The importance that companies give to soft skills when hiring managers reveals that technical and specific knowledge is no longer enough when it comes to leading a group. Only people with a clear and global vision of what teamwork means will be what we call “challenge managers”.
What makes a good leader?
Advantere is a management school that aims to transform traditional business education by putting social justice and sustainability at the center of the strategy. For a long time, however, a list of hard skills such as a degree, knowledge of a foreign language and software were the basis of a professional profile.
Teachable abilities are essential to apply for a job, of course. But do they reflect who that person is, or just the candidate? Let's put a situation: when two resumes (or two hundred) have similar technical skills, which one should be moved forward with the job application? Soft skills set the tone for engagement in the new society.
Qualities of challenge managers
Organizational leaders have to offer solutions that are effective and produce results for the common good. It is this social core that distinguishes the good players from the top players. To make a difference, it is necessary to combine this qualities:
Communication skills
The best managers are those who build the workplace around actively listening to their employees while matching them with the needs of the company. They appreciate feedback as a way to grow and learn in order to improve.
Ability to accept uncertainty
Adapting to change is one of the keys to success that also increases the team's confidence in your decisions. Uncertainty is a magnificent opportunity to test a leader's flexibility.
Critical vision
What is established is only a part of reality that must always be questioned in order to explore its possibilities. Tactical and strategic improvements emerge when the right questions are asked.
Motivation for challenges
The way difficulties are dealt with shows the character of a manager. A good leader is able to offer innovative solutions to complex problems.
Work ethic
It does not mean being the first to arrive and the last to leave. As Foucault said, "ethics is the reflexive form that freedom takes", understood here as the ability to delegate and unite employees around a common purpose.
Inspirational
A good leader is always an example. Someone who takes his or her team beyond their individual possibilities. Positive influence carries incalculable weight for a company because it builds the values on which trust is based.
Still wondering how to lead a team?
Leadership is far more than just authority, being in charge and mastering hard skills. It requires putting your employees first, being empathetic and offering them the best possible conditions for their development and thus for the company's goals. This is how you build brand culture.
At Advantere we reinforce these qualities with our re-solutionary learning method, which means collaborative learning: going beyond yourself, expanding your boundaries and being for others. We are committed to giving new significance to management education and to develop challenge managers.
Are you a re-solutionary? Take a look at our Master in International Management and our Master in Finance, we're looking for you.