Four key rules for successful leadership

The disruption and devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world, it has also seriously wounded the global economy.

Now a strong leadership is needed to guide staff to recovery after the pandemic. Here are four key skills crucial to help make that happen.

1. Be empathetic

Effective leaders need to understand the feelings, motivations and emotions of others, especially the people who work for them. Empathy with employees is crucial now that many people are facing diverse challenges such as anxiety, stress and adjusting to new work conditions and income decline. Leaders need to show that they are human.

2. Be decisive

Good leaders need to be decisive and not averse to taking risks. They should be able to identify, evaluate and assess the risks while making difficult decisions. Resources during the pandemic were limited, so it was important that leaders adopted a logical, analytical approach to ensure that decisions were made not just quickly, but thoughtfully.

3. Recognise and exploit opportunities

Leaders must be aggressive catalysts and identify opportunities where others see chaos, confusion and problems. Such opportunities vary from expansion into emerging markets, to selling new products and adapting existing services, such as restaurants becoming takeaways.

4. Build effective teams

Leaders need to promote teamwork and foster team spirit to ensure their staff cooperate and collaborate to work together effectively. To do this, employees need to trust those in charge. Leaders must be role models who lead by example; employees learn a lot from good leaders, especially in difficult times.

To develop these skills, mentoring and personal growth activities are important. Leadership is a personal journey and business leaders need to commit to developing their own skills. No one is perfect or has all the answers, but good leaders should not be afraid to fail. They should show that life continues and can improve after failing – if lessons are learned, however painful. Like anything, strong effective leadership takes practice.