As young adults, most of our students at Fruita 8/9 are either looking for a job or plan to look for a job in the coming years. Aristotle once stated, “Good habits formed at youth make all the difference.” One of these “good habits” being getting and job and learning how to provide for yourself. The way I see it, if you can maintain a job in high school, then you are more likely to know how to do a job and do that job efficiently because of prior experience. According to Deloitte’s 2016 Global Human Capital Trends report, 86% of business and HR leaders cited leadership as a “very important” or “important” part of the hiring process. I have compiled a list of of the top 10 leadership employers tend to look when hiring from 2 different sources. Let’s begin!
1. Communication
A large part of being a leader is communicating with the people around you
. Not only is it essential to complete a project, but it also helps create a clear message for all involved in a project or line of work. Communication also includes listening. As a leader, you must be able to listen to the ideas and complaints of others. This creates a nondenominational feeling between you (the leader) and your coworker. As history writes, neglecting to listen to others can cause some major problems. Make sure to listen!
- Motivation
As a leader, you must be able to motivate your companions in whatever way possible. This can be through incentives, increasing responsibilities, and even have recognition rituals. If you can’t motivate your team, there is most likely an increased chance that nothing will be completed.
- Delegation
Leaders are often given a number of tasks to complete in a certain amount of time. With my experience, I know that it’s entirely impossible to complete all tasks individually. The simple solution? Delegate tasks to different team members. Delegate is defined by Oxford Dictionaries as a person sent to represent others or a member of a committee. This person represents the task at hand as they complete it.
- Positivity
Yes, we all know that someone who is extremely positive can be annoying, at times. The truth is that someone with a positive attitude can radiate that positivity towards the atmosphere of the group. With that, the leader always sets the tone of the group. Yes, at times, tasks can become difficult and/or stressful, but you must work through these obstacles with a smile and a positive attitude.
- Commitment
To be a leader, you must be able to fully commit to your corporation and your team members. In order to work and complete projects in a satisfactory environment, you must be able to give your best foot forward and work for the benefit of the company. As a leader, you must show your full dedication, as people will follow that dedication. If you don’t display this, only a small percentage of effort will actually go into your task, which will not allow the task to be finished in a satisfactory way. A survey conducted by the Center for Creative Leadership showed that 95% of employees were committed to their corporation. Make sure to be apart of that 95%!
- Trustworthiness
Your followers must be able to put forth their full trust in you. A wise man once said, “Trust must be earned, not imposed.” You must be to show your subordinates that they can display all concerns, comments, etcetera to you without worrying if it will affect them in any way. Although building trust may take a large amount of time, that trust built will only bring your team together.
- Potential, Not Performance
Performance is perceived as an important part of completing tasks, but employers also look for the potential in their applicants. Meaning that, if applicants can show that they have the possibility of doing something, employers will most likely hire them, even though someone else has already performed in that way.
- Responsibility
A leader must be responsible in the overall work of their team, including both the successes and failures of the team. This means that you must be able to accept the blame if a task doesn’t end up in the perceived direction. In addition to taking blame, leaders must also be able to keep track of necessary items for projects. In my own opinion, I think responsibility is an easier skill to obtain, but not everyone can comprehend it.
- Creativity
In order to make a task interesting, leaders must be creative. In order to execute an idea, creativity is needed to make the task unique and somewhat enjoyable. Not only do you need creativity for the task itself, but you also need it to perform the task, in order to make working on the task enjoyable.
- Flexibility
A huge part of being a leader is pretty much going with the flow. Meaning, you must be able to adapt to changes in schedules and overall projects. The more flexible you are, the smoother the project will run.
The more of these skills you are able to acquire, the better leader you are able to become. Not only will these skills help you in grabbing a job, but it will also help build your overall leadership style. Take it from me, leading can be difficult. Managing people and delegating tasks can become a little stressful and/or overworking. My advice is look to the positive side! If you’re with people you can trust, then the task can easily be accomplished. Remember, leaders make more leaders, not followers.
Works Cited
Doyle, Alison. “Top 10 Leadership Skills Employers Look For.” The Balance, The Balance, www.thebalance.com/top-leadership-skills-2063782.
Riklan, Michelle. “What Employers Look For In Future Leaders.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 31 Aug. 2017, www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2016/07/28/what-employers-look-for-in-future-leaders/#21600c414c5c.