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Leadership Skills

How to Improve Leadership Skills: A Practical Guide

Discover proven methods to improve your leadership skills. Learn actionable techniques for emotional intelligence, communication, self-awareness, and team development.

Written by Laura Bouttell • Fri 10th October 2025

Leadership effectiveness isn't determined at birth—it's cultivated through deliberate practice, self-awareness, and continuous development. Research demonstrates that participants in leadership training programmes experience a 25% increase in learning capacity and a 20% improvement in overall job performance, yet 82% of organisations struggle to select candidates with the right leadership talent. The gap between potential and performance represents one of the greatest opportunities for ambitious professionals.

The challenge facing modern leaders is clear: technical expertise alone won't carry you to the executive suite. 71% of employers now value emotional intelligence more highly than technical skills when evaluating candidates. The leaders who distinguish themselves master a blend of self-awareness, interpersonal finesse, and strategic thinking that transforms good managers into inspirational executives.

This guide synthesises research-backed methods for developing leadership capabilities that produce measurable results—from immediate performance improvements to long-term career advancement.

Why Leadership Skills Development Matters More Than Ever

The business case for investing in leadership development extends far beyond personal advancement. Global investment in leadership training reached $370.3 billion, with $169.4 billion from North America alone, reflecting widespread recognition that organisational success hinges on leadership quality.

The tangible benefits of improved leadership skills include:

The stakes are equally high for individual careers. Between 50% and 70% of leaders fail within the initial 18 months of taking on new roles—a sobering statistic that underscores why continuous skill development separates sustainable success from career derailment.

Understanding the Foundation: What Are Leadership Skills?

Leadership skills encompass the capabilities that enable you to guide, motivate, and influence others toward shared objectives. Unlike management—which focuses on systems, processes, and control—leadership centres on inspiration, development, and transformation.

Core leadership competencies fall into three interconnected categories:

  1. Intrapersonal skills: Self-awareness, emotional regulation, resilience, and personal accountability
  2. Interpersonal skills: Communication, empathy, active listening, and relationship building
  3. Cognitive skills: Strategic thinking, decision-making, problem-solving, and adaptive learning

Organisations ranked coaching, communication skills, team leadership, emotional intelligence, and strategy development as their top five priority leadership skills. Mastering these areas creates a foundation for excellence across any leadership context.

How Do You Know If Your Leadership Skills Need Improvement?

Self-awareness forms the bedrock of leadership development. Research indicates that only about 15% of people are sufficiently self-aware, and there is less than a 30% correlation between people's actual and self-perceived competence—a gap that severely limits effectiveness.

Common indicators that signal development opportunities:

Recognising these patterns without defensiveness demonstrates the self-awareness necessary for growth. As management theorist Peter Drucker observed, "You cannot manage other people unless you manage yourself first."

The Cornerstone: Developing Self-Awareness

Research suggests that when we see ourselves clearly, we become more confident and creative, make sounder decisions, build stronger relationships, and communicate more effectively. Self-awareness isn't naval-gazing—it's the foundation upon which all other leadership capabilities rest.

What Is Leadership Self-Awareness?

Leadership self-awareness is a leader's objective understanding of their values, passions, strengths, weaknesses, thoughts, feelings, and behaviours, coupled with an appreciation for how they are perceived by and impact others.

This dual focus—internal insight and external awareness—distinguishes truly effective leaders. You must understand both your authentic self and how your actions land with others, even when those perspectives don't align.

Practical Methods for Building Self-Awareness

1. Implement structured reflection practices

Schedule 10 to 20 minutes weekly for self-reflection, blocked in your calendar to make it a regular habit in a quiet, distraction-free environment. Former US President Barack Obama attributed much of his leadership clarity to consistent reflection and journaling.

Reflection questions to guide your practice:

2. Seek comprehensive 360-degree feedback

Traditional feedback often captures only workplace behaviour. A true 360° assessment takes feedback from all the important people in your life, from work and home, recognising that you're one person, not two, and different parts of your life affect each other.

Quarterdeck's leadership programme employs this holistic approach, recognising that arguments with family or worry about children inevitably affect workplace performance—and vice versa.

3. Utilise validated assessment tools

Psychometric instruments like Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), DiSC, or StrengthsFinder provide structured insights into personality patterns, communication styles, and natural tendencies. These tools don't define you but rather illuminate blind spots and confirm strengths.

4. Engage with executive coaching

Coaching-based leadership intervention programmes combining workshop formats with individual coaching sessions produce significant improvements in leadership skills and performance. A skilled coach challenges your assumptions, holds you accountable, and accelerates development beyond what self-directed learning achieves.

Mastering Emotional Intelligence: The Leadership Multiplier

Daniel Goleman highlighted that the most effective leaders share one crucial trait: they all have a high degree of emotional intelligence, noting that whilst IQ and technical skills matter, they're entry-level requirements for executive positions.

Emotional intelligence (EQ) comprises five interconnected competencies:

1. Self-Awareness (Knowing Your Emotional Landscape)

Understanding which situations trigger particular emotional responses enables you to prepare for and manage them effectively. Self-management helps leaders balance their emotions with logic to inform their decisions, ensuring they don't act impulsively but instead use emotions as valuable insights.

Practical application: Before high-stakes meetings, identify potential emotional triggers. If budget discussions typically frustrate you, acknowledge this pattern and prepare strategies to maintain composure.

2. Self-Regulation (Managing Your Responses)

Emotional self-control doesn't mean suppression—it means choosing conscious responses rather than defaulting to reactive patterns. Leaders who manage emotions effectively model resilience and rational decision-making for their teams.

Practical application: When receiving criticism, pause before responding. Take three deep breaths, acknowledge the feedback without defensiveness, and schedule time to reflect before formulating your response.

3. Motivation (Inspiring Yourself and Others)

Self-motivated leaders care more about hitting organisational milestones than monetary awards, setting goals, taking initiative, and staying optimistic during turbulent times. This intrinsic motivation proves contagious, permeating organisations and empowering employees.

Practical application: Connect daily tasks to larger purpose. Rather than "complete quarterly report," frame it as "provide insights that guide our team's strategic direction for the next quarter."

4. Empathy (Understanding Others' Perspectives)

Global leadership development firm DDI ranks empathy as the number one leadership skill, reporting that leaders who master empathy perform more than 40% higher in coaching, engaging others, and decision-making.

Empathy isn't agreement—it's understanding. You can disagree with someone's perspective whilst still appreciating why they hold it.

Practical application: When team members display withdrawn social cues, check in privately rather than pressuring contribution publicly, creating a safe space for communication.

5. Social Skills (Building Productive Relationships)

Emotionally intelligent leaders can walk into a room with pursed lips and clenched fists, sense the tension, and know how to address and resolve conflict before it escalates.

Practical application: Before addressing team conflict, speak individually with involved parties to understand their perspectives, then facilitate resolution that preserves relationships whilst solving the problem.

Communication Excellence: The Leadership Fundamental

All organisations, regardless of performance level, ranked integrity and ethics as the most important leadership character element, yet even impeccable character falters without communication skills to convey it.

How Can Leaders Improve Their Communication Skills?

1. Practice active listening that demonstrates genuine interest

Every good coaching conversation begins with curiosity, creating space for others to surface their own insights rather than jumping in with solutions.

Active listening techniques:

2. Adapt communication style to your audience

Different stakeholders require different approaches. Technical teams may appreciate detailed analysis; senior executives often prefer executive summaries focusing on strategic implications.

Framework for adaptive communication:

3. Develop clarity and conciseness

Rambling undermines authority. Structure communication around the situation, complication, and resolution. This approach—borrowed from consultancy frameworks—ensures messages land with impact.

4. Master the art of difficult conversations

Many managers never receive training in people management, and even when they do, they struggle to implement changes for more than a couple of weeks. Structured approaches help.

Quarterdeck's leadership seminar teaches participants how to tell anyone anything and achieve positive results—transforming difficult conversations from dreaded obligations into opportunities for growth.

The Power of Effective Feedback

Feedback can be highly motivating when delivered effectively, yet most people struggle to give both positive and critical feedback, defaulting to whichever feels most comfortable.

Why Is Feedback Important in Leadership Development?

Feedback serves as the mechanism through which behaviour changes. Remote employees who received regular constructive feedback from their manager had 2.5 times higher engagement rates than those who did not.

Without feedback, people continue patterns unknowingly—both productive and counterproductive. Your role as a leader includes creating the feedback culture your team needs to excel.

How Do You Give Effective Feedback?

The four types of feedback every leader must master:

  1. Appreciative feedback: Recognises contributions and reinforces positive behaviours
  2. Coaching feedback: Guides development and builds capabilities
  3. Evaluative feedback: Assesses performance against standards
  4. Motivating feedback: Inspires continued effort and engagement

Best practices for delivering feedback:

The programme's accountability mechanism—where participants present to the group on skills they've implemented—forces people to put new capabilities into practice, not just discuss them theoretically. This structure, employed in Quarterdeck's leadership programme, ensures feedback translates into action.

Coaching Others: Developing Your Team's Potential

In the face of rapid, disruptive change, companies realise that managers can't be expected to have all the answers and that command-and-control leadership is no longer viable. The coaching approach—facilitating problem-solving rather than providing answers—develops stronger teams whilst reducing your workload.

What Makes an Effective Leader-Coach?

Effective leader-coaches focus on boosting self-awareness, showing vulnerability and empathy, and creating an environment of psychological safety with high ethical standards.

The four core coaching conversation skills:

  1. Listening deeply: Attending fully to what's said and unsaid
  2. Asking powerful questions: Stimulating reflection and insight
  3. Providing supportive feedback: Balancing challenge with encouragement
  4. Supporting commitments: Holding people accountable whilst providing resources

The GROW Model for Coaching Conversations

The Assessment-Challenge-Support coaching framework provides a clear path for guiding conversations, helping you spark self-awareness, stretch thinking, and encourage follow-through.

GROW framework application:

This structure transforms casual conversations into developmental experiences that build capability across your team.

Building Strategic Decision-Making Capabilities

Leadership ultimately manifests through the decisions you make and how you make them. Research shows that a leader's lack of self-awareness negatively impacts decision-making, collaboration, and conflict management.

How Can Leaders Improve Their Decision-Making Skills?

1. Identify and counteract cognitive biases

We all employ mental shortcuts—heuristics—that accelerate decisions but can lead us astray. Confirmation bias, availability bias, and anchoring effect all distort judgement.

Bias mitigation strategies:

2. Distinguish between reversible and irreversible decisions

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos categorises decisions as one-way or two-way doors. One-way doors (irreversible) demand deliberation; two-way doors (reversible) can be made quickly and adjusted.

Application: For reversible decisions, empower team members to decide and learn from outcomes. Reserve your involvement for irreversible decisions with significant consequences.

3. Implement structured decision-making processes

Particularly for high-stakes choices, frameworks ensure you consider multiple angles systematically.

Decision-making framework:

  1. Frame the problem clearly
  2. Identify stakeholders and their interests
  3. Generate multiple options (aim for at least three)
  4. Evaluate each against criteria
  5. Make the decision and communicate rationale
  6. Review outcomes to improve future decisions

Developing Strategic Thinking and Vision

Leaders must understand changing business trends and control the latest operational rules whilst developing 21st-century strategic thinking that goes beyond pre-established patterns.

What Is Strategic Leadership?

Strategic leadership balances short-term execution with long-term vision, connecting daily operations to organisational objectives whilst anticipating future challenges and opportunities.

Characteristics of strategic leaders:

How to Develop Strategic Thinking

1. Expand your knowledge boundaries

Read broadly across disciplines—history, psychology, economics, technology. Strategic insights often emerge from connecting ideas across domains.

2. Learn from adjacent industries

Solutions pioneered elsewhere often translate to your context. Retail innovations inform healthcare; manufacturing techniques enhance service delivery.

3. Engage with diverse perspectives

Companies with high-performing leadership benches have 22% more women leaders and 36% greater background diversity than companies with low-performing benches. Homogeneous thinking produces homogeneous strategies.

4. Practice scenario planning

Regularly envision multiple futures: optimistic, pessimistic, and probable. For each, consider implications and appropriate responses. This mental rehearsal prepares you for uncertainty.

Resilience and Adaptability: Leading Through Change

Adaptability and flexibility are essential leadership qualities according to 70% of employees in today's rapidly changing work environment.

How Can Leaders Build Resilience?

1. Reframe setbacks as learning opportunities

Research involving 442 executives found that reflections involving surprise, frustration, and failure proved most valuable in helping leaders grow.

Rather than avoiding or minimising difficulties, extract lessons. What assumptions proved incorrect? What would you do differently? How did you respond, and what does that reveal about your patterns?

2. Maintain perspective during crises

Create mental distance through techniques like "the view from the balcony"—imagining yourself observing the situation from above. This perspective shift reduces emotional reactivity and enables clearer thinking.

3. Build your personal support network

Leadership can be isolating. Many cohorts from structured programmes continue meeting for years after completion, providing ongoing support and diverse perspectives.

Cultivate relationships with peers facing similar challenges, mentors who've navigated the path ahead, and coaches who provide objective feedback.

4. Prioritise recovery and renewal

Resilience isn't about pushing through exhaustion—it's about managing energy strategically. Schedule genuine downtime, protect boundaries, and engage in activities that restore rather than deplete you.

Creating an Action Plan for Leadership Development

83% of organisations believe developing leaders is essential, yet only 5% take action to make this a reality. Intention without execution produces no results.

How Do You Create a Personal Leadership Development Plan?

Step 1: Assess current capabilities

Combine self-assessment with external feedback. Use both self-assessment reviewing how you feel about work, abilities, challenges, and goals, and 360-degree assessment gathering feedback from multiple sources.

Step 2: Identify priority development areas

Don't attempt to improve everything simultaneously. Select 2-3 high-impact areas where development will produce disproportionate returns.

Prioritisation criteria:

Step 3: Set specific, measurable objectives

Vague intentions ("be a better communicator") don't guide action. Specific goals do.

SMART goal example:

Step 4: Design targeted development strategies

Different objectives require different approaches:

Development Area Effective Strategies
Self-awareness 360 feedback, executive coaching, journaling
Communication Toastmasters, presentation coaching, active listening practice
Strategic thinking Case study analysis, industry reading, scenario planning
Emotional intelligence Mindfulness training, empathy exercises, feedback solicitation
Team development Coaching skills training, delegation practice, performance conversations

Step 5: Create accountability structures

Accountability is the secret ingredient most training lacks—it's the difference between joining a gym and getting a personal trainer.

Accountability mechanisms:

Step 6: Practice consistently in real situations

The Sparrks leadership coaching method consists of compact 45-minute sessions with active application of learning in daily work between sessions, supported by targeted reflection and practice phases.

Development occurs through application, not accumulation of knowledge. Deliberately practice new behaviours in low-stakes situations before applying them to high-pressure contexts.

Step 7: Reflect and adjust regularly

Reflective leadership requires continuous practice of reflection over time, allowing you to regularly examine and re-evaluate decisions and responsibilities to broaden and deepen skills.

Schedule monthly reviews assessing:

The Role of Formal Leadership Training

Whilst self-directed development is valuable, structured programmes accelerate growth through expert guidance, peer learning, and accountability.

What Should You Look for in Leadership Training?

Red flags indicating ineffective programmes:

Green flags indicating effective programmes:

Quarterdeck's leadership seminar exemplifies these principles, offering a 3-hour intensive workshop that provides practical techniques participants can implement immediately. For those seeking deeper transformation, their comprehensive leadership programme extends over several months with group sessions, individual coaching, and structured accountability—producing what participants describe as life-changing results.

One client noted the Quarterdeck programme provided more value than the £40,000 Harvard Leadership Programme they'd previously attended, citing its practical focus on real-world results.

Continuous Learning: The Leadership Imperative

A study by the Center for Creative Leadership found that 70% of executives attribute their success to continuous learning and adaptation.

How Do Leaders Maintain Continuous Development?

1. Create a personal learning architecture

Establish regular rhythms for development:

2. Leverage diverse learning modalities

Different skills develop through different approaches:

3. Seek stretch assignments

Certain skills and experiences prove particularly important at certain phases of leaders' careers, with increased levels of knowledge, problem-solving skills, systems skills, and social skills found at higher grade levels.

Volunteer for projects outside your comfort zone. Cross-functional initiatives, turnaround situations, and leadership roles in professional associations all provide development opportunities.

4. Cultivate a growth mindset

Carol Dweck's research demonstrates that belief in capability development—growth mindset—predicts actual capability growth. Leaders who view abilities as fixed plateau; those who see them as developable continue ascending.

Growth mindset in practice:

Common Pitfalls in Leadership Development

Awareness of typical obstacles helps you navigate around them.

Why Do Leadership Development Efforts Fail?

1. Lack of sustained commitment

Many people read all the books or take courses but never put them into practice, or if they do, it never lasts long-term.

Leadership development requires consistent effort over months and years, not burst enthusiasm for weeks. Systems and accountability structures prevent motivation from being the sole driver.

2. Insufficient self-awareness

95% of participants gave themselves high marks in self-awareness, yet using empirical measures, only 10-15% of the cohort was truly self-aware.

Over-estimation of capabilities prevents improvement. If you're certain you're already excellent, why develop further? Cultivate intellectual humility—the recognition that there's always more to learn.

3. Generic rather than personalised development

Leadership training programmes with a general approach lead to skills and practices that are hardly useful or cannot be fully implemented within the framework of operations.

Your development needs differ from others' based on your role, context, strengths, and gaps. Wholesale adoption of generic advice rarely fits specific situations.

4. Knowledge accumulation without behavioural change

Bernard Arnault, founder and CEO of LVMH and one of the richest men in the world, knows that training without action is pointless, stating: "Most training is useless. You just sit there and don't do anything".

Leadership manifests through behaviour, not knowledge. A leader who understands feedback principles but avoids difficult conversations hasn't actually developed.

5. Neglecting the emotional and relational dimensions

Focusing solely on technical skills or strategy whilst ignoring emotional intelligence and relationship building creates brittle leadership that fractures under pressure.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can leadership skills really be learned or are some people just born leaders?

According to Gallup research, 10% of the population are natural leaders, and another 20% possess leadership traits that, with training and guidance, enable them to become great leaders. The data conclusively demonstrates that leadership capabilities develop through deliberate practice, structured learning, and consistent application—not merely innate talent.

Whilst some individuals may display early inclinations toward leadership, research shows that even naturally talented leaders require development to reach their potential. Conversely, those without obvious early aptitude can cultivate exceptional leadership through commitment to growth. Leaders are not born, they are made, as decades of evidence from thousands of successful development programmes demonstrate.

How long does it take to improve leadership skills?

Leadership development operates across multiple timescales. Some improvements manifest immediately—a new communication technique applied in your next conversation, for instance. Deeper transformations, however, require sustained effort over months or years.

Effective leadership training produces a 25% increase in learning and 20% improvement in job performance, with these gains typically emerging over 3-6 months of consistent practice. Quarterdeck's programme extends over several months with group sessions spaced to allow practice and integration, recognising that lasting behavioural change requires time.

Research on habit formation suggests that simple behaviours become automatic after roughly 66 days of consistent practice, though complex leadership competencies requiring judgement and contextual adaptation take longer. Plan for a minimum of 6-12 months to see substantial, lasting improvement in core leadership capabilities.

What is the most important leadership skill to develop first?

Self-awareness forms the foundation upon which all other leadership capabilities rest. Without self-awareness, leaders cannot effectively develop other competencies, as they lack understanding of their current state, strengths, weaknesses, and impact on others.

Once self-awareness provides a clear starting point, prioritisation depends on your specific context:

Organisations consistently rank integrity and ethics as the most important leadership character element, suggesting that developing your ethical foundation and values clarity provides another crucial starting point.

How can I improve my leadership skills without formal training?

Whilst structured programmes accelerate development, substantial growth is possible through self-directed approaches:

1. Seek and act on feedback regularly: Request specific input from colleagues, direct reports, and superiors about your leadership impact. Managers showed 8.9% greater profitability when they received feedback on their strengths.

2. Read strategically: Study leadership literature, biography, and case studies. Apply one concept weekly in your work.

3. Find a mentor: Professional mentorship pairs individuals with seasoned leaders who provide insights into practical applications of leadership theories and personalised development plans.

4. Practice deliberately: Identify specific situations where you'll test new behaviours. Reflect afterwards on effectiveness.

5. Join peer learning groups: Share challenges and insights with fellow leaders facing similar issues.

6. Volunteer for stretch assignments: Take on projects that require capabilities you're developing.

That said, structured programmes provide advantages that self-directed learning cannot replicate: expert guidance, accountability, peer cohorts, and systematic progression through essential competencies.

What are the biggest challenges leaders face when trying to improve?

Leaders' engagement levels are at an all-time low, with only 31% of managers engaged, reflecting the significant pressures modern leaders face.

The primary obstacles to leadership development include:

Time scarcity: Urgent demands crowd out important development activities. The "busyness" trap prevents leaders from dedicating time to reflection and learning.

Solution: Schedule development activities like critical meetings. Block calendar time for reading, reflection, and practice.

Fear of vulnerability: Leaders often fear confronting their own flaws and weaknesses, which prevents honest self-assessment.

Solution: Recognise that vulnerability signals strength in modern leadership. Leaders who regularly display vulnerability are 5.3 times more likely to build trust with employees.

Lack of accountability: Without external structure, development commitments fade. Most training doesn't hold people accountable—they teach knowledge and expect people to make changes on their own.

Solution: Create accountability through coaching relationships, peer groups, or structured programmes with built-in follow-through.

Unclear priorities: Attempting to improve everything simultaneously leads to improving nothing meaningfully.

Solution: Focus on 2-3 high-impact areas where development produces disproportionate returns.

How do emotional intelligence and leadership connect?

The most effective leaders share one crucial trait: they all have a high degree of emotional intelligence, according to research Daniel Goleman shared with Harvard Business Review.

Emotional intelligence enables leaders to:

Highly emotionally intelligent individuals can communicate effectively and empathise with others, allowing them to develop cohesive, supportive relationships. This capability directly impacts every aspect of leadership—from strategy formulation to execution, from conflict resolution to change management.

The business case is compelling: 71% of employers value emotional intelligence more than technical skills when evaluating candidates, recognising that technical expertise without interpersonal effectiveness severely limits leadership potential.

What role does feedback play in developing leadership capabilities?

Feedback serves as the primary mechanism through which leaders understand their impact and adjust behaviour accordingly. When organisations value truth, courage, and a coaching culture along with psychological safety, employees become comfortable receiving, seeking out, and using feedback to improve performance.

Without feedback, you operate with incomplete information—knowing your intentions but unclear about your effect. With feedback, you close this gap, aligning intent with impact.

Remote employees who received regular constructive feedback from their manager had 2.5 times higher engagement rates than employees who did not, demonstrating feedback's power not just for leader development but for team performance.

Effective leaders both give feedback skilfully and receive it openly. The willingness to hear difficult truths about your leadership separates those committed to excellence from those protecting ego.

Conclusion: Your Leadership Development Journey Begins Today

Leadership excellence doesn't emerge from a single training event or transformative insight—it results from consistent, deliberate practice applied over time. Organisations with a strong learning culture are 92% more likely to innovate, and the same principle applies individually: leaders committed to continuous development create compounding advantages that separate extraordinary impact from mediocre management.

The evidence is clear: leadership capabilities can be developed systematically through self-awareness, emotional intelligence, communication mastery, strategic thinking, and continuous learning. The question isn't whether you can improve your leadership—it's whether you'll commit to the sustained effort required.

Your immediate next steps:

  1. Assess your current capabilities honestly: Seek 360-degree feedback from multiple sources
  2. Identify 2-3 priority development areas: Focus on high-impact changes rather than attempting everything
  3. Create specific, measurable objectives: Transform vague intentions into concrete goals
  4. Establish accountability structures: Share goals with mentors, join peer groups, or enrol in structured programmes
  5. Practice consistently in real situations: Apply new behaviours regularly and reflect on outcomes
  6. Consider structured development: Explore programmes like Quarterdeck's leadership seminar for immediate practical techniques or their comprehensive leadership programme for sustained transformation

The gap between your current leadership and your potential isn't determined by talent—it's determined by commitment to growth. Start today. Your team, your organisation, and your career will benefit from every step you take toward leadership excellence.

As poet Mary Oliver asked: "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" For those called to leadership, the answer involves developing your capabilities to their fullest expression and using them to create positive impact that extends far beyond yourself.