Page 128 - 4- Leading_from_Within

interpersonal, the hard and the soft. If you cannot achieve this internal
balance, your organization will suffer an imbalance. This balance can be
very difficult, because many people define themselves by their ability to be
experts in their occupational skills while viewing behavioral skills as

secondary or incidental. In the field of economic development, much more
attention is usually paid to occupational skills such as marketing, working
with existing business, social networking, etc. Because of this, especially
with respect to leaders, traditional “soft” skills are harder to get right. 152

Changing leadership behavior is more difficult than acquiring technical

skills. A leader doesn’t have the convenience of behaving only for
himself/herself. He or she must also be a good role model for others.
Many leaders fail, or fail to develop, because they are stuck in an old
mindset and continue to act primarily for the benefit of themselves.

Interpersonal Skills

It isn’t easy to become or remain a leader. Relating to people is
challenging. One must first come to a full realization that human
relationship skills are important. A growing awareness and understanding
seems to be developing among leaders that the only way to significantly

improve organizational effectiveness is to develop better interpersonal
skills.

Unfortunately, many leaders resist improving their interpersonal skills
because it appears that they fear that admitting the need to do so shows

weakness to superiors, peers, and subordinates. This is hardly a helpful
path for developing better leaders, as it denies the basic truth that if you
expect to lead others, you must first be able to lead yourself.

The capacity for improved human relationships has also been called “social
intelligence.” Research has clearly demonstrated that many Fortune 500
companies name strong interpersonal, communication, and team skills as

the most important criteria for success in organizational leadership. 153 A

152 http://www.businessinsider.com/successful-leadership-skills-2012-11.
153 http://business.uni.edu/buscomm/Interpersonal/InterpersonalCommunication.htm.

David Kolzow 128