Leadership

Question 1

What are three leadership competencies you possess? Please provide an
example of when you have used these to provide effective leadership during a
difficult time.

Answer 1

1. Social Intelligence (SI)
   Social intelligence is about our capacity to understand different social situations and dynamics. It also comprises our ability to operate effectively in these various social situations.
2. Conflict management
   Conflict management is linked to something that organizational theorist Fons Trompenaars calls the reconciliation competency. Reconciliation is, as Trompenaars puts it, ‘the art of combining’. Rather than making a choice between two seemingly opposite opinions, or asking people to compromise, you find a way to combine them.
3. Decision-making
   A good leader knows when to make a decision by themselves, when to consult their team members or peers and get their opinion on a certain matter, and, perhaps most importantly, when to take a step back and let others decide.
4. Interpersonal skills
   Interpersonal skills are also referred to as people skills or soft skills. Examples include, among others, active listening, giving and receiving feedback, (non) verbal communication, problem-solving skills, and teamwork.
5. Being a good coach & being trustworthy

Leaders need to be many different things to many different people. One of them is being a good coach, not just for those in their team but also for their peers.

This means, for example, knowing when to (gently) push someone to go outside their comfort zone, giving useful feedback when necessary, and helping people find their personal vision.

A word on trustworthiness is in order here, not just because trust is crucial for a successful coaching relationship. It’s also vital for leaders in building and maintaining strong relationships with the people they manage.

In the video below, Harvard Business School professor Frances Frei explains what the three component parts of trust are:

Being authentic – Put (very) simply this means be yourself, at all times.
Having rigor in your logic – This is about ensuring the quality of our logic and our ability to communicate it.
Empathy – Aiming our empathy directly towards the people we are interacting with, really listening to them and immersing ourselves in their perspectives.