I had an interesting conversation with a prospective client recently.

Many leaders in their organisation are technical experts who are struggling to develop leadership qualities.

When the personality strengths of a person don’t naturally align with leadership attributes then what happens?

  • Do they stay in their technical role and not attempt a leadership pathway?
  • Do they only lead people that have a similar personality profile?
  • Do they give up?

I don’t like the thought of giving up. I believe with the right combination of interventions they can learn to develop effective leadership behaviours and become a successful leader.

With many of today’s businesses working in niche industries it’s not uncommon that people with a strong technical background are needing to transition into leadership roles.

So how might they develop these skills?

We know in order for people to achieve a desired change they need to change either their Thoughts, Emotions, Behaviours or all three.

positive_emotions_diagram

If we can change how people think about their ability to develop their leadership skills then they are more likely to demonstrate effective leadership behaviours which in turn makes them feel more confident which confirm their thoughts of “maybe I can do this well” and so on it goes.

Consciously acting out different types of leadership behaviours and reflecting on their thoughts about their experiences can also help people feel differently about their ability to be an effective leader.

Daniel Goleman, the author of “Emotional Intelligence” 1995 states:

“Truly effective leaders are distinguished by a high degree of emotional intelligence, which includes self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skill.”

By identifying an individual’s strengths and development areas in relation to emotional intelligence we can focus on which leadership behaviours need to be developed.

You can use a variety of different assessment tools for this including the GENOS EI Model

A customised learning solution that will target these specific skills through training and coaching will enable the leader to think, feel and behave differently and ultimately make them more effective.

What advice do you have for technical experts who want to become a leader?

Contact us for a free consultation and discover how we can help you develop your leaders