Communication and interpersonal skills collectively make just the tip of the iceberg
Published Date: 2010-09-26
Leadership League, Perspective, The Himalyan Times
Last year, I visited a capital - based renowned college to deliver a class on youth participation and leadership. Out of hundreds of students, the management had chosen 20 students for my discussion. I visited the college a year later and decided to involve an entire class for discussion. Initially, only two out of 25 actively participated in the discussions.
They were the ones who had participated in previous discussions and were also class toppers. When questioned, everybody turned to the two for answers. The incident taught me some valuable lessons. The management only provided opportunity to the brightest students who could articulate, debate and ask questions in my first discussion. However, it is debateable whether communication and interpersonal skills are the only attributes necessary for good leadership.
We consider leaders to be synonymous with good communicators. Those who can articulate and communicate better than others are thought to be great leaders. We can observe the same perspective in politics, peer groups and schools. Communication and interpersonal skills are visible qualities, based on which we judge the leadership quality of a person.
Leadership is mostly perceived as “leading people” rather than transforming oneself. In the course of our judgment, we tend to forget that other skills such as empathy and selfawareness, critical and creative thinking, decision-making and problem solving and coping with emotions and stress are also equally important qualities that a good leader should possess. These qualities are harder to quantify and measure as compared to communication and interpersonal skills.
Communication and interpersonal skills collectively make just the tip of the iceberg with many other necessary skills secreted within.
Published Date: 2010-09-26
Leadership League, Perspective, The Himalyan Times
Last year, I visited a capital - based renowned college to deliver a class on youth participation and leadership. Out of hundreds of students, the management had chosen 20 students for my discussion. I visited the college a year later and decided to involve an entire class for discussion. Initially, only two out of 25 actively participated in the discussions.
They were the ones who had participated in previous discussions and were also class toppers. When questioned, everybody turned to the two for answers. The incident taught me some valuable lessons. The management only provided opportunity to the brightest students who could articulate, debate and ask questions in my first discussion. However, it is debateable whether communication and interpersonal skills are the only attributes necessary for good leadership.
We consider leaders to be synonymous with good communicators. Those who can articulate and communicate better than others are thought to be great leaders. We can observe the same perspective in politics, peer groups and schools. Communication and interpersonal skills are visible qualities, based on which we judge the leadership quality of a person.
Leadership is mostly perceived as “leading people” rather than transforming oneself. In the course of our judgment, we tend to forget that other skills such as empathy and selfawareness, critical and creative thinking, decision-making and problem solving and coping with emotions and stress are also equally important qualities that a good leader should possess. These qualities are harder to quantify and measure as compared to communication and interpersonal skills.
Communication and interpersonal skills collectively make just the tip of the iceberg with many other necessary skills secreted within.
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