Thoughts Brewing Blog

Leadership Skills They Won't Teach You When They Promote You

Written by Damien Griffin | Sep 19, 2024 2:00:00 PM

Have you recently been promoted and now have to officially lead others for the first time?  Have you been in a management position for a while and you’ve realized that you are expected to have a new skill-set that nobody actually told you about?


This is common.  I’m not sure why.  It seems like companies want to set people up for failure.  But I digress.


I’ve managed a lot of teams and a lot of people.  I’m going to share with you a list of skills that I really wish that someone told me about when I got that first group of direct reports.  To be clear, I’m not teaching you the ins and outs of these skills, but hopefully, identifying them will help you get started in figuring out how to navigate this new world.


Here are some leadership skills that you are expected to know -

  • Active listening
  • How to have difficult conversations
  • How to give feedback
  • How to receive feedback
  • How to help others
  • How to ask for help
  • Empathy
  • How to hold space
  • How to have effective confrontations
  • How to disagree without arguing
  • How to prioritize team member growth over your individual contributions
  • How to make decisions
  • Systems thinking
  • How to positively influence others
  • How to let others outshine you
  • How to build resilience
  • How to be a visionary
  • How to build a team
  • Communication
  • Relationship-building

If you’re thinking how long of a list that is, know that it isn’t even the whole list.  Not even close.  


If you are able to slowly build up these skills though, you can create unstoppable teams.  Yes teams, it’s not about you anymore.


Get started.  Today.