Leadership is a highly sought-out quality, and it doesn’t always come naturally but can be developed over time. Effective leaders motivate their teams and support them in working towards a common goal. There can be many styles to how a person leads their team, but there are crucial strategies that all leaders should employ to become the best at guiding and managing their teams.

Coaching
Everyone needs coaching throughout their careers to keep on top of their skills and get the best out of their work; those in leadership roles are no different. Leaders who undo regular coaching find that they have higher productivity and engagement from their teams as well as improved effectiveness in their roles as leaders.
Companies such as  i-coach offer a way for leaders to reflect and recognise their personal
improvements or achievements while creating goals to pinpoint any weaker areas that need further
development. This new insight helps leaders step back to understand where they struggle and how
to plan for combating those situations in future. Coaching enhances their skills and helps them gain
new ones; leaders will find they are more flexible when facing problems and that quieter team
members are more responsive or engaged.

Communication And Listening
Communication, listening, and good leadership are closely intertwined; as a leader, you need to be skilled at communication across multiple professional relationships within a business. Be simple and direct with communication, leaving no room for misunderstandings. Communicate frequently and have multiple channels open for your team or other members of the company to contact you through.
Employees don’t just want to be heard; they want to be listened to. This may seem confusing, but your team doesn’t want their views, opinions or problems to fall on deaf ears with all the right responses and no action taken. Listening is more than giving your full attention; you need to pay attention to body language, facial expressions and moods to become more mindful of the individual needs of your team members. Leaders who listen create trustworthy relationships with transparency and loyalty.

Goal Setting
Goal setting provides focus, motivations and direction; they allow you to break down larger tasks
into manageable segments to achieve better and more efficient results. Give yourself a measurable
road map to success by setting goals for all duties and projects; this will also help you be transparent
with your team and communicate expectations more clearly.

Conflict Management
Conflict can arise at any time; whether it’s due to team members not seeing eye to eye or a client having urgent problems, the reasons for conflict can vary. It’s vital for leaders to have the skills to diffuse and manage the resolution process. A combination of skills are needed to manage conflict to a healthy and positive resolution effectively. By implementing the skills below into your conflict management strategies, you’ll reduce the stress and aggression of any problem situation.

• Assertiveness
• Active listening skills
• Empathy
• Mediation
• Creative problem-solving

It’s crucial to assess the situation as quickly as possible when conflict arises; once you have analysed
and concluded a course of action, you will find that the conflict is dealt with much faster. The more
effective the strategies, the less often conflict will occur.