It’s a common misconception that leaders are born, not bred. But skills such as emotional intelligence, managing people and working as a team can be taught.
In the past, cross-functional skills were sometimes referred to as soft skills, and weren’t assessed in the same way as technical skills. But many organisations today see the real value of cross-functional skills, and how they can help someone thrive and lead in the modern hybrid workplace. There are five that stand out, according to career experts.
1. Emotional intelligence skills
Emotional intelligence (EI) can help you build stronger relationships and connect with others through better regulation, control and understanding of your own and others’ emotions.
“It’s really about getting students to understand how they’re being perceived from an EI perspective and how they can improve their own EI,” says Andy Healy, continuing professional education specialist at Swinburne Edge, part of Swinburne University of Technology.
Healy says EI is especially important for leaders: “Strong EI is vital when leading teams towards goals.”
Russell Fairbanks, managing director at Luminary, a recruitment and advisory firm in Brisbane, says: “EI is an increasingly important leadership attribute that can be measured and tested.”
As a specialist in leadership recruitment, Fairbanks says EI is assessed in a number of ways, chief of which is self-awareness.
“A leader has to know about their own shortcomings and their ability to perform in certain environments: knowing what the gaps are and how to close them, or in the context of a team project, who you’re going to lean on to close those gaps.”
2. Project management skills
Healy says the rapid rate of change across industries in recent years has made it important for companies to be more project based if they want to get the most out of their teams.
“It looks like companies are heading in a direction where they’re more focused on understanding the skills that individuals have in order to manage projects,” he says.
Swinburne University of Technology. Image credit: Shaun McKenna
A global report conducted by the Anderson Economic Group predicts that demand for project managers will be higher than supply in the near future, putting skilled project managers in the driving seat when looking for new opportunities.
Fairbanks says: “The skills that are attached to project management are increasingly skills that we’re looking for in contemporary leadership. Skills such as adaptability, resilience, creativity and communication are needed to be able to lead with impact.”
Swinburne Edge courses are developed to align with future industry trends and help students develop the skill sets that businesses and industry leaders have specifically requested in workers.
3. Negotiation skills
Amid a skilled worker shortage crisis, it has become increasingly important for employees of all levels to know how to negotiate. Healy says: “It feels like the balance of power between employees and employers is changing. It is therefore in the best interest of the employee to brush up on negotiation skills to be able to successfully negotiate how and where they work.”
Fairbanks says understanding human behaviour and being able to communicate effectively are also fundamental skills in negotiating. “I have yet to see a good project manager who doesn’t have a strong communications plan,” he says.
“Being able to influence at scale, across an organisation, into complex stakeholder groups, informally, is a skill the best project managers are able to harness.”
Swinburne Edge’s short courses and qualifications can help leaders recognise and develop these attributes in themselves and their teams.
“I think leaders who are most aware or in touch with their own characteristics and attributes of a successful leader are undeniably those who can tap into and get others to perform around them,” Fairbanks says.
4. Coaching skills
Leaders with the skills to coach or mentor can be motivators in their teams, creating connections, building trust and fostering an environment of innovation.
Healy says in the modern hybrid working environment leaders with strong coaching skills are able to have an impact whether staff are in the office or not. At Swinburne Edge, coaching skills are taught in a range of practical ways, allowing leaders to formalise their coaching skills and then use these skills in their workplace.
5. Change management skills
The uptake for change management and transformational leadership courses at Swinburne Edge has risen in the past couple of years, Healy says. This increase has been due to changes in the working environment – moving from the office to remote working and now to a hybrid model – which have required managers to acquire the skills needed to lead teams through change.
Fairbanks is seeing this play out in the workplace. “Modern-day leaders have to deal with a changing landscape, demonstrating resilience in stressful situations,” he says. “Being able to lead people to change is critical.”
This is no easy feat, which is why lifelong learning is a strategy being adopted by so many leaders with a growth mindset.
“Learning is the ability to measure somebody’s willingness to commit to their own professional development,” Fairbanks says. “It’s about being curious. We actively look for that as an attribute when we’re recruiting for senior executive roles to demonstrate an openness to experience.”