How Leaders Overestimate Their Own Skills and Mindsets
Jacob Morgan
5x Best-Selling Author, Futurist, & Keynote Speaker. Founder of Future Of Work Leaders (Global CHRO Community). Focused on Leadership, The Future of Work, & Employee Experience
Leadership is not just about titles or positions. It is about cultivating essential skills and mindsets to inspire, motivate, and empower employees towards success. Unfortunately, based on a survey conducted by LinkedIn and a leadership expert, many managers and executives have a considerable gap in perception regarding their leadership skills and mindsets. In this article, we will dive deeper into the importance of bridging this gap and what leaders can do to improve their leadership skills.
Defining Leadership: The Importance of Filters
Leadership is a subjective term that can vary from one organization to another. Defining what leadership means and who can be considered a leader is crucial in setting the filters for promoting leaders within an organization. It is essential to ensure that the filters set by the company align with the values and principles of effective leadership.
Identifying Essential Skills and Mindsets
The survey conducted by LinkedIn and the leadership expert identified nine essential skills and mindsets that all leaders should possess: visionary, servant, coach, mentor, listener, communicator, challenger, problem-solver, and explorer. However, the gap in perception between managers and employees revealed that not all leaders are practicing these skills and mindsets effectively.
Practicing Leadership Skills Daily
Improving leadership skills is not a one-time activity but a continuous effort. Leaders can begin by reflecting on their current leadership skills and having discussions with their teams about their perceptions of their leadership. Leaders can also commit to improving their skills by practicing small actions daily, such as giving constructive feedback, showing gratitude, and learning something new daily.
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Avoiding a Typical Day
Leaders should avoid having a typical day to keep themselves engaged and open to fresh ideas and perspectives. Leaders can mix up their daily routines by exploring new projects or being with different teams, attending different meetings, or spending time learning about new things in their space.
Closing the Gap
Leadership is not only about what leaders think of their skills, but it is also about how employees perceive their leaders' skills. Leaders should work on closing the gap in perception by practicing effective leadership skills daily, keeping an open mind, and being receptive to feedback from their employees.
In conclusion, perception matters in leadership. Leaders must ensure that their perception of their skills aligns with their employees' perception of their skills. By bridging this gap in perception, leaders can create an environment that promotes growth, engagement, and success.
I talk about this more in the video below which was taken from one of my keynotes.
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1 年Excellent Jacob Morgan Thank you for sharing important note on critical aspect of business success
Spot on, excellent message
Managing Consultant @Luckyway Global Consulting LLC | ServiceNow Community Rising Star '24 | Deloitte + Accenture AFS Alum| CSA | CAD | 4 x CIS - APM, ITSM, ITSMPro, ITSMPro+, CSM, CSMPro, CSMPro+, HR, HRPro, HRPro+ |
1 年Great share and message Jacob Morgan.
Employee Retention Specialist: Helping organizations improve employee retention | Bottom-Up approach to cultivate rewarding work experiences, stronger working relationships and trust | Attractive Benefits/ROI's |
1 年Thanks Jacob, Great information. I suspect part of this is being human as we all (employee, manager, senior executive..) think we sometimes are better than we actually are at some skills and competencies. YET at the same time it points to a need. Given that leadership is so critical to business success on many levels- performance, employee retention...this data shows there is room for improvement. I would suggest there are two keys to correcting these challenges. Managers, an senior leaders, have to know what skill sets are important and need to be develop and then get those abilities or knowledge through training or coaching and lastly somehow they need a process that helps them actively use these skill sets regularly so they become habits and part of their behavior. This should help close the gap. Also really liked your idea that companies should define what leadership is and what is expected of leaders- motivate high performance, help retain talent.. Also like the idea of 1% improvement every day. Lastly great story to finish with. Thanks for sharing.