Leadership and management

CORE BUSINESS ESSENTIALS

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Introduction 1. Leadership vs Management 2. Leadership skills 3. Management skills 4. Next steps

How do you lead or manage your business? Have you learnt these skills by experience, or through more formal training? Maybe it’s a mix of both. Many of us pick up these skills as we go. 

Use this lesson to focus on your own self-development as a leader and a manager. We’ll look at the key skills in these two areas. You’ll have the chance to assess your own skill levels. Plus, we have links to many resources to help you hone your expertise, to meet the needs of you and your business. These include free access to the Skillsoft Percipio learning platform. As you read through this lesson, you'll see links that invite you to sign up. We also give details at the end of the lesson about how to access this great library of resources .

KEY LEARNINGS

  • Know the difference between leadership and management
  • Identify key leadership skills
  • Recognise management best practice
  • Create a plan to grow your leadership and management skills

Read time:

7 mins

Chapter 1 - Leadership vs Management

Chapter 1

Leadership vs Management

Read time:

1 min

Leadership and Management – what’s the difference?

People often use the terms ‘leadership’ and ‘management’ to describe the same things. Clearly, there’s some overlap between the two. Leaders and managers share many traits – we’ll look at these shortly. First, let’s think about the key differences between them.

Leaders

Managers

Leaders

Use vision to guide change

Managers

Adopt and drive change

Leaders

Define or state goals

Managers

Work with others to reach goals

Leaders

Are strategic

Managers

Are tactical

Leaders

Innovate

Managers

Follow through

Leaders

Inspire, guide and influence others

Managers

Direct, organise and support others

Skills and traits common to both

Now you know where these two roles differ, it’s time to look at their similarities. 

Skills shared by leaders and managers include:

Communication

While a leader needs to articulate their vision clearly, a manager must define and explain how others are to achieve this. For both roles, listening skills are key.

Assess your current communication skills with a Skillsoft Percipio benchmark. This will test your skills and suggest learning to help deepen them.

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Problem solving

For leaders, this is often at a strategic level, while managers focus more on operational issues and how to solve these.

Assess your current problem solving skills with a Skillsoft Percipio benchmark. This will suggest learning based on where your skills are.

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Decision making

Though leaders and managers make different decisions, they both need the confidence to make these and the right mindset to focus on positive outcomes.

If you want to learn more about decision making, you can sign up for one of our free licenses on Skillsoft Percipio. They have plenty of lessons to help you feel more confident in decision making.

Sign up and take the course Opens in a new tab

Accountability

Good leaders and managers know that they have a responsibility for both themselves and others.

Sign up and take Skillsoft Percipio's course on accoutability to help you hone your skills as a leader.

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Integrity

To lead or manage others, you need their trust. Integrity and an ethical mindset can help grow this trust.

Take Skillsoft Percipio's skills benchmark on this topic to assess where you are now and get suggested learning to help deepen your skills.

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The next two chapters focus on skills that you may need as an owner of a new or growing business.

Introduction - Leadership and Management
Chapter 2 - Leadership skills

Chapter 2

Leadership skills

Read time:

2 mins

What skills do you need to lead your business?

Every business leader is different – but successful leaders share common traits. They include vision, innovation and influence. Think about these in the context of your own business. 

You don’t need a large team of people to be a business leader. These skills will help your business grow, whether you’re a sole trader just starting out or an experienced business owner who already manages others. 

Having a vision – and sharing it with others 

Do you have a vision – one that you can state clearly?

 Understanding both your aims and your audience will help you get your message across successfully. If you want help with this you can take Skillsoft Percipio's course on 'Sharing a vision'.

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Creating a culture of innovation

We’ve said that leaders innovate. This takes a creative and open mindset. Maybe you have this. Can you also inspire others to do the same?

Take Skillsoft Percipio's benchmark to assess where you are on your journey and get recommended learning to support.

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Motivating others

To motivate your team, get to know each of them. Use this knowledge – and a bit of creativity – to guide your team to meet business goals.

If you want more suppport with motivating others you can take Skillsoft Percipio's benchmark and take their recommended learning.

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Being clear, credible and persuasive

Whether sharing goals with your team or bidding for business, these are key skills.

If you want to deepen your influencing skills, you can take Skillsoft Percipio's benchmark to understand where you are and get recommended learning.

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Curious about your leadership strengths? Want some pointers that focus on your needs? Why not try a short quiz from Be The Business to help you assess.

Ignite - Be The Business Opens in a new tab
Chapter 1 - Leadership vs Management
Chapter 3 - Management skills

Chapter 3

Management skills

Read time:

2 mins

What skills do you need to manage your business?

When we see the word ‘management’, we tend to think about people who look after large teams. But you don’t need a team to gain from these skills. Use them to help keep your business running smoothly. They’ll shape the way you work with others in and around your business.

 

Key management skills:

Planning and organisation

From setting out the day's tasks to managing large-scale projects. Use these skills to balance time, money and resource constraints.

If you want to assess your skills and get recommended learning to help you grow you can take Skillsoft Percipio's free bencmark 'Managing yourself'.

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Communication

A range of skills that can help you, your team and your business. This includes active listening, collaboration, presenting skills and conflict management.

If you want to deepen your communication skills take Skillsoft Percipio's course on 'Effective Team Communication'.

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Decision making and problem solving

The ability to assess, work out and drive solutions on issues and opportunities of all sizes.

If you want to deepen your skills here, you can take Skillsoft Percipio's course on 'Problem solving: Generating Solutions'.

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Delegation

Trusting others with tasks can help in many ways. It may free up your time, get jobs done faster and build trust in your team. 

Test your delegation skills with Skillsoft Percipio's benchmark and get recommended learning to help.

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Time management

This combines a range of skills. Can you prioritise, give accurate estimates and stick to them? All these skills will help your business stay on track.

If you want to deepen your skills here, you can take Skillsoft Percipio's course on 'Be Productive by Working Efficiently'.

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Meeting management

Preparation is key if you want to run a meeting that keeps to time and focuses on the key aims. Get into this habit for all your meetings, from team calls to supplier talks.

Hone your meeting manament skills with Skillsoft Percipio's course on running meetings. 

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Chapter 2 - Leadership skills
Chapter 4 - Next steps

Chapter 4

Next steps

Read time:

1 min

Where you are right now

In this lesson, we’ve outlined the key skills for both leadership and management. You’ve had the chance to consider each one in terms of your own skill level and the impact on your business. Now it’s time to plan your skills development.

Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other 

John F Kennedy Opens in a new tab

Where you want to be

We’ve asked you to think about the skills you need to reach your business goals. Now it’s time to build on these skills. As part of this programme, you qualify for a free Skillsoft Percipio licence. This gives you access to a wide range of videos, courses and live learning to help you grow your business skills.

Activity

Find out how to sign up for your free Skillsoft  Percipio licence today!

The learning links here will introduce you to the courses. There are paths to help plan your skills development. Plus, you’ll get the chance to benchmark yourself in core skills. 

 

Related learning links

Leadership and Business training

Percipio Channel Management Decision Making 

Percipio Channel Managing & Developing People 

Percipio learning journey: Leadership

 

Chapter 3 - Management skills

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Lloyds Bank Academy is committed to providing information in a way that is accessible and useful for our users. This information, however, is not in any way intended to amount to authority or advice on which reliance should be placed. You should seek professional advice as appropriate and required. Any sites, products or services named in this module are just examples of what's available. Lloyds Bank does not endorse the services they provide. The information in this module was last updated on 8th July 2024.

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