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One of the most important skills required for successful Leaders is
effective stakeholder management. There can be so many stakeholders involved that identifying them and their
influence can make a huge difference. The term 'management' is slightly misleading, what you are really aiming
for is building a collaborative relationship that is mutually beneficial, it's not trying to control other people, it is
trying to work together to get the best outcomes for all.
Effective stakeholder management:
Emotional intelligence is an important characteristic for anyone at any level of an
organisation but it is particularly important for Leaders and Managers. Emotional intelligence or EI is the ability
to recognise, understand and handle your own emotions, and those of the people around you. People with a high
degree of emotional intelligence know what they are feeling, what their emotions mean, and how these
emotions can affect other people.
Emotional intelligence:
Bias is defined as a prejudice in favour of or against one thing, person
or group compared with another, usually in a way that’s considered to be unfair. It is critical that Leaders
understand how they can overcome their conscious and unconscious bias' to improve decision making and
professional relationships, and to create more open, inclusive and effective team.
Conscious and unconscious bias:
Being able to communicate effectively is perhaps the most
important of all life skills. It is what enables us to pass information to other people, and to understand what is
said to us. We all have patterns of behaviour around communication and influencing that may or may not suit all
people or circumstances. We can’t change other people, but we can change our own behaviour to create a
different impact.
Communicating and influencing skills:
Traditional performance management is perceived to be made up of annual
reviews and has been described as a last-century practice and blamed for a lack of collaboration and innovation.
Unlocking the potential in others is about regular conversations about performance and development and
changes the focus to building a team your organisation needs to be competitive. It's not about reviewing the
past, it's about building the future.
Unlocking potential in others:
Feedback is a gift that enables every human being to share with another
person the impact of their actions. Frequent and effective feedback promotes trust within a team and increases
productivity and morale. Being able to provide structured feedback is core skill for any leader wanting to get the
best from those around them.
Feedback to move forward:
At its core, good people management is about having exceptional two-way
conversations to set clear goals and objectives and subsequent reviews of progress and achievement. It enables
people to be the very best versions of themselves through ongoing development and unlocking their potential.
Ultimately, good people management maximises the contribution each person makes to the overall business
agenda.
People management:
Coaching can help people enhance the skills and capability that they already have, or
help them to develop something new. Coaching should not be a 'tick box' exercise, instead it should be delivered
with real purpose and meaning. When a leader invests time in coaching effectively and shows a genuine interest
in the development of others, individuals can begin to perform at their very best.
Purposeful coaching:
In every aspect of our lives, we learn much of what we know through trial and error. This becomes
our experience which is often very advantageous to others success. A good mentor can provide guidance,
motivation, emotional support and act as a role model. When leaders are mentors, the people and the
organisation benefit from success modelling which leads to fast tracking the overall progress made.
Mentoring: