Great leadership is more than just experience or confidence, it’s a learned skillset that evolves with the modern workplace. Yet many organisations still promote based on performance, not preparedness, leaving managers overwhelmed, undertrained, and at risk of burnout.
In fact, Gallup’s 2025 State of the Global Workplace report reveals only 27% of managers are engaged in their roles, whilst 42% experience daily stress. Many lack access to effective leadership training or development support.
If your organisation is looking to invest in a leadership program that makes a real difference, it should focus on more than strategy and delegation. It should build the core human skills that allow leaders to thrive in today’s workplaces. Here are three of the most important leadership skills and how to train them.
1. Self-Leadership and Energy Management: A Foundational Leadership Skill
Leadership starts from within. When leaders aren’t managing their own energy, stress, or mental load, it impacts their clarity, decision-making, and how they lead others. One of the most underrated but powerful leadership skills is the ability to sustain performance without burning out.
Key areas of focus:
- Managing energy, not just time
- Understanding the stress-performance curve
- Creating micro-habits that support recovery and focus
Train it by:
- Introducing the science of pressure and performance
- Helping leaders identify personal energy patterns and fatigue triggers
- Teaching habit-stacking techniques for sustainable wellbeing
- Using reflection tools to strengthen self-leadership in real time
2. Emotional Intelligence and Self-Awareness: Essential Leadership Skills for Modern Teams
Emotional intelligence (EQ) is the leadership skill that underpins all others. Leaders with high EQ understand their triggers, respond instead of react, and model emotional regulation under pressure, qualities that inspire confidence and stability. Training emotional intelligence means helping leaders better understand themselves—how they think, feel, and react—so they can lead more mindfully and effectively. It also supports better decision-making, conflict resolution, and the ability to model calm in the chaos.
Core elements of EQ include:
- Self-awareness and internal reflection
- Understanding emotional triggers and patterns
- Empathy and relational leadership
Train it by:
- Using visioning and self-assessment tools to build emotional insight
- Teaching practices for emotional regulation and recovery
- Developing coaching-style leadership approaches that foster connection and trust
3. Compassionate Communication: A Leadership Skill That Builds Trust
Empathetic communication is no longer optional, it’s a leadership skill that drives engagement, improves retention, and builds psychologically safe workplaces. Leaders who communicate with compassion create stronger team cultures and more resilient relationships. They’re better equipped to hold tough conversations, navigate conflict, and build cultures where people feel valued.
Essential communication tools include:
- Active listening and presence
- Empathetic feedback frameworks
- Techniques for having courageous conversations
Train it by:
- Providing clear, structured models for giving and receiving feedback
- Incorporating roleplay and discussion-based practice
- Teaching de-escalation techniques and active listening strategies
Ready to Build These Skills in Your Leaders?
At Better Being, we created Leading Well—a corporate leadership program designed to support leaders in both performance and wellbeing.
Across two practical, high-impact sessions, participants will:
- Learn how to manage stress and energy effectively
- Build emotionally intelligent, compassionate leadership styles
- Develop tools to strengthen psychological safety and team culture
With an optional 21-Day Challenge to help embed learning, Leading Well goes beyond theory and builds real behavioural change.
👉 Explore the Leading Well Leadership Program here.
