Common Improvement Areas for Leaders in the Workplace
Introduction
Here’s something I talk to my coaching clients all the time: leadership is a journey.
If you’re in a new leadership position, you might be feeling some imposter syndrome. You might be questioning whether you have what it takes, or you might be feeling unsure about what to prioritize. Keep in mind that your skills have gotten you this far. Trust yourself and accept that there’s always room for improvement—even for the best leaders. Cultivate a growth mindset and focus on what you can achieve.
In this blog, we’ll explore some common areas that you might give extra attention as you embark on your leadership journey. These are broad, so pick and choose what applies to you. Maybe you’re a great strategic thinker, but you could beef up your communication skills. Maybe you’re naturally personable and connect easily with others, but find yourself running out of time in the days or weeks.
Whoever you are, and whatever your skills, I think you’ll find a good idea or two below to get your leadership journey off on the right foot.
These insights are pulled from my own real-world experience as a Chief of Staff, the experiences of my coaching clients in executive leadership roles, my mentors and colleagues, and every book and podcast I’ve gobbled up along the way.
Let’s begin!
Cognitive Skills
Let’s start with your thinky, brainy skills—your ability to prioritize, organize, or think big.
Strategic Thinking
Transformational leaders must have a clear vision and the ability to think strategically. Depending on your background, this can be a big shift! You might have focused on one area or one process before. Now, what you’re familiar with is just one piece of the larger puzzle.
New leaders should develop their strategic thinking skills by analyzing situations from a broader perspective. Learn about what’s going on next to, above, and below what you’re familiar with to build out your perspective. The more you know, the better you’ll be able to make decisions that align with the goals for your team, department, and organization as a whole.
With that broader perspective, ask yourself where you want to go. What are your long-term goals for your team or organization? Spend some time on this. Mull it over and workshop it with your colleagues. When you’re ready to share your strategic vision, make sure it’s something clear and precise that will help everyone make decisions.
A clear direction and a well-thought-out plan can help everyone drive towards success.
Time Management
Time management is a critical part of effective leadership. You’ve got a multitude of responsibilities and tasks on your plate. Managing your time properly not only ensures that important tasks are completed promptly but also sets a good example for the team.
As a new leader, you might be used to doing “everything” by yourself. Part of your learning curve will be figuring out how much of “everything” is even possible for you anymore—let alone realistic. Prepare to prioritize and delegate. I bet you’ve got some great managers or untapped talent on your team. Give them stuff to do! And be prepared to let people do it their way.
This is where strategic thinking can come into play. If you know what’s important and what goals you’re working toward, figure out what your highest value activities are. Spend your time on those. As for your team, define the “what” or the end goal, and let them figure out the “how.”
Organizational Skills & Internal Processes
Organizational skills go hand-in-hand with time management. Not only do you need to manage your own time, you’re now managing other people’s time as well as the business’s resources to achieve certain goals.
You’ll need to understand who is doing what, as well as when and how they’re doing it (in general terms—no need to get in the weeds). How does it all fit together, and how does it achieve (or...not achieve...) the organization’s goals? Use these questions to understand and monitor workflows—and be prepared to make adjustments.
What sort of adjustments can you make? Maybe there are industry best practices that your team is struggling to meet. Consider implementing a new technology or tool. Maybe there’s a bump or a hiccup in Team A’s process that’s frustrating Team B. Look for ways to smooth things over and streamline that workflow. Is it a communication problem? Unclear expectations? Lack of resources? Improper tools? Something else?
Your internal processes should also be responsive to external conditions. What’s going on in your market or industry? How are your competitors or your clients changing?
Critical Thinking
Your day-to-day will involve a lot of decision making. How do you know what the right decision is? Nobody gets it right 100% of the time, but you can improve your hit rate with a little critical thought.
What is critical thinking? It’s taking a step back to evaluate and analyze a given situation as objectively as possible. Be critical. Take a look at the bigger picture. What is the situation? Why is it happening? What are my goals? (There’s that strategic thinking skill again...)
In evaluating a situation, think about what kind of information or perspectives you’ve got right now. Ask yourself: what perspectives should I consider in making this decision? What is my own perspective or bias on the situation? What perspectives am I missing, and how do I get them? So-and-so is really loud about this...but does that mean their perspective matters? Who is closest to the information or situation?
Putting questions like these into practice is a surefire way to hone your critical thinking skills.
Also consider consulting with more-experienced mentors or colleagues. You might find they’ve been in the same spot before. Use their experience to your advantage!
Lastly, be sure to set an example for your teams and show them how to think critically, too. Foster a culture of critical thinking to encourage your teams to approach problems from different angles and come up with creative solutions. You shouldn’t be the only one doing the critical thinking around here!
Innovative Thinking
Critical thinking can also lead to innovative thinking. Taking the time to evaluate what’s working—and what isn’t—is the foundation for figuring out better or new ways of doing things.
As a new leader, cultivate a culture of creativity and encourage your team members to think outside the box. Be open to new ideas and willing to take a risk. This kind of innovative thinking that can push your business toward and beyond its goals only happens if you’ve got a collaborative, open culture. Make sure your team isn’t afraid to sound stupid or to toss out a half- or quarter-baked idea. (I’ve had my share over the years!)
Lead by example here and be honest. Phrases like, “Okay, this might sound weird, but...” or, “Here’s a half-baked idea, hear me out...” are your friend. Build trust in your team. Make room for the stupid and weird. Those are the ideas that might spark new thinking in a chain reaction. Maybe where you end up is far, far away from where you began—and that’s a good thing! Push yourself and your team to think differently and you’ll find some gems along the way.
And of course, recognize and reward your innovative thinkers for their contribution. They’ll feel appreciated and encouraged to keep pushing the boundaries—and they’ll inspire others to do the same.
Emotional Skills
It can be so easy to overlook the so-called soft skills—especially as a new leader. Don’t lose sight of the personal and emotional side of the business. The big picture and the metrics are important. But get lost in them and your team is spending half their day looking for new jobs. Now that will really kill your productivity!
Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence is going to help you build a foundation for the rest of the skills in this section. Emotional intelligence is about understanding and managing your own emotions, as well as those of others. It can help you handle conflicts, stay calm under pressure, motivate your team, and make good decisions informed by empathy and understanding.
Flexing your emotional muscles may feel unfamiliar. Start by paying attention to yourself. When you get new information, how does it make you feel? Are you letting your emotions get the better of you in meetings when the stakes are high? Are you nervous, scared, angry? How do these strong emotions affect the way you show up at work and for the teams you serve as a leader?
Take the time to learn about yourself—knowledge is power! Depending on your personal and professional needs, consider working with a coach (hi!) or other professional to work through questions like these.
Pay attention to the needs and emotional states of your colleagues and staff, too. What motivates them? How do they react in stressful situations? Does one colleague shut down in a huff, while another blows up like a volcano? Observe and learn from what you see. Use that information in the future to keep things running smoothly, or to recover when things inevitably do go off the rails.
Communication Skills
I’m putting communication skills near the top of this section because they straddle the line between “cognitive” and “emotional.”
Knowing “what” you want to say—the content of your message is cognitive. Deciding “how” you want to say it (and how you want it to be received) requires a mix of both cognitive and emotional understanding. Take a tip from a writer: know your audience!
Effective communication is a cornerstone of good leadership. New business leaders must be able to convey their ideas, expectations, and vision clearly to their team members.
You also need to be a good listener. Communication is a two-way street! Open and transparent communication fosters trust—one of the keys to an innovative environment. Be approachable and willing to listen. Address issues promptly. Provide regular updates to keep everyone informed. When you listen to your team, you’ll be able to make better-informed decisions.
Expect to apply your communication skills in every channel. Whether you’re meeting with the board, checking in with your team, composing an email to an external partner, or shooting off a quick message in Slack, you’ll have plenty of opportunity to practice good communication.
There will be times where you think you’re being crystal clear...but your meaning gets lost anyway. Keep an eye out for this and try to learn from it. Did you make assumptions about what your audience knew? Did you deliver too little or too much information? Were you missing out on the team’s emotional state, and your tone hit the wrong note? Clarify, move on, and try again next time.
To improve your communication skills, consider workshops, online courses, and books that focus on effective communication and active listening. One of my personal favorites is Kim Scott’s Radical Candor.
Interpersonal Skills & Building Relationships
As a new leader, strong relationships with your team are your bread and butter. Did you like all that stuff we talked about above? The critical thinking, the open communication and trust, the innovative and collaborative team? None of it’s going to happen without relationships.
Invest the time it takes to get to know your team and your colleagues. Get to know them on a personal level (while respecting their boundaries, of course.) Who are they and how did they get where they are today? What do they value and what motivates them? Don’t make it all about work. Make it about them. Really take the time to listen and ask good questions!
It may seem like a side quest, but building this kind of rapport can go a long way toward helping you achieve your main quest—your strategic vision! When you know people you can trust them more easily, and they’ll trust you too.
Of course, building relationships takes time. It won’t happen overnight. You need to tend to your garden if you want it to grow! Keep up those relationships and you’ll be reaping the benefits for years to come.
Creating a Positive Work Environment
Same deal here. Creating a positive work environment will reward you handsomely. Employee engagement is the foundation for achieving your organization’s strategic goals. Yet new leaders can sometimes undervalue this—until it’s too late! Spend as much time on this as you’d spend on cooking up your strategic vision. It’s that important.
We’ve covered some of these same ideas above, but this is all about fostering trust, honesty, and valuing the contributions made by your team. It’s about creating an environment that welcomes different perspectives and ways of thinking.
Expand on those relationships you’ve built and turn them into a culture of support, respect, and growth. Use those emotional intelligence skills to see how your team works together or how they clash, and make adjustments. Make sure that your team has the resources and support they need.
A good way to do this is to talk the talk. Communicate the values you’d like to see in the workplace with your team. But the best way is to walk the walk. As a leader, you set the tone. Lead by example and embody kindness, patience, and respect in your day-to-day interactions. This can be hard work, and changes don’t happen overnight. But in the long run it will pay off with an engaged, motivated staff that works together and knows how to get over the bumps along the way.
Conflict Resolution
Conflicts are inevitable. And while it can be tempting to stick your fingers in your ear and sing “LALALALA,” you’ll probably just make things worse by doing so.
As a new leader, expect to find yourself in the position of mediator. Conflict resolution isn’t easy. Emotions are running high, and nobody’s happy. Time to tap into that emotional intelligence. Do your best to address conflicts promptly and fairly. Be a facilitator here and hear out both sides. Look for win-win scenarios, or use your authority to make a decision.
Do yourself a favor, and spend time learning effective conflict resolution strategies. Learning from others is a great way to avoid learning things the hard way. In my own experience, I learned a ton from Conflict Resolution Playbook by Jeremy Pollack.
Addressing conflicts promptly and fairly will help you maintain that positive environment you’re working so hard on. Conflicts can also be easier to manage if team members feel comfortable raising and discussing their concerns openly. Otherwise, issues will fester silently, preventing you from getting in front of them until they blow up like a star gone supernova. (Okay, that was a little dramatic, but you get the picture!)
Conflicts are inevitable. Don’t avoid them! Use them as opportunities for learning and growth. It’s been attributed to a lot of people over the years, but...never let a good crisis go to waste. Learning conflict resolution skills will help you and your team learn and grow together.
“You” Skills
New leaders have a tendency to try to please everybody, and be and do everything. They get so caught up they can forget about themselves. Don’t do this! Invest in yourself so you can show up for your team a little better every day.
Professional Development
Don’t forget about yourself!
Leadership isn’t easy. New leaders, especially, can face a steep learning curve. Give yourself a boost by committing to lifelong learning. Seek out mentors who can help show you the way. Attend leadership seminars or workshops to hear from experts and peers. Read books on leadership (see here for my top leadership books for 2023.) Queue up a leadership podcast for your commute or your workout.
Demonstrate the value of working on yourself to your team. If they see you doing it, they’ll take up the challenge themselves.
Leadership Style
The first time you step into a leadership role, it’s likely you won’t have a very well-defined leadership style. That’s okay! You’ll figure it out over time—but do be sure to figure out what kind of leader you want to be.
Play to your strengths here.
Maybe you have a certain idea of what a leader should be. Take a step back and ask yourself: does that idea match my own skills and my own style? Don’t force yourself into a box and try to be something you’re not. Develop a leadership style that’s personal and natural to you.
Be flexible with yourself and try out some different leadership styles situationally. There may be times that call for a confident leader who’s got all the answers, while other situations are better suited for a leader that’s honest and open to new ideas. Put on a transformational leader persona from time to time to inspire your team and get them fired up about your vision.
By trying on different styles, you’ll develop a good mix that suits you in any situation.
Strong Leadership Qualities
As you work on your own leadership style, consider some of the qualities of great leaders—integrity, resilience, adaptability, humility, and more.
Integrity keeps you honest and accountable to the teams you serve as a leader.
Resilience will help you navigate challenges and setbacks.
Adaptability helps you embrace change and lead your teams through it effectively. Humility fosters an environment where leaders acknowledge their own limitations and appreciate the contributions of their team members.
Consider what other qualities you value in a leader—and what your team needs.
Employee Performance and Development
As a new leader, you might not have much experience focusing on other people’s development. But working with your direct reports and their team members to identify personal development plans is an essential part of your new role.
New leaders should learn how to encourage growth in their team, both through ongoing conversations and effective performance reviews. A formal review has its benefits, but don’t save it all up for a once a year discussion. If someone is doing well, or if they slipped up, let them know sooner than later. Use these tools to provide constructive feedback, set clear goals, and point out opportunities for growth.
Conclusion
Leadership isn’t easy, but it’s some of the most rewarding, best work you can find. Your new leadership role is a great opportunity to work on some new skills. As we explored above, there are so many different ways to up your leadership abilities. Take the time to identify some key areas of improvement, and you’re well on your way to becoming a successful leader.
About The Author
Emily Sander is an ICF-certified leadership coach with more than 15 years of experience in the business world and the author of Hacking Executive Leadership. She’s been featured in several print publications, online articles, and podcasts, including CEO Today Magazine, Leading to Fulfillment, and Leadership Powered by Common Sense.
Emily has a passion for helping business leaders reach their full potential. Go here to read her story from seasoned executive to knowledgeable coach. If you want to send Emily a quick message, then visit her contact page here.