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During this course there were ten main skills addressed as foundational for a contemporary manager. These skills are:

1. Communication
2. Build trust in individual relationships.
3. Build trust in team relationships.
4. Collect Knowledge.
5. Manage knowledge.
6. Solve customer problems.
7. Cultivate your customers and their employees.
8. Emotional IQ.
9. Lead and Plan for change.
10. Self-Reflection

Undoubtedly all these skills and more are foundational to successful managers. However, as discussed in week one of the course, the future of business requires the roles of manager and leader to converge. As a leader some skills will be more impactful than others.

Top five skills.

Below are five skills from the ten covered during this course that are the most impactful. These skills are not ranked in any particular order.

1. Communication.
   • Effective communication creates an environment for the communicator to ensure all parties receive the message in the intended manner. Quality leaders communicate messages that are clear, concise, concrete, correct, coherent, complete, and courteous (MindToolsVideos, 2018).

1. Lead and plan for change.
   • Effective change requires strategic planning and deliberate actions to ensure the success of the company is not interrupted (Mind Tools, n.d.). Change is inevitable and a leader that effectively plans for and leads a team through change will always be valuable to the ownership team.
2. Self-Reflection
   • Leaders want success. Self-reflection can lead to increased creativity, energy and motivation that is essential for success. Self-reflection not only helps an individual improve but can lead to better team dynamics (Elsey, 2020, para. 12).

1. Build trust.
   • Although the class broke down building trust in two categories (individual trust and team trust), effective leaders will cultivate trust across their organization. Trust is the primary factor that drives how people work together. It governs how people listen to one another and build effective relationships (Ken Blanchard Companies, n.d., para. 2).

1. Manage knowledge.
   • Effective knowledge management will encompass the collection methods which is why only manage knowledge is listed here. Knowledge management is the art of retaining skills and experience within a company that transcends a single individual to build upon lessons learned and achieve business goals (Melendez, 2020, 02:36).

Three leadership skills not on the list of ten, and why they should be on the list.

• Authenticity. To build and retain trust, one must be authentic. Being a leader is more than just saying the right things, but actually believing in those words. Good leaders are aware of the strengths and weaknesses and do not try to hide them (Marr, 2022, para. 10).
• Team builder. Good leaders leverage other leadership qualities to formulate cohesive teams. Leaders who can integrate team members' unique perspectives and skills into a collaborative unit will find success in most ventures (Marr, 2022, para. 8).
• Fostering potential. Great leaders hire for potential not performance. Inspirational leaders are able to foster an environment of growth by encouraging employees to take risks and step out of their comfort zones. These leaders create environments that discourages complacency and drives growth through innovation (Marr, 2022, para. 2).

Self-Reflection.

Strengths:

1. Team builder. I have had the opportunities to develop and refine my team building skills over my career. Employing a team first methodology, collaboration comes naturally, and I value the unique and diverse perspectives of my teammates when creating solutions to the tasks at hand.
2. Self-Reflection. As stated in the course material, self-reflection is a frequent practice in the military. My entire adult life has been in the military and service members are often their own worse critics. I am always seeking ways to improve or streamline my processes and behaviors. This trait has been my strongest asset that contributed to the success that have achieved.

Needs Improvement:

1. Manage knowledge. I have been guilty on several occasions of riding the golden goose. Instead of prioritizing cross training to develop the skills across the organization, I have relied on the singular individual or team that could consistently produce the desired outcomes. This has led to challenges when those individuals are no longer with the organization.
2. Fostering potential. Natural instincts are to value someone by what they can do when they join an organization. Optimal leadership would evaluate what they may do given the proper training, motivation, and circumstances. This is an area I continually self-reflect on to verify if the decisions I made were the greater good for today or for the future.