September 2, 2024
Is good leadership natural or made? Perhaps a mixture of both. However recent studies incline good leadership towards a series of structures that come from powerful organisational skills and optimised strategies.
Organisational structure is the epitome of your business success. At first glance, you might not prioritise organisational skills, however, given the rapidly changing leadership landscapes, having a gruelling set of managerial skills becomes essential.
Whether you are a startup or want to build your company’s hierarchy, there is nothing more crucial for your growth than being equipped with the right leadership skills.
Sustained success is paramount to the competencies and with the right skill set, you can steer your organisation in the right direction. In this blog, we are going to help you navigate what exactly organisational skills are and how they are important for your future leadership.
Contrary to popular belief, good leadership extends beyond the extroversion skill of commanding attention within a room. It's one part of it, yes. But not the entire translation of what it means to be a good leader.
A lot of it has to do with creating small structures, and skeletal ones that run deep within your organisation. That means having to layer every foundational knowledge of your departments involved such as having interpersonal skills, strategy formulation and execution, and being a conflict resolver.
For example, one of the leading companies in the asset management industry, EZO embodied their product value through branching out as an organisation and solving their customer needs.
Even people born with a nuance of being natural leaders have a lot to instil skills that drive their business acumen. So regardless of your position, your professional efficacy will require a combined set of organisational and leadership skills structure. Here is what how some of them might look like;
A centralised leadership role may look like a singular chain of command responsible for making all major decisions within the organisation. The decision-making within the organisation is retained with the main head office ensuring there is a to and fro of communication with a persistent chain of command.
Decentralised leadership encourages departments within an organisation to have its own individualised set of hierarchy and decision-making processes. This is most effective with large-scale customer service departments or teams that are relocated to different business locations.
A hierarchical organisational structure follows through a set of traditional commands. The structure is more like a pyramid where one position is responsible with other managerial roles spread out below. Hierarchical management and structure help organise a chain of commands and processes for a more transparent workflow.
Circular structure makes the leadership role the centre of the organisation making it central to all the organisational teams. This is more encouraged for a better flow of communication and collaboration amongst teams.
A flat organisational structure has a lesser chain of command and is similar to a central organisational structure. With fewer command tiers, the leadership is again placed in more decision-making across all teams.
A vertical organisational structure has a set structure for each department, with a defined role of organisational responsibility with somewhat authority of making responsible decisions within the team on their part without having to involve leadership.
Having a basic organisational structure is vital for calculating the success of your organisation. Here are some basic organisational foundations to keep in mind;
Having a good command of your communication skills as a leader is essentially very important for your organisation to grow. However, communication is much more than simplifying and letting out a set of commands. It involves active listening and being able to bridge the gap between your employee and their hierarchy. Good effective communication can go like this;
Every company and business needs a plan and strategy. What do you stand for, what do you hope to achieve out of it and where do you want to project your business success? Defining processes and what kind of resources you would want in that plan will help you eliminate a lot of glitches and drawbacks in your organisational expansion. Make sure each department has a strategy in place, with precise outcomes and goals that eventually complement your business growth.
Any good leader is good at making swift decisions and prioritising tasks. What goes into your daily set of absolute head-on tasks and what can be delegated to another team member? How you prioritise your decision-making is one of the key skills that a lot of leaders fall short of as they progress in their career paths. A leader with good decision-making skills always weighs different risks, makes alternative decisions, and above all is quick to make some choices in a high-pressure situation. Therefore knowing how to prioritise your tasks and what kind of decision-making your work requires is crucial not just for your well-being but overall the projective growth of your business trajectory.
Time is an asset that must be taken control of regardless of whatever skill set you want to master in life. An effective and efficient leader needs to make the most out of their time which is why understanding the importance of scheduling and developing routines is crucial. Whether it's deadlines or important abrupt tasks, everything needs to be taken care of in its own time as you move forward. However, this also means having a healthy consciousness of what work-life balance should look like to make the most out of your time.
Through leveraging the right tools and skill sets there is a lot you can achieve if you are just starting on your journey to build an organisation. With our valuable advice and coaching tools you can feasibly ace your life and work goals. After all, prioritising your growth is what will push you forward in life.
