Nearly 80% of human resources executives believe that the main challenge facing their organization is developing appropriate leadership and management styles, as indicated by data from The Management Agenda 2016.

Leadership can become especially challenging when various departments and divisions have to work together. A survey of 620 managers conducted by Leadership Excellence Essentials, found that over half of the respondents did not feel that decisions and actions were well coordinated across departments and functions, or across levels of management. In addition, 44% do not think that people readily share information with different divisions, and 40% do not believe that people cooperate with different departments in order to achieve the strategic objectives of the organization.

There has been a significant amount of research that proves, for any organization to succeed it needs a defined set of objectives and follow-through at every level. How can you manage to create a culture in which every team of employees works together towards fostering company growth? It starts with a strong leader, who can pass those skills on to the team creating a cultural buy-in and mindset of collaboration.

What characteristics do you need to become an effective leader? According to Evan Sinar, chief scientist and director for the Center of Analytics and Behavioral Research at The Development Dimensions International (DDI), the most critical skills for business leaders include:

• Coaching and Developing Others
• Identifying and Developing Future Talent
• Managing and Successfully Introducing Change
• Inspiring Others Toward a Challenging Future Vision
• Fostering Employee Creativity and Innovation
• Leading Across Countries and Cultures

What have you done to bolster not only your leadership skills, but those of your employees?