From Good to Great: How to Improve Leadership Skills in the Workplace
Leadership isn’t just a challenge; it comes with real costs. This is why, as per Deloitte, only about 13% organizations believe they are adequately equipped to deliver leadership programs. So there’s a huge gap between potential and performance1.
From 2015 to 2019, poor leadership and toxic workplace cultures cost companies in the US a total of USD 223 billion2. This was lost as turnover, lost productivity, and disengagement.
Leadership isn’t something that’s fixed once. It can be scaled and developed over time. Let's learn how to improve leadership skills in the workplace.
Diagnose your current state
To improve your current state, the first step is to identify where you currently stand. Use self-assessment tools, like 360° surveys, feedback apps, or leadership skill inventories.
A 360° feedback survey can gather perspectives and input from your peers, supervisors, employees, etc. It yields a comprehensive method to identify the gaps in leadership and improve them.
One of the key traits most leaders lack are strategic thinking and communication. Many of them don’t show any empathy or have low Emotional Intelligence, which can be the driving skill for team engagement and performance. This results in low productivity and performance, thus negatively affecting the bottom line.
Your team is far more likely to innovate successfully when your employees feel safe. You need to establish psychological safety for them where they have the space and freedom to speak up without judgment3.
Those teams that have high psychological safety learn faster and are more likely to innovate successfully.
Marshall Goldsmith stated, “What got you here won’t get you there.”
Leadership styles, their skills, habits, or strategies that may have helped you succeed so far may not be enough for the future. Leadership requires continuous learning of new approaches and letting go of behaviors that may have worked in the past but now limit progress.
Five core leadership improvement areas
Most leaders think leadership is about taking the driver’s seat. They feel they are the ones going to take all key decisions, or rather, ‘run the show.’
True leadership is about growing with your team. Here are the five ways to improve leadership skills in the workplace.
Emotional intelligence (EQ)
The top performers in the leadership roles are not just skilled. They are emotionally intelligent. As per studies, EQ is a very strong predictor of job success. In fact, 90% of top performers have a high EQ4.
Such leaders are emotionally more aware and able to read the team dynamics. This is a very strong skill that helps them manage team conflict while inspiring trust.
Communication excellence
For a leader, clear and consistent communication is not open to debate. Research from Gallup and McKinsey shows a strong link between leadership communication and employee engagement5.
Leadership communication isn’t just about delivering the vision or sharing context. Leaders with this skill can reshape the culture. Communication skills can help them identify the unique perspectives and experiences employees bring to the table. When employees feel they are heard, they feel trusted, and they perform better. They commit better. Result: higher productivity of the team.
Strategic thinking
As Peter Senge puts it: “The ability to learn faster than your competitors is the only sustainable competitive advantage.”
A leader must think strategically. They must be able to anticipate the upcoming challenges and find hidden opportunities in their current states.
Strategic thinking can turn managers or executives into team leaders. Their focus should be on the big picture, not just short-term goals.
Adaptive decision-making
The best leaders we have today don’t make decisions alone. They may make informed and flexible decisions involving the entire team.
Adaptive decision-making is the ability to adjust decisions based on newly found information or upcoming challenges.
Given today’s ever-changing market scenario, this skill can keep the business up-to-date and able to adapt better.
Delegation & empowerment
Strong leadership is not about micromanaging. Delegation is very important for the company to grow. Delegation and empowerment mean the leaders have faith in their teams to make decisions where needed.
It builds a sense of trust and accountability in the team, hence giving you the next generation of leaders.
Practical implementation roadmap
The thing about leadership is that insights don't lead; actions do. Here’s your roadmap on how to improve leadership skills in the workplace.
30 days
During the first month, only collect feedback from peers, managers, and team members. This will help you identify the critical gaps in the structure, communication, and decision-making style of the leadership.
Ask questions and welcome suggestions to see where improvements are needed.
This is the stage where you should be open to insights.
90 days
Next, we need to move beyond the assessment and take the gathered insights into the development stage. You can engage with an executive coach. They can provide personalized feedback and strategies to overcome the leadership gaps.
You can also explore enrolling in a targeted leadership program or workshops. These equip the leaders with structured learning.
6–12 months
In the next 6 to 12 months, you will track the outcome of the changed leadership style. To make it quantifiable, check the engagement scores, team productivity, and retention metrics.
Make these new behaviours part of your leadership routine.
Investment and accountability
Executive coaching can give you an average return on investment (ROI) of around 5.7 times the cost6. So, organizations get back nearly six times what they spend, thanks to better decision-making.
Apart from growth, research shows that companies investing in leadership development programs experience 25% lower turnover7. This reduces recruitment and training costs while boosting team engagement.
Quick wins you can start today: How to improve leadership skills in the workplace
Leadership improvement doesn’t need much. You don’t have to wait for a training program or have a six-month plan in place to improvise.
Here’s how you can start right away. Small steps go a long way.
Schedule a weekly one-on-one with your team members. You can keep it short, say 15 minutes each. This activity will help build trust and find insights directly from your team.
During meetings, practice active listening. Consider a no-interrupt rule so each employee feels heard.
Gather all the feedback you can. Ask more of the open-ended questions.
Conclusion
Leadership skills are like sharpening the sword. It’s not a one-time thing. You may have to do it every other day. The one thing much needed is commitment to assessment.
Gather feedback from the team at different intervals. Then use the feedback and work on removing bottlenecks and gaps in communication. When leaders prioritize actions, the whole team grows.
Work Cited
Deloitte Insights. “Leaders at All Levels: Close the Gap Between Hype and Readiness.” 2014.
SHRM. SHRM Reports Toxic Workplace Cultures Cost Billions. 2019.
AAMCNews. “Amy Edmondson: Psychological Safety Is Critically Important in Medicine.” 2019.
TalentSmart. “The Business Case for Emotional Intelligence (EQ).” 2009.
Matter App. “Impacts of Leadership and Employee Engagement.” 2026.
Leadership Coach Group. “The ROI of Executive Coaching: What the Research Shows.” 2025.
Deloitte Insights. “2023 Global Human Capital Trends: New Fundamentals for a Boundaryless World.” 2023.