Assess what leadership skills you currently possess. Learn self-evaluation methods, key competencies to consider, and how to build on your strengths.
Written by Laura Bouttell • Sat 10th January 2026
Understanding what leadership skills you currently possess requires honest self-evaluation across key competency areas—including communication, strategic thinking, emotional intelligence, decision-making, and team development—with research showing that building self-awareness about your tendencies and motivational drivers unlocks potential in yourself and your team. This assessment process forms the foundation for targeted development.
Most professionals underestimate some capabilities whilst overestimating others. This perception gap creates blind spots that undermine leadership effectiveness. Genuine self-assessment requires moving beyond comfortable assumptions toward rigorous examination of actual behaviours and their impacts. The leaders who grow most consistently are those who cultivate accurate self-perception.
This guide provides frameworks for assessing your leadership skills, identifies the competencies that matter most, and offers approaches for building on your current capabilities.
Understanding yourself enables effective leadership.
"Self-awareness is about developing your capacity to sense how you're coming across—to have undistorted visibility into your own strengths and weaknesses."
Assessment benefits:
Leaders often misjudge their capabilities:
| Perception Issue | Impact |
|---|---|
| Overestimation | Missed development needs |
| Underestimation | Underutilised strengths |
| Blind spots | Unrecognised impacts |
| Misalignment | Wrong development focus |
"Leadership skills assessments can be used to identify the strengths and weaknesses of a current or potential leader. This information can then be used to help the individual become more effective."
Foundation benefits:
Assess yourself across fundamental areas.
The foundation of leadership influence:
Assessment questions:
Self-rating scale:
| Skill | Emerging | Competent | Strong | Expert |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clarity | Developing | Adequate | Consistent | Exceptional |
| Listening | Inconsistent | Good | Active | Masterful |
| Feedback | Learning | Effective | Skilled | Transformative |
Understanding and managing emotions:
"Strengths of a leader typically include effective communication, strategic thinking, empathy, decisiveness, and the ability to inspire and motivate others."
EI assessment areas:
Seeing beyond immediate concerns:
Strategic capability indicators:
Choosing effectively under uncertainty:
Decision-making assessment:
Building and growing others:
Team development indicators:
Various approaches provide insight.
Systematic self-examination:
Reflection prompts:
"Unlike a typical leadership style test, comprehensive assessment tools analyze key dimensions of leadership to help you understand your leadership patterns."
Available tools:
"By turning to colleagues for thoughts on how they experience your leadership style, you can identify discrepancies in how you perceive yourself."
External feedback sources:
Build from strong foundations.
Identifying what you do well:
Strength indicators:
Common leadership strength areas:
| Category | Example Strengths |
|---|---|
| Thinking | Strategic analysis, problem-solving |
| Relating | Empathy, relationship building |
| Executing | Organisation, follow-through |
| Influencing | Communication, persuasion |
| Leading | Vision, direction setting |
"Two key areas of personal growth and development are fundamental to leadership success: self-confidence and a positive attitude."
Strength leverage strategies:
Honest acknowledgement enables growth.
Understanding where you struggle:
Weakness indicators:
Not all gaps require immediate attention:
Prioritisation factors:
Development approaches:
Assessment leads to action.
"Coaching can help leaders identify their strengths and weaknesses, so they have a clear picture of where they need to develop and improve."
Planning steps:
Match approaches to needs:
| Development Need | Effective Methods |
|---|---|
| Knowledge gaps | Training, reading, courses |
| Skill development | Practice, coaching, feedback |
| Mindset shifts | Coaching, reflection, experiences |
| Behaviour change | Deliberate practice, accountability |
| Perspective expansion | Mentoring, exposure, assignments |
Development never completes:
Ongoing practices:
Apply concepts immediately.
Rate yourself honestly (1-5 scale):
Leadership Skill Assessment:
| Skill | Rating (1-5) | Evidence/Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Strategic thinking | ||
| Communication clarity | ||
| Active listening | ||
| Emotional intelligence | ||
| Decision-making | ||
| Team development | ||
| Conflict management | ||
| Influence and persuasion | ||
| Change leadership | ||
| Results delivery |
Review your ratings:
Identify your leadership skills through self-reflection, formal assessments (360-degree feedback, personality tests), seeking input from colleagues, and analysing your performance patterns. Look for activities that energise you, produce positive outcomes, and generate positive feedback—these indicate strengths.
The most important leadership skills typically include communication (speaking and listening), emotional intelligence, strategic thinking, decision-making, and team development. However, importance varies by role, organisational context, and career stage. The skills needed for your specific situation matter most.
Assess leadership strengths and weaknesses through multiple methods: self-reflection questions, formal assessment tools, 360-degree feedback from colleagues, mentor input, and performance data analysis. Compare self-perception with external feedback to identify blind spots and achieve accurate self-awareness.
Leadership self-assessment is important because it builds self-awareness, identifies development priorities, reveals blind spots, and enables targeted growth. Leaders with accurate self-perception can leverage strengths, address weaknesses, and continuously improve their effectiveness and impact.
Assess leadership skills formally at least annually and informally through continuous reflection. Conduct assessments when taking new roles, facing new challenges, or receiving significant feedback. Regular assessment ensures development remains targeted and progress gets tracked meaningfully.
After assessing leadership skills, synthesise findings, prioritise development areas, set specific improvement goals, select appropriate development methods, create a timeline with milestones, and establish accountability through mentors, coaches, or peers. Act on insights rather than merely documenting them.
Yes, leadership skills can be developed at any career stage. Research shows leadership capabilities improve with intentional practice regardless of age or experience level. Early career provides foundation building; mid-career enables capability expansion; senior levels allow transformation and legacy focus.