Your skills as a team leader are essential, regardless of your role in your company or on your team. Everyone can lead at different times, and it is crucial that you can leverage your skills irrespective of title. 

No organization can operate without strong teams. However, teams are only as strong as their leadership, which can come from any team member. There are a few skills that are crucial for leaders to have.

The first critical skill is vision. People who have vision can see what the future looks like when their team is largely successful. They have the uncanny talent of communicating this future in such a way that the entire team not only sees this future but genuinely believes it is possible.

There is no talk of leadership without considering human and interpersonal skills. We must work with humans, so the need to nurture and motivate the people on your team is critical. Everyone has things going on that may not allow them to be their best at work, but understanding their personal lives and behavioral styles will help you be a more effective leader.

You must be able to listen to understand rather than merely responding. You cannot be an excellent leader if you cannot listen to, appreciate, and consider others’ opinions and feelings. Listen to your team and understand where their expertise lies.

Teams exist to solve problems. Problem-solving requires a high level of creativity, and being able to lead people through an ideation process is an invaluable skill. You need to not only be creative yourself but to be able to bring out and appreciate the creativity of everyone on your team. The varying perspectives may be able to mesh to bring an even better solution to the problem your team is solving.

Teamwork requires constant and consistent communication. If you are to lead effectively, you need to be able to communicate in a manner that each team member fully understands and feels comfortable with. Everything in business today is based on communication, and better communication will increase the effectiveness of your team.

Leaders must be organized. Team members will offer different proposals, directions, and actions. Some of these will need to be accepted immediately, while others will allow for more time. Consider that any delays will slow down your team. Leaders will know how to organize and plan future tasks to keep the team effectively and efficiently moving forward.

Team leaders will be able to negotiate how the team members best spend their time. Doing this requires working with a schedule and the skills of each team member. As you discover the strengths of each person on your team, you can leverage the best output of your team and empower each member to produce their greatest work.

Leadership is an attitude, not a position. How can you inspire the people around you to bring forth their best ideas and work? Are you able to articulate the future you see when you are largely successful? Grow your skills to inspire and lead–and thrive.