The Competencies of Leadership

Written by: Gerald Barron, MPH, Deputy Director, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health Center for Public Health Practice
Copy editor: Kurt Holliday, Communications Specialist, Pennsylvania Public Health Training Center

Leadership is important. Governmental agencies, non-profit organizations, and businesses all have been shown to be better able to meet their mission and accomplish their goals when they have strong leadership. Therefore, it is important to understand what is needed to be a good leader. Who are leaders? A leader is someone you would follow to a place you would not go on your own. In the follower’s estimation, this is a better place. The most important component of the leader-follower relationship is trust. It is important that we trust our leaders or we won’t follow them. How is this trust developed? It’s developed by the leader exhibiting the following competencies:

Creates and Embraces a Vision – Envisions the future by creating an exciting, compelling, and credible possibility
Takes and Builds Accountability – Acts in a responsible way 
Demonstrates Resolve and Decisiveness – Makes decisions about what to do with courage and firm determination 
Self Regulates – Resists or delays any impulses, drives, or temptations to act which may detract from the achievement of goals
Self-Knowledge – Recognizes his/hers own skills, abilities, emotions, preferences, biases, and predispositions
Empathetic/Compassionate – Has a full range of authentic emotional expression that enables the addressing of one’s own needs as well as the needs of others
Active Listening – Pays concentrated attention to what someone else is saying as well as paying attention to what is motivating or influencing the other person
Communicates Messages Effectively – Communicates messages effectively using words, symbolism and personal example
Motivates and Empowers People – Understands how and why people feel and act as they do, whether motivated by enlightened self-interest, team interest, or organizational interest
Timing of Action – Demonstrates an appropriate sense of timing for announcements, decisions, actions, and in-actions