Ten key skills every leader should have
Last updated on 18 January 2023
Time management, organisation, reliability, communication and professionalism. Are these the top skills you think a leader should have?
Maybe you have a completely different idea of the key qualities of a good leader, or maybe you think the list is much longer than this!
This article brings together the top 10 skills or attributes a leader in aged care should have and explains why these skills would benefit you, your employees and your clients.
- Compassion and empathy
Compassion is a key ‘soft skill’, or an attribute that is non-technical and not learned through skills courses, but forms part of the set of skills labelled as ‘emotional intelligence’.
Research by Dr Jacqueline O’Toole from Monash Business School’s Department of Management has found that aged care leaders identify many different skills and attributes that they think are essential and don’t agree on many skills unanimously.
However, two attributes did stand out in the research, the first being compassion.
To be an effective leader, there is a need to understand the feelings of others and be able to support them in a meaningful way.
Empathy for staff, the stresses they may be feeling at work or at home, and taking steps to improve their lives in practical ways will bring benefits to your workforce and organisation.
While having compassion for residents, clients and families that rely on your organisation for care and what they may be feeling at a time of upheaval in their lives will allow you to improve the quality of care delivered.
- Communication
Communication is the second of Dr O’Toole’s key attributes for influential aged care leaders.
“Communication is really significant because as a leader you have to communicate with so many different stakeholders on different levels and be able to effectively communicate with residents and their families,” Dr O’Toole said.
Strong communication means being able to convey clearly what you want to achieve from your leadership position, your plan for how to achieve it, and what role your employees or other stakeholders play in achieving that vision.
Having everyone on the same page makes the process of running your organisation and working towards the goals smoother, while giving your employees and clients confidence in the direction of the company.
- Relationship building
As mentioned above, aged care leaders need to be able to work with a wide variety of people effectively, which is called relationship management.
It means forming connections with everyone from board members and investors to senior staff, site and service managers, nurses, personal care workers and cleaners. As well as clients and their families.
The stronger the working relationships are that you build with people within and outside of your organisation, the more effective your leadership will be.
Researchers from James Cook University recently found that residential aged care senior managers need strong relationship management skills in order to deliver quality care.
Aged care clients will feel more confident in your leadership if they can put a face to your name and know they are being looked after because of that connection.
The Society for Human Resource Management, which conducts research on issues in workplaces experienced worldwide, has also found 72% of employees it surveyed rate “respectful treatment” of employees at all levels as the top factor in job satisfaction.
So employees will appreciate feeling like you understand them and value the relationship.
- Conflict management
Conflicts are everywhere in every industry.
It could be as simple as a miscommunication between a client and finance officer over an invoice, or a more complex clash between two managers that don’t see eye to eye.
Harvard Business School has said research shows each unaddressed conflict can waste about eight hours of company time, through gossip and other ‘unproductive activities’.
Balanced and fair management of any conflict will maintain your relationships with those involved as much as possible and strengthen the resilience and productivity of your team.
You need to be able to listen to all sides of the story and come up with a solution that is a good compromise, but minimises any potential consequences for your company.
This is a tricky skill, but if you can use it as often as possible your staff and clients will be better off for it and walk away from the conflict management situation with a better view of you and your organisation.
- Critical thinking and problem solving
Aged care is a person-centred industry and because every person is different, running an aged care service can involve some real curve balls that you need to be able to manage.
Any issues you come across are likely to be varied, at times unexpected, and require you to think through the problem critically to come up with the best solution.
If you are able to solve, or at least address, each issue competently, you can stop the problem from getting bigger or more complex, ensuring your organisation continues to function as it should.
Some leadership coaches or experts will label this skill as creativity – the ability to think outside the box in order to solve an issue. However, a complex problem does not always need a complex or creative solution, hence why we have chosen to include critical thinking instead.
- Adaptability and flexibility
Every day is different in aged care and every day presents a new challenge.
This is something many workers understand deeply and learn to work by being flexible and adapting to changes as needed. It also helps with learning any new skills you might need in your leadership role.
When something you have planned doesn’t turn out the way you hoped, you need to be able to adapt your planning to still achieve its aim.
Having a flexible mindset will also feed into many of the other skills on this list to build on your ability to support your employees with whatever it is they need and respond to changing industry regulations, trends and challenges that will impact care for your clients.
- Reliability and trustworthiness
As a leader, role modelling cannot be overlooked in its ability to motivate your staff to put effort into their work and be passionate about their job.
If you model reliability by being available when people need you it’s likely you will find this filters down through your organisation and your employees take on this positive work culture.
Increasing the capability of your team through your own reliability and trustworthiness will also reflect in the care you provide to clients and interactions with families, who will then be more likely to recommend you to their friends.
- Time management
Time management is an obvious but important skill.
An aged care leader will always have many tasks, responsibilities, meetings and appointments on their plate because of the nature of their role.
You likely already know the importance of keeping an up-to-date diary and calendar, but in between appointments you also need to be able to prioritise work and responsibilities which have competing deadlines and levels of importance.
- Organisation
Similarly to time management, good organisation will keep you in control when there is a lot on your plate.
This is key to staying on top of your workload, stress levels and responsibilities.
Therefore, if you are organised this skill will help everyone who works with you to also know what is expected of them and model how they can deal with their own workloads.
- Motivation, commitment and drive to influence change
Aged care as an industry is facing many challenges. You only need to look as far as the Aged Care Royal Commission or the latest StewartBrown reports on the financial stability of aged care providers to see much needs to change in the coming years.
To meet that challenge head-on and come out the other end as the leader of a successful organisation that delivers quality care, it is going to take more than cold skills.
If you have a passion for delivering care and you want to be part of this change, that drive will set you ahead of many other candidates for leadership positions. It will put you in good stead not only to be a successful leader but also to lead your employees into a more stable future, in which your clients receive the best services possible.
Success
Armed with these skills, a leader will have the best chance of successfully tackling a career at the top of aged care organisations.
You can learn more about how different leadership styles relate to these skills in our article, ‘What’s your leadership style?’
What other skills do you think an aged care leader should have? Tell us in the comments below.