Do You Have The Skills To Lead In Uncertain Times

The world of work is changing. What are you doing to help yourself and your management team keep pace with those changes? Are the leadership skills that got you here the same skills that will get you and your team to where you need to go to manage and lead in uncertain times?

Quotes Worth Remembering – ‘Before you are a leader, success is about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is about growing others.’ – Jack Welch.

Here are four skills that will distinguish you from a so-so leader to an exceptional one. Which ones are you good at – and which ones will you have to learn?

Connecting. Exceptional leaders can bring people together with diverse backgrounds and skill sets, and have them perform as a team. Exceptional leaders understand that teamwork makes the whole thing work.

Communicating. Exceptional leaders have the ability to communicate in a way that everyone will understand. Exceptional leaders understand that if they can’t communicate up, down and across the organization regardless of gender or generation, then they can’t manage or lead them.

Educating. Exceptional leaders understand that you rarely get to hire someone who is fully trained. Exceptional leaders realize that their role is to fill the skills gap by teaching others what they need to know to sustain and grow the organization.

Delegating. Exceptional leaders understand that they must relinquish control to gain control. Exceptional leaders know that they can’t control everything and be everywhere all at once. They understand that they must delegate some of their tasks and responsibility to others, and stay out of their way and let them do their job.

Quotes Worth Remembering. – ‘The best leader is the one who has sense enough to pick good people to do what needs to be done, and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it.’ – Theodore Roosevelt.

You now have the potential to work with four generations simultaneously. Each generation – Gen X, Millennials, Gen Z, and the newest generation to enter the workforce, Alpha prefer to be managed and led differently. People skills, often referred to as soft skills, are essential skills. Without the ability to connect with others, communicate in a way that everyone understands, educate them on what they need to know, and delegate when necessary, you stand little chance of managing or leading them. Do you have the skills to lead in uncertain times?

Copyright 2025. Brian Smith – Power Link Dynamics. Not to be reproduced without permission. Are you searching for a keynote speaker for your next event, or planning a training session at your location? Brian specializes in soft skills training and leadership development. He will customize a session that is right for you and your organization.

Are You Leading or Just Managing.

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-zkckn-192cd90

Are you leading or just managing? True leaders develop more leaders, not grow more followers. True leaders understand that their role is to bring people together with different skill sets, teach them what they need to know and do, and then stay out of their way and let them do it. Listen to my most recent episode of the Confessions of a Reformed Control Freak Podcast and discover the four skills true leaders need to excel at. If you haven’t mastered these four skills, you aren’t leading. You are just managing. 

Are You Leading or Just Managing?

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-8bwmp-1928dea
True leaders develop more leaders, not grow more followers. True leaders understand that their role is to bring people with different skill sets together, empower them by teaching them what they need to know and do, and then get out of their way and let them do it. Are you leading or just managing? Listen to my podcast and discover the four leadership skills you need to master to become a true leader.

Are You Leading or Just Managing

True leaders develop more leaders, not grow more followers. True leaders understand that their role is to bring people with different skill sets together, empower them by teaching them what they need to know, and then get out of their way and let them do it. Are you leading or just managing?

Worth Remembering – Bury your ego. Don’t be the star. Be the star maker. – Bud Hadfield.

Whether you are a first-time team leader, supervisor, manager or a seasoned veteran looking to enhance your ability to manage and lead others more successfully, you must master these four leadership skills – Connecting, Communicating, Educating and Delegating.

Connecting. To have or establish rapport. Connect – to join together – to join with or become joined with something else. Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Your success as a manager or leader begins and ends with your ability to bring people together. If you can’t connect on an emotional level with others, you stand little chance of managing or leading them.

Communicating. To convey knowledge of or information about. To cause to pass from one to another. Merriam-Webster Dictionary. If you can’t communicate in a way that others will understand, then you can’t manage or lead them. There isn’t a more valuable skill for managers or leaders to have than the ability to communicate effectively up, down and across the organization.

Educating. To train by formal instruction and supervised practice, especially in a skill, trade or profession. Merriam-Webster Dictionary. You rarely, if ever, get to hire someone who is fully trained. Your role as a manager or leader is to fill the skills gap by teaching them what they need to know and do to sustain and grow the organization.

Delegating. To entrust to another. To appoint as one’s representative. Merriam-Webster Dictionary. If you fail to delegate some of your responsibility to those on your team, you are robbing them of their opportunity to grow. You can’t be in all places and do everything by yourself. You must learn to relinquish control to gain control. You must resist the urge to micromanage them.

Worth Remembering – To create human capital, a company needs to foster teamwork, communities of practice, and other social forms of learning. – Thomas Stewart.

Are you leading or just managing? If you haven’t mastered connecting, communicating, educating and delegating, you aren’t leading. You are just managing.

Copyright 2025. Brian Smith – Power Link Dynamics. Not to be reproduced without permission. If you want to put these four leadership skills into practice, Brian’s book – ‘Leadership Lessons from a Reformed Control Freak – A 4-Step Guide to Developing 21st. Century Leaders‘ is available on Amazon and includes a 4-week online leadership development workshop. – ASIN – 0987845926.