Learn how to improve leadership skills with proven strategies. Discover self-assessment, communication, emotional intelligence, and practical development methods.
Written by Laura Bouttell • Sat 10th January 2026
Improving leadership skills requires a systematic approach combining self-assessment tools like Myers-Briggs and emotional intelligence inventories, deliberate practice through new projects and responsibilities, formal education and training, mentorship and coaching relationships, 360-degree feedback, and SMART goal setting—with research showing that 90 percent of top performers possess high emotional intelligence and that everyone can learn to become a better leader through time, effort, and willingness to continue learning. Leadership development is a lifelong journey.
How do you improve your leadership skills? This question matters because leadership capability directly affects career advancement, team performance, and organisational success. The good news is that leadership can be learned and developed. Unlike traits you're born with, leadership skills respond to deliberate practice, feedback, and continuous learning.
This guide examines proven strategies for improving leadership skills, helping aspiring and experienced leaders develop the capabilities needed for greater effectiveness.
Starting with self-awareness.
"Leaders take time to understand what motivates them to work in their field and pursue leadership roles. They know their strengths and weaknesses and spend time reflecting on their experiences in life and at work to help them learn their purpose. This self-awareness allows them to set goals and seek growth opportunities."
Self-awareness elements:
"Self-assessment tools like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, DiSC Personality Assessment, and Emotional Intelligence assessments help to understand strengths, weaknesses, and leadership style — and will help managers with goal setting."
Assessment options:
| Tool | Focus |
|---|---|
| Myers-Briggs (MBTI) | Personality preferences |
| DiSC | Behavioural tendencies |
| Emotional Intelligence | EI competencies |
| StrengthsFinder | Core strengths |
| 360-Degree Feedback | Multi-source perception |
"Everyone can learn to become a better leader. It takes time and effort — and the willingness to continue learning."
Learning foundations:
Essential for effective leadership.
"Clear and effective communication as a manager is essential for effective leadership. Leaders must articulate vision and strategy to inspire and foster collaboration and to ensure goals and expectations are understood by everyone."
Communication priorities:
Build capability in:
Communication elements:
Practical improvement strategies:
Development approaches:
The differentiator of top performers.
"Emotional intelligence is simply the recognition of the feelings and motivations of others and using that understanding to adapt to different situations and circumstances. It plays a significant role in enhancing productivity in the workplace."
EI components:
"This self-awareness is critical to effective leadership because it develops emotional intelligence—an ability that's possessed by 90 percent of top performers in the workplace."
EI research:
| Finding | Implication |
|---|---|
| 90% of top performers | Have high EI |
| Self-awareness foundation | Critical for development |
| Productivity enhancement | Workplace significance |
| Adaptability connection | Situational flexibility |
"An empathetic leader who notices when a team member is stressed and offers support encourages a positive workplace culture."
EI in practice:
Build EI through:
EI development:
Accelerating development.
"Mentorship and coaching offer structured, real-world feedback that accelerates leadership growth by providing tailored guidance and accountability."
Mentorship benefits:
"Professional mentorship pairs individuals with seasoned leaders who provide insights into practical applications of leadership theories."
Mentorship elements:
"These practices enable emerging leaders to refine decision-making, enhance conflict-resolution strategies, and adapt to industry-specific challenges."
Development areas:
Access mentorship through:
Access strategies:
Structured learning for leadership.
"Steps to improve include taking classes, reading articles, and attending workshops on leadership."
Learning resources:
"Programs focused on leadership often cover essential topics such as organizational behavior, strategic decision-making, and management theories. Many master's programs emphasize practical application, allowing students to apply leadership theories to real-world situations through case studies, projects, and internships."
Curriculum areas:
| Topic | Application |
|---|---|
| Organisational behaviour | Understanding people |
| Strategic decision-making | Choice improvement |
| Management theories | Framework building |
| Case studies | Real-world learning |
| Projects | Practical application |
"According to Harvard Business Review, six essential leadership skills include: 1) emotional aperture; 2) adaptive communication; 3) flexible thinking; 4) perspective seeking, taking, and coordinating; 5) strategic disruption skills; and 6) resilient self-awareness."
Essential capabilities:
Learning by doing.
"The best way to improve leadership skills is to practice them. Be proactive about seeking new projects and responsibilities. Your new capabilities often lead to more impactful roles in your organization."
Practice principles:
"You don't need a formal title to start leading. Volunteer to manage a project, mentor a new team member, or lead a committee. These opportunities allow you to strengthen key leadership skills like conflict resolution, communication, and decision-making while gaining real-world experience."
Practice opportunities:
Hands-on learning builds:
Practice outcomes:
Multi-source development insights.
"360-degree feedback is an evaluation method in which a leader receives feedback from several sources (superiors, colleagues, subordinates, customers or external partners). Rather than a traditional top-down evaluation, this approach provides a global, objective view of strengths and areas for improvement."
360 feedback sources:
| Source | Perspective |
|---|---|
| Superiors | Performance view |
| Peers | Collaboration view |
| Direct reports | Leadership view |
| Customers | Service view |
| Self | Internal view |
"This strategy proves highly effective for leadership development."
360 benefits:
Maximise feedback value:
Feedback utilisation:
Structured improvement.
"The first step in developing your leadership skills is setting clear goals that provide a roadmap for leadership development. For effective goal setting, follow the S.M.A.R.T approach: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound goals provide clarity, focus, and structure."
SMART elements:
Leadership development goals:
Sample goals:
Track development through:
Monitoring approaches:
Learning from others.
"Expanding your network exposes you to different leadership styles, business strategies, and new ways of thinking. Connecting with other successful leaders, whether through industry events, mentorship, or online communities, can help you refine your own leadership abilities and stay ahead of trends."
Network benefits:
"The best leaders are continuous learners who surround themselves with smart, driven peers."
Learning culture:
Expand connections through:
Building strategies:
Higher-level capability.
"Strategic thinking involves analyzing complex situations, examining differing viewpoints, and anticipating a variety of challenges. Good leaders with well-developed strategic thinking can separate the critical and urgent from the merely important."
Strategic elements:
Build strategic thinking through:
Development methods:
Apply strategic thinking:
Application areas:
Improve leadership skills through self-assessment, developing communication and emotional intelligence, seeking mentorship and coaching, pursuing formal education, practising through hands-on experience, gathering 360-degree feedback, setting SMART goals, and expanding your network. Leadership development requires time, effort, and willingness to continue learning.
According to Harvard Business Review, six essential leadership skills are emotional aperture, adaptive communication, flexible thinking, perspective seeking and coordinating, strategic disruption skills, and resilient self-awareness. Additionally, emotional intelligence, strategic thinking, communication excellence, and decision-making are consistently cited as critical capabilities.
Develop emotional intelligence through self-reflection, seeking feedback on your emotional responses, learning empathy techniques, managing stress effectively, and building relationship skills. Practice recognising feelings and motivations in others and adapting your approach accordingly. Research shows 90% of top performers have high emotional intelligence.
Formal education isn't strictly necessary but provides structured learning, theoretical frameworks, and practical application opportunities. Leadership courses, executive programmes, and workshops complement experiential learning. Many successful leaders combine formal education with mentorship, coaching, and hands-on practice.
Find leadership mentors through professional networks, industry associations, internal organisational programmes, alumni connections, or direct approaches to admired leaders. Look for seasoned leaders who can provide practical insights, structured feedback, and accountability for your development.
360-degree feedback is an evaluation method gathering input from superiors, peers, direct reports, and sometimes customers. It provides a global, objective view of leadership strengths and development areas, reduces blind spots, and offers multiple perspectives that traditional top-down evaluation cannot provide.
Leadership improvement is a lifelong journey rather than a fixed timeline. Meaningful progress on specific skills can occur within months through focused effort, but developing comprehensive leadership capability requires years of continuous learning, practice, and refinement. The key is commitment to ongoing development.