Anyone who has been in a junior position at any time, either in a private company or as one of the millions of minions in the civil service, stuck in that office with the rather dreary team leaders . . . will know where this is coming from. How does one get any inspiration to improve our own work and encourage others to do the same? It needs good leadership and this is usually the bulk of the problem.

There are many ways to improve leadership skills – by concentrating on the long held habits and just looking to see how to improve them and thus make a great difference to the enjoyment of the job ad that of colleagues. It’s amazing how productivity improves when leadership does. This involves focusing on listening, emotional intelligence, clear communication and delegation. By auditing and expanding on these core habits, it is possible to accelerate your own growth, the ability to source a mentor and take on extra project responsibilities. This process starts with truly listening and taking on board your team’s ideas and considering them before pushing forward your own. Emotional intelligence requires that you manage your own feelings, keeping everything under control whilst at the same time, being able to offer empathy towards others. Also needed here is clear communication skills that help to articulate goals, gain feedback and help to control expectations so there is no confusion and everybody is on the same sheet going forward.

Effective delegation is another skill that requires passing a task to others; to the colleague who has been seen to show the strongest experience or technique for that task. An employer will recognise this delegation as a very positive action. One very important area is conflict resolution, by showing the ability and confidence to address team arguments and disagreements in a very timely and calmly fashion, the project will stay on track and again, the employers will recognise a leadership skill in the ones who resolve problems in this way.