sure you'll find differences for the same role. If I talk about the startup world, these differences can be even more significant. One person might be earning 10 LPA, while another person in the same role might be earning 15 LPA or even 20 LPA. Some organizations use a band system where the differences are smaller, but they still exist.

Have you thought about why this happens?

If you haven't, let me tell you. These differences occur because of disparities in skill sets. A person earning more for the same role likely has an additional set of skills. It’s possible that both individuals have similar technical backgrounds, but the person earning more might excel in soft skills. They could be great negotiators, communicators, or possess strong leadership or sales skills. During an interview, you are essentially selling yourself. How much you "sell" yourself for depends on your skills. Some people may not have good sales skills and end up accepting lower salaries, while others can negotiate higher pay. This concept applies whether you’re in business, a job, or entrepreneurship.

If you didn’t understand, let me give you another example. Consider startups. If you've observed, most startup owners are young and running million or billion-dollar ventures. I've seen people with more experience working under younger startup owners, yet they still call these young owners "Sir" and follow their orders.

Have you ever thought about why this happens?

These young startup owners possess certain skill sets, such as a degree from a reputed institution, a good startup idea, and most importantly, the skill to secure funding from investors. On the other hand, they might lack the skills to build a good product or service, have little corporate experience, and lack leadership skills. They may not know how to build a positive-minded team, create a positive work environment, set new strategies, or market their product effectively. They need a team of skilled people. But the problem is they don’t know how to work with or treat experienced people. Simply having a startup idea or securing funding is not enough to run a successful startup, my friend.

In today’s world, everything is possible and learnable. The differences I mentioned above are just differences in skill sets. That’s why I say leadership is a skill that can be learned easily. You could become a leader after 15-20 years of learning leadership skills through various experiences. Based on your experience, you might get promoted to a leadership role over time, but this doesn’t happen for everyone. After a promotion, when asked to handle a team, some people struggle because they haven’t faced these challenges before.

I consider those who get promoted to leadership roles based on experience or expertise to be lucky, but not everyone is that fortunate. You may have a good set of skills and have worked for a long time, but you may not be promoted to a leadership role.

Why?

Because they think you are not ready for the role.

How can they judge that you are not capable enough for the role?

Who gave them the power to judge you?

The answer is you did. You are the one who gave them the power to think that you can’t do certain tasks or handle certain responsibilities.

Do you know why?

Because after getting a job, you stopped learning and growing. You stopped investing in yourself. That’s why you lack the confidence to take on responsibilities. That’s why they think you can’t do this or that. Nothing is impossible in this world. You can also become a leader because everyone has a leadership style, and everyone is born a leader. But the problem is that we don’t understand ourselves.

We learn every minute, every day, every week, every month, and every year, and this cycle continues throughout our lives. From my observations, those who are always ready to learn grow faster in their careers and in life. If you truly want to grow, never stop learning and always be open to new ideas. Otherwise, your growth will be limited.

When I understood this concept of growth, I began learning everything, regardless of whether it was immediately useful to me. Even if it isn’t useful today, it may be beneficial at some point in your life.

Do you think writing is a skills?

I agree with this statement too. Take, for example, the article you’re reading now—writing is a skill I’ve developed in just a year and a half. I’m not claiming to be a perfect writer, but I can confidently say that I’m improving every day. If you compare my writing now to how it was a year and a half ago, you’ll see a significant difference.

Being eager to learn, without assuming you’re the best or that you know everything, is also a leadership quality. Everyone makes mistakes—no one is perfect, and that’s something I strongly believe and live by. I’m always ready to learn, even from children. In fact, I’ve learned video editing and many other things from my own child.

Who are we, and what can we do?

To grow in our careers or life, we first need to understand ourselves, our abilities, and our capabilities. If you have been working in the same role for a long time, it means you are not in the right place. You are not doing justice to yourself. You are not learning or growing. You are just receiving a monthly salary and staying in your comfort zone.

Then how can you expect that a miracle will happen and someone will come and tell you, "Get up and become a leader. From today onward, you will handle this team."

This is not going to happen, my friend.

Never.

Everyone is a leader by birth. But you have to understand what kind of leader you are and start behaving like a leader. Sometimes we have to seize opportunities; they are not always given. But to do this, you need confidence and courage. To gain this confidence and courage, you either have to wait 15-20 years or learn these skills if you want to become a leader. You need to understand your leadership qualities.

I'm pretty sure you have many leadership qualities within yourself. If you don’t have all of these qualities, that’s okay; don’t worry. If you don’t have enough leadership qualities, you need to learn them. Everything is learnable if you have a coach or mentor. They can guide you to a path where you can learn and sharpen your leadership skills.

Let me ask you a few questions:

Have you ever led a team in your organization?

If yes, what qualities did you demonstrate as a leader?

If no, how did you feel being led by others?

What challenges did you face in your organization that you can apply to your career or life?

What lessons can you draw from those experiences?

How do you see your leadership style evolving as you progress in your career or life?

Answer these questions honestly to yourself, and you’ll see the changes in your thought process and overall mindset. You will start taking responsibility and behaving like a leader.

These changes will automatically help you find the leader within yourself.

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I hope you liked reading this article.

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