10 Soft Skills Every Leader Needs To be Successful


One of the most exciting and challenging things about leadership is that it requires mastery of a diverse set of skills. You need technical skills, specialized skills for your business or industry, managerial skills—the list goes on. One set of skills that’s often overlooked but vitally important is what’s known as soft skills.

Soft skills are closely tied to the personal character traits and qualities each of us have. They are part of who you are, generally encompassing attitudes, habits and how you interact with others.

Soft skills are much less tangible than hard or technical skills, and they aren’t learned through education or training. You can, however, develop them through experience and concerted effort—and it’s some of the most important self-development you can do as a leader.

Here are the top 10 soft skills every leader needs:

Embodying self-awareness. It’s important to develop a clear understanding of your own character, so you can understand your feelings and motivations and embrace a deep understanding of who you are as a person.

Managing with emotional intelligence. The best leaders know how to make an impact not just with their knowledge, skills and experience, but also by being able to understand and manage their emotions. Emotional intelligence enables them to connect with others in ways that make people feel understood and appreciated.

Leading with a positive attitude. It’s important to embody an attitude of positivity, optimism and enthusiasm. A positive attitude can do wonders in turning a department or company around—and it’s contagious.

Communicating effectively. Communication is paramount to almost any job, but especially to leadership positions. Knowing how to speak thoughtfully and intelligently and how to listen intently and actively, keeping both in balance, will take you far.

Embodying empathy. Empathy is arguably the most important soft skill anyone needs, in the workforce and in life. If you’re in leadership, empathy—the simple act of paying attention to another human being and working to understanding their situation—helps you work with everyone from team members to clients to senior leadership .

Solving problems creatively. Creative problem-solving is an important but often-overlooked element of success. Since problems are inevitable, leaders who can find effective solutions and forge alternative paths on the fly are invaluable. Creativity drives innovation and increases efficiency.

Accepting feedback. Accepting feedback gracefully shows genuine skill. When you apply that feedback in ways that foster your leadership development and personal growth, you take it to the highest level.

Praising publicly and criticizing privately. Most leaders understand that public praise helps people feel appreciated and recognized. But you also need to know how to give correction and criticism privately. Private, supportive feedback fosters better performance and a desire to overcome challenges instead of resistance and defensiveness.

Motivating and inspiring. A big part of your impact as a leader comes from the inspiration and motivation you impart. That’s why it’s imperative to connect with others to build trust and unity.

Mentoring and coaching. When you invest in others through mentorship and coaching, you express caring leadership. It’s an area where a leader’s actions are far more important than their words.

If you work at developing these soft skills, you can excel as a leader. There’s virtually no area of leadership that doesn’t benefit from them.

Lead from within: Knowing how to get along with people—and managing their growth and development along with your own—is crucial for success.


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The Leadership Gap: What Gets Between You and Your Greatness


After decades of coaching powerful executives around the world, Lolly Daskal has observed that leaders rise to their positions relying on a specific set of values and traits. But in time, every executive reaches a point when their performance suffers and failure persists. Very few understand why or how to prevent it.

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Lolly Daskal is one of the most sought-after executive leadership coaches in the world. Her extensive cross-cultural expertise spans 14 countries, six languages and hundreds of companies. As founder and CEO of Lead From Within, her proprietary leadership program is engineered to be a catalyst for leaders who want to enhance performance and make a meaningful difference in their companies, their lives, and the world.

Of Lolly’s many awards and accolades, Lolly was designated a Top-50 Leadership and Management Expert by Inc. magazine. Huffington Post honored Lolly with the title of The Most Inspiring Woman in the World. Her writing has appeared in HBR, Inc.com, Fast Company (Ask The Expert), Huffington Post, and Psychology Today, and others. Her newest book, The Leadership Gap: What Gets Between You and Your Greatness has become a national bestseller.

  1. Rebecca Gardner

    03. Nov, 2020

    It’s good to know that creative problem solving will help leaders overcome inevitable obstacles on their path. I want to start developing leadership skills so I can apply for management positions and start feeling more confident in my abilities. Maybe I’ll look for a leadership training program since I’m not sure how to improve creative problem solving on my own.

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  2. Dr. Dan Neundorf

    30. Jan, 2021

    Excellent article! This really gets to the key issues of leadership training — for Agile teams and others. It’s particularly useful to point out that leadership can be fluid, with leaders emerging from the team or stepping back depending on the task and/or their specific strengths and skills.

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  3. Max Jones

    20. Oct, 2021

    Thanks for the info about leadership skills. I want to be a better leader. I’ll consider trying out leadership development programs.

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