Leadership Competencies That Can Make You Win

Develop leadership competencies to get the job done. A common problem of many organizations is that they don’t have “competent” people. To solve this, organizations invested gazillions of pesos in employee training and development. Unfortunately, many of these training programs are hit-and-miss.

Develop competency strategies, models, and implementations so they can develop competent employees more effectively.

Am I Incompetent?

What many leaders fear aren’t failures. Failures are part of any attempt to make change happen. What we fear most is when people think we are incompetent to lead.

Identifying what prevents you from succeeding and what competencies will enable you to succeed is crucial.

You can start with common derailers.

  • Do I have problems in interpersonal relationships? Many leaders find it challenging to deal with others. They find it difficult to understand people and don’t want to engage with them on a personal level.
  • Do I find it challenging to build and lead teams? We say that a good leader is a good follower. But some people aren’t team players. They don’t think they belong. Or they don’t know how to deal with others. Competent leaders are not only excellent team players. They can build teams and enable team members to achieve objectives as one.
  • Do I find it difficult to adapt? The world is changing at a fast pace. The most effective leaders of the future are those who can adapt and change. Know what prevents you from taking risks. Leaders who cannot adapt become dinosaurs in no time.
  • Do I fail to meet business objectives? Competencies are enablers of performance. Find out which competencies you lack if you fail to meet business objectives. Find out what organizational competencies your organizations need to succeed.
  • Do I know everything about my function? Every function serves to add value to the organization. Good leaders multiply their value in the organization. Those who think too narrowly about their positions lead inside the boxes they created for themselves.

A critical step to becoming an effective leader is identifying your derailers. You can fix them. Then, turn them into tools you can use to create new opportunities and possibilities.

Find competent people.

To accelerate the growth of your organization, I believe that you are not only looking for good people. You want competent people; people who can get the job done.

If your company strategy is to provide your customers added value that your competitors cannot deliver, your employeesthe must have competencies to deliver this.

You must be able to identify the skills that each person in your organization must be able to do to win.

If every manager, every engineer, every operator, every janitor…and every employee of your organization performs at the “great” level, then you can achieve your company strategy and you will be likely ahead of your competition.

Develop competencies. The graphic shows competence at the center surrounded by knowledge, attitude, experience, goals, skills, and others.
You must define the competencies you need to become competent.

Build competent leaders.

A good leader is a competent leader. We use the word good to refer to someone who fits the job, not someone who is nice and fun to be with.

What are leadership competencies?

Leadership competencies are the set of skills and behaviors leaders need to deliver high performance. Competencies are performance enablers.

A competent leader achieves 10 of 10 goals. Someone who only gets 1 of 10, no matter how caring and nice, isn’t a competent leader.

It is crucial, therefore, that you develop the essential competencies for the leadership job.

Competency Strategy and Model

You start with a competency strategy. Then you create a competency model that defines what’s good and what’s great. All development programs, including employee training and development, are part of your competency implementation.

However, implementation without strategy and model is a hit-and-miss intervention.

To thrive and be ahead, your company must continuously innovate. The pace of change has accelerated and with it, you require a new ability to deliver your promise to your customers.

Curious if you’re really playing at your best? Find out with the A-Game Scorecard. It takes just a few minutes. Every answer shows if you’re pushing your limits—or holding back in the safe zone. Take your A-game Scorecard.

Leaders who play their A-Game daily elevate the entire team. They focus on high-impact tasks and lead by example.

Develop leaders like this, and your organization will thrive.

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