Feature : Mark of a Leader – Keep Improving Yourself

By Timothy A. Edward

In the realm of leadership, the pursuit of excellence is not a destination but a continuous journey.  A true leader is akin to a masterful sculptor, tirelessly chiseling away at their craft, always striving to refine and enhance their masterpiece.

New Skills

Individuals bring to the organisation their skills set, commitment and dedication. Learning new skills is an investment into your future.  New skills and knowledge allow you to do new things, tackle old things from a new perspective and get better results.

Imagine for a moment that your skills are like jars. Think how many jars do you have? At what level are they filled? Full means highly skilled. Determine in life to gather and fill as many skill and knowledge jars as possible.

As we navigate the ever-evolving landscape of leadership, here are some essential skills and knowledge areas that leaders should cultivate. Leaders should develop emotional intelligence, adaptability, inclusivity, communication, creative problem-solving, collaboration, resilience, and strategic thinking.

Postmortem

A great way to improve oneself is to set aside time after something has been completed to review what can be learned from that experience.  People call this practice by many names: Action Learning, Lessons Learned, Reflection Time or Learning Labs.

However, do not move forward until you have done a postmortem.  Young leaders face several challenges as they strive to develop some of the above-mentioned essential skills and knowledge. Some common strategies to overcome those challenges include seeking coaching and mentorship.  This will help us to balance our confidence with humility and maintain good work-life balance.

Be Patient

Improvements take time. It takes time to grow skills and knowledge. Patience is needed to learn and achieve high levels of mastery. Have you ever tried to grow a lawn? It takes time.  In the same way, skills and knowledge take time to grow.  If the individual is the soil, then seeds are the new knowledge and skills. Water stands for coaching and mentoring. Sun and rain represent the right environment and the right timing. A beautiful lawn is the picture of ultimate success.

As younger leaders and upcoming leaders, as we seek to acquire and develop essential skills and knowledge, here are some actionable steps that we can take.  Embrace continuous learning, solicit genuine feedback, increase your self-awareness, enhance networking, practice leading by example, say yes to adaptability, always try to communicate effectively, encourage inclusivity, think strategically, and ensure resilience for mental well-being.  Remember, mastery in all these areas takes time.

A Learning Mindset

The good news is we are living in an era when anyone can learn. Whether we are willing to learn is the question. Every day presents before us unique learning opportunities. We learn from books, from our interaction with people, schools, organisations, universities, workplaces, colleagues, TV, the internet, newspapers, movies and by thinking, just to mention a few.  However, learning should not stop until the day we die. We need to be committed to a life of learning.

Apply the New Learnings

When we do not apply the new skills and knowledge that we have learned, it is like we have never learned those things in the first place. Only when we begin to apply what was taught, do we learn what was meant. That is why, when referring to some occupations, we address them as practitioners. Learning is one thing.  But, if we do not practice, we will lose that skill.  As you acquire new skills, make a point of using them until you see a change in yourself.

The importance of applying new knowledge and skills to grow as a leader cannot be overemphasised because leadership skills are honed through practice and experience. Some specific leadership skills that may be important in the Sri-Lankan context are fostering visionary leadership, selflessness, ethical decision-making, and crisis management.  To see the results, leaders must be patient, embrace challenges as opportunities for growth, and commit to a lifelong learning mindset.