Regardless of whether you lead a small team of three people or a team with dozens of employees spread across multiple locations, your leadership skills determine whether this team delivers the agreed services and works well together. But what do you actually mean by leadership skills? What leadership qualities are important? And which leadership qualities are particularly important in digital teams? Get an overview.
Definition: What does leadership competence mean?
The term leadership competence describes the entirety of skills, characteristics and qualities that are necessary to successfully and effectively lead and lead other people, employees or teams. A team leader needs e.g. B. Leadership competence and certain leadership qualities in order to manage and motivate a team so that set tasks are completed and goals are achieved in the specified time and quality.
A second definition of leadership competence concerns the job description under labor law, according to which the manager has the task of managing employees. Alternatively, this is also referred to as the authority to issue instructions. The manager can and must give instructions to employees, set goals and make decisions for them.
The most important leadership qualities
Leadership qualities can be trained and learned as well as being part of a person’s personal characteristics. Furthermore, they are not fixed, but are subject to change over time and working conditions. To get an overview of important leadership qualities, it helps to divide them into social and technical skills, because leadership qualities include both soft skills and hard skills.
Social skills (soft skills) include: E.g.:
Communication skills, the ability to take criticism and conflict, a sense of responsibility, self-leadership and being a role model, empathy and knowledge of people, reliability and integrity, charisma and the ability to motivate, resilience, assertiveness
Professional competence (hard skills) include, for example: E.g.:
Relevant specialist knowledge and know-how Analytical thinking Organizational skills Ability to acquire, structure and apply knowledge Practical experience Foresight and the ability to make future-effective decisions
What leadership qualities are needed for digital teams?
Our working world is becoming increasingly digital: many managers lead hybrid or remote teams. A large part of today’s office work takes place in a digital work environment. This has an impact on the leadership qualities that are in demand. Which leadership qualities are particularly important to successfully lead digital teams?
Digital communication: Managers of digital teams not only have to be able to communicate well. You must also be able to communicate well and effectively using digital means of communication such as email, instant messaging or video calls and be familiar with the special features of these digital communication channels.
Performance management and digital feedback: A positive error culture and regular feedback are also important for digital teams. Managers therefore need to know which feedback channels are suitable for digital feedback and what needs to be taken into account when providing digital feedback.
Motivation of digital teams: A motivated team is half the battle. Motivated employees deliver better performance and work better together. Knowing how to consistently motivate a hybrid or remote team is an important leadership skill.
Digital talent promotion: Managers of digital teams should be able to recognize talent even when they are physically separated and know how to support team members in home offices or mobile work.
Tool knowledge and digital project management: Especially when leading digital teams, managers should be technically competent and know which tools and platforms are necessary for daily work and project management and how they are used.
IT security and data protection: Digital teams rely heavily on cybersecurity. The issue of data protection and employee monitoring is also important. A basic knowledge and awareness of these issues are important leadership qualities.
Digital work culture and collaboration: Establishing a positive work culture in a digital environment can be challenging. What can replace the tea kitchen and lunch together? Managers must find meaningful team-building measures for their digital teams and their social interactions.
Digital crisis management: How can crisis situations be managed in virtual teams? Here, managers need skills and strategies to be able to make quick decisions.
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FAQs – Frequently asked questions about leadership skills
What characterizes leadership competence?
Leadership competence is the ability to effectively motivate and lead employees in order to achieve common goals and tasks. Leadership skills also include the necessary foresight and the ability to make future-effective decisions for a team that are in the interests of the company. In addition, leadership competence relates to the ability to resolve conflicts, promote talent, give feedback and act as a role model.
What skills does a good manager need?
A good manager should have both social skills and technical skills. Social skills include, among other things, qualities such as communication skills, a sense of responsibility, empathy and knowledge of human nature, role model function, charisma and the ability to motivate, assertiveness, resilience and the ability to deal with conflict. Professional competencies include, among other things, characteristics such as relevant specialist knowledge and know-how, practical experience, analytical thinking and organizational skills.
What are good leadership qualities?
Leadership qualities can be acquired as well as affect certain character traits of people. These include, for example: B. Knowledge of people and the ability to empathize, charisma and the ability to motivate, assertiveness, the ability to deal with conflict and criticism, a sense of responsibility and the ability to acquire, structure and apply knowledge.
What constitutes leadership qualities?
Leadership qualities mean that they enable a manager to effectively lead and motivate employees. Leadership qualities include both soft skills such as empathy, communication skills, assertiveness and a sense of responsibility as well as hard skills such as specialist knowledge, practical experience, analytical thinking and the ability to make future-effective decisions for the benefit of the company and team. Developing leadership skills often requires time, experience and continuous learning.