Fun Ways to Fill Leadership Skills Gap

With two thirds of UK organisations suffering from a shortage of highly effective leaders *, lack of interest and reluctance from employees is proving the biggest barrier to delivering the required improvements. According to national leadership organisation, JCI UK, this deficit in leadership skills needs to be addressed by adopting innovative ways of developing skills that appeal to individuals.

According to JCI UK, part of the global leadership organisation, Junior Chamber International (JCI), leadership development training needs to combine both theory and practical experience in order for companies to develop individuals who are capable of leading during a period of change.

Companies such as GE, who invest in leadership development training, are reaping the rewards of such investment through the financial performance of the company. If leaders are not flexible, change will not happen, or the company will move on.

JCI UK says that individuals need to take a more pro-active role in their own development, rather than waiting for their employer to offer training. Julia Lea, JCI UKís National President, explains: Skills learnt in an external environment can be transferred back into the workplace, helping proactive leaders to stand apart from the crowd. There are many enjoyable ways to develop your leadership skills, and the confidence to take risks and make hard decisions can be learned on-the-job or by undertaking projects within a variety of external environments.

A large part of the success of JCI UK is its social aspect and the support members receive from their peers - the organisation offers training and social events both regionally and nationally, creating a supportive and enjoyable way to learn, network, and develop leadership skills.

The organisationís top tips for developing business leaderships skills are:-

1. Managing in a time of change requires leaders to increase communication with their teams, as many will be anxious and the leaders role is to support and enthuse the team with the vision behind the changes. Regular communication is essential during this period; even if you cannot tell the staff anything, at least they will feel that their concerns are being heard.

2. Change management requires people to buy-in, and the best way to achieve this is for them to be involved. The most relevant people impacted by the changes need to be involved in the process, and to be able to influence them. If they are actively involved, devising and supporting the changes, then both the implementation and the solution will be smoother, and indeed result in a better overall solution. Those people can then help sell the benefits of the change into colleagues.

3. Leaders need to be prepared to take risks and have the self-confidence to make those decisions. One of the elements of leadership development that is often missed is the development of that self-confidence. Jack Welchís new book, Winning, highlights the development of leadership skills such as self-confidence.

4. Leaders need to maintain a broad perspective in order to implement change, as a narrow perspective can result in stagnation during change and, ultimately, failure of the project.

For more information on developing your leaderships skills, visit