The 8 essential skills of great leadership regularly overlooked in up-and-coming leaders

With over 30 years of experience across more industries and job roles than most people I know, I have managed to develop a strong understanding of not only what it takes to be a successful leader, but also what exceptional skills are consistently overlooked in up-and-coming leaders that are literally right under our noses.

I regularly see executive recruitment agencies actively trying to introduce the following 8 essential skill sets to foster recruitment of candidates to support the building of more diverse, innovative and successful organisations.

I congratulate recruiters who are vigilant in their constant pursuit of greatness in the world. However, what I have noticed is that a diligent recruiter’s advice far too often falls completely on deaf ears. This must be incredibly frustrating for recruitment agencies, particularly in executive recruitment.

These are the 8 skills I see repetitively bandied around as the key skills of great leaders:-

Visionary Leadership Effective Communication Strategic Thinking Collaborative Spirit Resilience in Adversity Fiscal Responsibility Commitment to Equity and Inclusion Ethical Integrity

I agree, as I imagine most others would believe that these skills are undoubtedly essential in the pursuit of great leadership. The problem is that knowing them is not the same as doing them at all. In the same way, the acquisition of knowledge is not experience. A concept that will become clearer as you read on.

When boards are looking to recruit CEOs, instead of looking for these valuable skills that are developed through experience, they are frequently overshadowed with a focus on a tick-the-box traditional higher education that aspires that the more letters you have after your name the better your skills, when in reality this could not be any further from the truth. The same boards are also looking specifically for extensive industry experience.

I know this because I have worked alongside many executives who match the education is everything criteria, yet they don’t have diversity in experience, which regularly impacts the success and culture of the organisations they lead. This occurs when people rise through a single industry, eventually becoming a CEO after 10 to 20 years, in either the same employer and/or staying within the same industry. In industry, we like to term this specialisation. This may have been relevant and even sought after 20 years ago, but today it is producing stagnation on a mass scale.

Those who decided to generalise, rather than specialise 20 years ago are now in a much stronger position to stay relevant in fast-changing marketplaces, most of which are being impacted greatly by technology. I am one of those people who was looked at sideways for changing jobs and fields regularly to build my diversity of skills. I knew to do this because I am a visionary. I could see the writing on the wall so to speak, that others could not.

I digress though. Let’s return back to understanding the difference between traditional education and experience speckled with modern styles of knowledge gathering.

The easiest way to explain the false attachment to traditional education credentials is by using a simple analogy.

First, let’s look at the difference between education and skills. It is important to be clear. Your education qualifications are not skills, no more than reading a book makes you able to put what is in the book into action in real-world situations. Education is where you acquire knowledge, that is yet to be put into action. Knowledge can be acquired through many avenues, whilst a traditional university degree is merely one of them.

However, in stark contrast, your experience is where you develop this knowledge into real-life applied skills. This happens in a variety of ways that become re-appliable across an organisation and upwards through promotional opportunities. Yet for some reason, the majority of the time we either don’t see the correlation in skills development or completely ignore it. Thus prioritising traditional education qualifications over skills development, time and time again. This often even occurs when the qualification could have been attained more than 10 years ago, and in some instances more than 20 years ago.

In contrast, more innovative forms of knowledge attainment are gained as the knowledge is needed, allowing for knowledge to become skills in quick succession. This fast pace of knowledge to skill in practice means that the learning is applied almost immediately when it is needed, in stark contrast to a 20-year-old traditional form of education like a degree. Just try to remember what you learned at uni 20 years ago and then see if it is even relevant today, or even 5 years ago for that matter. Knowledge sticks faster, better and more often when it is relevant to your current circumstances.

Whilst focusing on outdated models of knowledge building in this way, we are overlooking exceptional talent held within our organisations and thus not giving rise to opportunities for shining stars to rise into executive roles, including as CEOs.

When you get down to the basic nuts and bolts of it, every single CEO, General Manager or Executive was once a first-timer. This means that at some point someone took a chance on them and gave them the opportunity to become a new CEO or Executive for the very first time.

So in today’s world, why are we overlooking exceptional leadership talent and only recruiting CEOs who have already been CEOs elsewhere and Executives who have already been Executives elsewhere? All from within our industry sector.

The world has evolved, did we forget to evolve with it?

I have considered these questions many times in my career. Through recognising repeating patterns, I have come to the ultimate realisation that we might have lost our ability to innovate and take calculated risks. We choose to play it safe not only by recruiting someone who has already done the job, but we want someone who has already done it in the same industry.

In playing safe and recruiting only within our industry we are not only undervaluing up-and-coming leaders, we are also undervaluing the different experiences and perspectives that newness brings to organisations. Along with this, we are also underestimating people’s ability to gain industry knowledge on the go to fulfil a role.

This is occurring to some extent to the detriment of almost every organisation I have engaged within the last 30 years.

I have personally made a living moving from industry to industry and job role to job role many times over. By doing this I have gained invaluable insights spanning a diversity of job roles and industries. All of these insights have been extremely valuable in every organisation I have engaged with.

There is a saying;

‘When you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you’ve always had’

Industries are now rarely inviting so-called outsiders into their industry talent pool unless it is an entry-level job. Particularly in government where many senior Managers have worked in their organisation or industry for more than 10 years. I have been watching the job market for more than 20 years, with job advertisements repeatedly often seeking 7- 10 years of experience, when we know that employment agencies identify currency as only the last 5 years.

So the question I feel compelled to ask is; If currency is considered 5 years, and it’s commonplace for CEO’s to move on within 5 years, why then are we rewarding stagnation within so many organisations and constantly recruiting more of the same?

The world is changing fast, particularly in technology. Vision, Innovation & strategic prowess come from new ways of seeing old problems, which only come with new visionaries and innovators joining your organisation.

An old saying that has resurfaced a lot recently that I love, says it all;

‘A fish rots at the head’

So organisations need to consider how innovative they are being when always recruiting existing CEOs and Executives from within their industry sector time and time again.

We need to break this cycle of playing safe if we want organisations to innovate and progress through the evolution of technology that is upon us.

We need to welcome new talent with open arms of people who have never been CEOs or Executives before and support them to step into these roles enthusiastically.

These new people will bring a freshness in perspective that could potentially catapult your organisation to new heights of innovation, strategic thinking and collaboration.

Instead of choosing to keep recruiting people from within the same industry. Choosing to give outsiders an opportunity to shine a light on problems with a completely new focus, allows the introduction of skills from other industries that your organisation may be in dire need of right now.

How do I know this you might be thinking?

I have spent the last 30 years being an outsider. Remember, I have made a living changing careers and industries intentionally to consistently bring new and innovative ideas to environments that were unintentionally stagnating.

Once you get on the stagnation highway, your organisation can unknowingly enter dire straights and a downhill run to failure, creating toxic cultures along the way. The longer you stay on the stagnation highway, the more you take the safe route and the less obvious it is to see the downward spiral.

An outsider looking through a different lens can help you to spot this quickly. Enabling you to pivot quickly to avoid crippling situations that are costly to recover from.

Just ask an average CEO how much they are spending to rectify technology stagnation and culture programs in an attempt to fix culture problems. The numbers will make your eyes pop.

We need to get fresh eyes in our organisations regularly to keep us on our toes. When I say in, I mean new internal staff with long-term buy-in and accountability for success. Not consulting firms that have no accountability or long-term desire to help change stick beyond their road map delivery. Lasting change takes 6 to 10 years. Consulting firms are long gone by then because there is no way you can afford their exorbitant fees that long.

Ask yourself, is your organisation playing it safe on the stagnation highway?

You might need a second opinion if you have also been there too long.

Young people understand this far better than most. Younger generations are moving in and out of job roles, and organisations, completely changing careers with absolute ease. They are showing the rest of the world how important it is to keep a fresh perspective.

This fresh perspective is a beautiful way to help us to stay curious, not just for those who bring the fresh perspective, but also for those who need the fresh perspective in the organisations they are working within.

Curiosity is an incredibly important skill to foster enabling the development and enhancement of visionary leadership. Curiosity allows you to lean in, and to have the foresight to anticipate challenges and identify opportunities at the same time.

Let’s look at these skills individually one by one to understand their true value in application.

Visionary Leadership

Having a clear vision fostering a culture of innovation and progress with the ability to navigate complexity is essential in the fast-changing technology world we are working and living in.

Visionary leaders develop their skills over time, not in a classroom but on the floor of businesses, observing, listening and keeping abreast of technology advancements.

Visionary leaders see the way forward when others cannot, through an intertwined web of connections between function, tensions and future needs. They see the big picture and can take your organisation on the journey you need to go on, in a way that can often seem effortless.

Visionary leaders find ways to see patterns and problems clearly, with their well-developed skills in self and spatial awareness. They do not profess to have all the answers, rather they know how to reach into organisations to find the hidden talent within, to get the job done.

Effective Communication

The ability to convey complex ideas to diverse stakeholders, whilst building trust and consensus across diverse stakeholder groups are essential skills that are all part of the communication skill set of a great leader.

In a world where complexity seems everywhere, the ability to be able to simplify anything is a rare skill in today’s leaders.

You know someone knows what they are talking about well when they can explain something that appears complex, in a simple way. This skill also is developed through hands-on experience, not through traditional educational knowledge or outdated complex frameworks and theories.

When you learn to develop this skill as a leader, you almost seem to magnetically attract trust at the same time, which we know is fundamentally important for successful leadership. Complexity creates frustrations leading to a lack of trust. On the other hand, simplicity creates understanding that leads to trust.

Stakeholder engagement skills are gained through the experience of engaging with stakeholders, failing and pivoting repeatedly. This coupled with a healthy developed intuition is quite the powerhouse of communication skills in a great leader.

We vastly underestimate and undervalue intuition in business. We regularly second-guess ourselves and our intuition which naturally guides us in the right direction.

Great Leaders have highly developed and trusted intuitive muscles that they have worked on personally to elevate from within themselves.

Strategic Thinking

The ability to navigate with strategic prowess by having the foresight to anticipate challenges, identify opportunities and formulate comprehensive strategies for sustainable development often seems to be as rare as hen’s teeth. As is the ability to let go, and trust your people to decide the how for themselves, once you’ve sorted the what in the strategy.

Strategic thinking couples closely with vision in great leaders. Anticipating challenges as a visionary puts you and your organisation ahead of the game. It gives your people something to connect to so that you can collaborate to form the way forward together.

Strategic thinking of great leaders helps to draw out the best ideas in your people who are closer to the problems your organisation is trying to solve.

Strategic thinking requires a willingness to take risks. When you show up as a leader who sees risk-taking and innovation as good practices, you foster these skills in your people.

Risk-taking and innovative collaboration are essential components to progress organisations, particularly through technology and fast-moving market changes. When great leaders foster these skills in their people you can gain the advantage in your sector and develop your future leaders at the same time.

Collaborative Spirit

The ability to prioritise collaboration, and forging partnerships with other agencies, community groups and businesses to achieve collective success, is essential to the success of great leadership.

No one person has or even should have, all the answers. Diversity in perspective is essential to uncover all the possibilities for success or failure. It’s the problem shared is a problem-halved scenario, and great leaders know how important collaboration is for both the bottom line and the ongoing culture of your organisation.

Resilience in Adversity

The ability to be resilient in the face of crises or setbacks, to stay steadfast, to remain composed under pressure and to adapt swiftly to changing circumstances to lead through turbulent times is a critical success factor for a great leader.

Resilience under pressure, is equally not a skill gained through traditional educational knowledge. Resilience takes effort and time to develop. This skill is frequently developed very successfully before entering an executive role. Great leaders have taken the time to hone their skills in resilience, through mistakes and setbacks, learning and moving forward in a continued pursuit of personal development.

A Resilient leader gains respect from their people by charting the way forward, creating stability even when it feels unstable to those around them.

Fiscal Responsibility

Sound financial management and governance ability to prudently ensure dollars are allocated wisely and transparently for the benefit of all stakeholders is important.

However, it is important to note that fiscal responsibility alone will never get the job done. I have seen more times than I’d like to count, where this skill has been considered more important than the other 7 to the detriment of business outcomes.

A great leader must be proficient in all 8 skills. Achieving the bottom line, focused only on fiscal responsibility, is like detonating a bomb in your organisation’s culture, only providing short-term financial gains.

Great leaders know this well. It is critically important to not let money completely taint your views when looking for someone to fill an executive role in your organisation.

A balanced skill set in a leader is the only way to deliver balanced and sustainable success in your organisation long term.

I see far too often accountants as CEOs who have underdeveloped skills in many of the 7 other skills of great leaders.

That is not to say that all accountants don’t have all 8 skills of a great leader. On the contrary, I have seen some exceptional leaders who started their careers in accounting. However, these were always people who made great efforts to diversify their skills through changing roles and intentional self-development.

Commitment to Equity and Inclusion

The ability to champion diversity, equity and inclusion is a non-negotiable skill for a great leader. Working tirelessly to dismantle barriers, foster inclusivity and ensure all voices are considered equal and heard in decision-making processes must be non-negotiable within your organisation.

Diversity, equity and inclusion to ensure adequate representation throughout every level of your organisation is essential to get the best results. Diversity of people brings diversity of the 8 skills of great leadership.

When diversity does not flow all the way to the top of your organisation, you create disconnection which is a killer on all fronts. This is a simple problem to solve. By replicating the diversity across each level of your organisation, all people at all levels feel represented.

A perfect example of how this goes wrong is when an organisation with 50% women has less than 10% female leaders.

The same applies to all other areas of diversity. When all people are fairly represented at all levels people feel heard. When people feel heard the overall organisation does better in every way.

Change becomes effortless when representation is balanced with strong collaboration skills of great leaders. In turn, balance brings diverse perspectives to the right tables when decisions are being made impacting everyone.

Ethical Integrity

Trust is the cornerstone of leadership, possessing the highest ethical standards, while demonstrating honesty, integrity and accountability are non-negotiable in the development of great leaders.

In a world where trust has been greatly eroded at every turn, we’ve become quite a sceptical bunch, to say the least.

Trust begins at home. Great leaders show great fortitude in the development of their ability to trust themselves. When you develop trust within, showing trust towards others becomes far easier.

We often say that trust is earned when we speak of trusting others. Yet without self-awareness and introspection, we frequently expect others to trust us implicitly.

Great Leaders have learned this lesson and build trusting relationships with their people, by actively demonstrating honesty, integrity and accountability themselves.

When ethical integrity is playing out successfully in a work environment, the ripple effect is felt far and wide, because the demonstration of ethical integrity by great leaders is adopted across stakeholders both within and externally, including customers, communities and suppliers.

Future Leaders

So next time you are on a board or recruitment panel for the next executive in your organisation, consider looking closely at these 8 interrelated skills and where they are gained. You might just find yourself a great leader in a person or place you may have never expected.

Great leaders are overlooked every day. If you make it your business to find the hidden gems with these 8 skills balanced, by looking in the places you may have forgotten. You, like I was, will be pleasantly surprised where they could take your organisation.

The great leaders of tomorrow have already moved beyond traditional knowledge acquisition, purposefully developing their skills to genuinely engage their empathy and intuition, showing up in the vulnerability of their humanness.

What are you doing?

To your success!