The skills of a good a leader are one of those miracles: Everyone can name them but to apply them as a leader-self is a totally different story. Becoming a leader many people trust the help of targeted development and individual coaching. We talked with Valentina Kitzwögerer about her new leaders training course and about her tools and tips for new leaders.
Becoming a leader – The challenge
Please think about the beginning of your leadership role: What was your biggest challenge?
At the beginning it was very difficult to get an overview about all my new tasks, to define which leader I want to be and how I want to live that role. In addition there were so many different characters with different needs and intentions in the team which I had to get to know. The rough tone was a challenge as well and so was the fact to be compared with my predecessor all the time. It was hard to define myself in opposition to others.
Why did you decide to visit a training course to face you challenge? What is important for you when it comes to professional development?
I remember the words of a dear professor of mine who said that you have to build three types of competence in order to be a good leader: professional competence, social competence and methodical competence.
For my development I do not only choose professional training in the field of health management but also measures to strengthen my personal competence.
When I found the training course of MDI I was felt attracted immediately. All the contents we only touched during academic studies are deepened and extended in this course.
And the discount for IMC alumni was beneficial as well.
Valuable tools for the leadership practice
Which contents and methods are especially valuable for you daily work?
My favourites are…
- The delegation checklist – because it helps delegate efficiently according to task and employee.
- The perception types – because they help me to communicate effectively.
- The circle of influence – because it helps me to remember that I can’t influence everything, although I would like to.
- The resources – because it’s important to know what strengthens me to be able to use it.
- The tips for facing conflicts – because it’s important to understand why a certain topic is disrupting for oneself or others.
- The Eisenhower principle – because it’s a good tool to prioritize tasks.
- And in the end the DiSC model – because it helps me to better understand the needs of my colleagues and employees.
Be competent as a new leader
Now after the training course: What are the results? How good are you able to face the above written challenge?
The most important result for was that my understanding of leadership is much wider and that I found out which leader I do want to be: active listener with intent on the development level of every employee related to the task and a team leader supporting real team building.
The numerous tools help me to meet this image a little bit more every day. I’ve learned to delegate tasks much more efficiently, to improve our communication culture and to create a trustful base, together with my team, to reach common goals.
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New leaders in your organisation?
We’re glad to provide advice for the best development measures possible.