Evaluating Competencies to Enhance Your Leadership Skills

Over the past few years, business leaders have certainly faced a number of challenges, from adapting to managing a remote workforce, to mobilizing teams amidst uncertainties related to the pandemic, war and global talent shortage to name a few. 

Being a manager is no longer just about assigning work and expecting it to get done. In today’s complex, fast-paced work environment, leaders must have the ability to rapidly adapt to change, resolve conflict quickly and effectively and find growth opportunities amidst the challenging social-economic realities of our time. 

For novel or aspiring managers, this may feel like an insurmountable test of abilities, but it doesn’t have to be. 

What’s Holding Me Back?

How many workers who aspire to growth and career advancement have asked that question? 

A simple online search will present you with hundreds of articles offering lists upon lists of the things, thoughts and actions you might be doing wrong that prevent you from advancing in your professional and personal life. 

However, let us let you in on a little secret: all those lists amount to one invariable truth: lack of self-awareness is at the core of all other listed reasons. 

Lack of self-awareness causes some people to doubt themselves and undervalue their skills or some others to believe they have all the knowledge and skills required to do a job, when, in fact, they might not be ready yet. This confusion creates an inability to set specific and achievable goals, often resulting in frustration, tiredness, and, eventually, a lack of fulfillment.

However, through self-awareness, people are able to boost their natural strengths while becoming fully conscious of the skills and competencies they need to work on. 

How to evaluate your competencies

People sometimes want to advance in their careers, but they don’t always know why or what they need to do to achieve their goals. So if you feel you should take on a leadership role in your organization or already have a managerial position, but are looking to improve your leadership skills, ask yourself what can I bring to my team? 

We often make an incorrect estimation of our value-add as a contributing team member or leader in the organization, however, by carefully evaluating our skill sets, we can improve our leadership methods and achieve positive results both personally and professionally. 

Here are 3 simple steps to get you started:

1. Make a list of your soft and hard skills

Make a list of all the skills you have learned from education, training and on the job experience, as well as the transferable skills you have gained through life experiences and personal development. 

2. Measure your abilities with an aptitude test

Aptitude tests are tools that can help you measure whether or not you need to fine tune certain skills. Many of such tests are available online. You can access the free Impact-Pro tool here. Access the Sphere of Excellence

3. Ask your coworkers and bosses for feedback

It is often difficult for some people to discern how others see them. Some people may tend to underestimate their value-add in a team, while others overestimate it. Managers, supervisors and colleagues are well-placed to discuss your competencies and provide valuable input on the areas you might need to improve.

Once you have a clear understanding of what you are already bringing to the table and what skills you need to sharpen, you can begin to uncover your true potential as an emerging leader.

This, combined with executive leadership training, will encourage you to develop your own leadership style and grow as a leader. Soon you will find yourself contributing measurable results to your organization and flourishing in your personal and professional relationships.

So, are you ready to ignite the leader in you? Then go ahead and ask yourself, what can I bring to my team?